Living Off the Grid in Chania, Crete. Is it Possible?

Off-Grid Homes in Crete Bundle is an exceptional collection of dedicated guides and articles designed and distributed by ARENCOS for all those interested to design and construct a house for off-grid living, achieving autonomy and removing the reliance on electricity in Crete, Greece.

Off-Grid Living in Chania - ARENCOS Architects & Engineers
Passive Solar - Living Off the Grid in Chania, Crete Guide
Inverter- Living Off the Grid in Chania, Crete, Greece. - ARENCOS Architects
Rain-Water Harvesting - Living Off the Grid in Chania, Crete
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Can a house in Crete be resourceful, resilient, comfortable, affordable, and sustainable at the same time?

Can a house in Crete be energy efficient, resourceful, resilient, comfortable, affordable, and sustainable at the same time? Our three thousand square meters of certified off-grid and/or passive structures in Chania and Rethymnon, prove that the answer is YES! And that this high-energy efficient building concept is much more than just a short-term trend.

We asked experts in passive house architectural concepts and building energy engineering whether they concur with the need for an urgent transition to alternative design for both residential and commercial properties. And if so, how the construction sector can make that happen quickly enough to matter?

We also asked property owners in Crete, Greece how they would navigate such a fundamental change for their properties, society, and the environment. The responses have been edited and condensed.

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Start the conversation!

Want to learn more? Send us a message and let us know how we can assist you with your next off-grid project or passive house design in Crete, Greece. You can also request a property viewing to see what an off-grid property looks like.


Living Off the Grid in Chania, Crete: Costs, Considerations and Preparation.

Going Off-Grid In Chania, Crete. A sustainable and nature powered way of living by ARENCOS.

Off-Grid Living

If you’re looking at this post, you probably already have off-grid aspirations. So how can you solidify those abstract ideas into concrete form in Crete, Greece? In Living Off the Grid in Chania series, ARENCOS offers practical advice to navigate the often complex and perplexing process.

#Off-Grid Houses in Crete #Sustainable-living #Nature Powered

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Off-Grid Living in Chania:
The Project.

ARENCOS Off-Grid House (AOGH), demonstrates the effectiveness of integrating energy conservation measures with renewable energy utilization in a modern residential property in Crete, Greece.

The remote location of the property, with no utility connections available, and the owner’s interest in renewable energy and Artificial Intelligence motivated this state-of-the-art design.

Moreover, this project attracted the interest of many property owners and investors and was studied as a prototype scheme for reliable off-grid living. As a result, the ARENCOS Off-Grid House project provided advanced value engineering and energy engineering methods throughout the design, construction, and operation and maintenance evaluation phases.

Among this project’s most significant achievements are the successful integration of numerous energy-conservation and renewable-energy features into a high aesthetic, comfortable, resilient and very energy-efficient off-grid home.

Explore - ARENCOS - Chania Architects and Engineers

ARENCOS Off-Grid House:
Integrated Design Parameters.

  • Innovative insulated thermal envelope
  • Passive solar heating (direct gain and Trombe wall)
  • Rain-water harvesting system
  • Heat pump hot water & floor heating system
  • Worm farm sewage system
  • Zero VOC paint finishes throughout
  • Black Oxide insulated concrete floor providing thermal mass
  • Wood-burning stove
  • Exclusive natural ventilation cooling
  • Active solar water heating
  • High-efficiency electrical appliances
  • Advanced Hybrid electrical power system with photovoltaics and wind turbine
  • Liquefied propane gas (LPG) for backup space heating, backup water heating, and backup electrical generation

This project explores how to build an off-grid property in Crete without connecting to the energy, water or sewage grid. Only renewable energy technologies resources are used to capture wind, rain and sun.

ARENCOS Off-Grid House it displays a sustainable and eco-friendly design. It is possible to adjust how much comfort is offered at each location, depending on the conditions and needs.

Main Principles for a Self-Sufficient Property.

To design an off-grid building a set of significant operation and performance principles is significantly important to create and maintain a comfortable indoor living space. These principles can be applied to all buildings, including single-family homes, multifamily apartment buildings, detached houses and more.

Committed to Sustainability.

Designed with an eye on sustainability and energy efficiency using natural, locally produced and eco-compatible materials, the property ensures a high-performance thermal enclosure that guarantees both high-efficiency and professional installation for all roof, wall, floor, foundation, and window assemblies.

More attention has been focused on thermal bridges elimination in particular. They were the last remaining option for significantly improving the energy balance of the buildings.

Approx.40% 

of all structural thermal bridges in buildings are caused by walls and columns.

ARENCOS also proposed and installed a high-performance window glazing design model for optimised natural ventilation in the building by reducing the level of indoor carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration and improving thermal comfort and minimising supplementary heating/cooling loads.

Likewise, our passive house designers managed to balance heat and energy from the sun by determining when this energy is needed or not (and minimising the cooling load) by implementing state-of-the-art shading strategies.

Indoor air humidity is kept at a safe, comfortable level by selecting the best Humidity Control and Moisture Management systems and possible.

ARENCOS Off-Grid House: The Roof Concept.

Living Off the Grid in Chania, Crete - The Roof Concept
Passive House Construction and Design In Crete - Articles and Podcast

PHCC is an architectural and engineering philosophy for zero-carbon buildings in Crete, Greece.

Read More About PHCC Read More About PHCC

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