In the next several years we are looking at building our "retirement" home. It will be a raised 1 story with a finished basement, much smaller than our current home. We currently have roughly a 2000sq ft home with a blended family of 5 children, 2 are still at home, likely with one leaving in 1-2 years, the other in 10 years. The property we will be building on is mainly level. Our winters go to about -20C at the coldest, but maybe -10C for an average and summers up to 30C, but 20C as an average.
We are looking at triple pane windows and hoping they become more common in the next couple of years and that the price comes down. We are able to purchase them locally.
We are investigating a geo-thermal heat pump, common in Denmark with a similar climate. There just isn't anyone in the local area that installs them. We currently have oil heat which is incredibly expensive, but that is the most common type of heating fuel in this area and we want to stay away from it. Gas is not available nor do I see it being available in the coming years.
Any ideas for insulation? roofing? or anything else that would easily make a home more energy efficient?