How to Build a Green Home
Building one’s own home is one of the pleasurable things about engineering and architecture. As a homeowner, you may be part of the design process and the time it takes to purchase materials and to actually build the home. Here are some tips you need to keep in mind when building an environmentally friendly home.
Environmentally Friendly Materials
Many of the things used to build homes, including lumber and concrete, put a tremendous strain on the environment. You may not think much of construction materials, but the biggest strain materials can have on the environment is during the manufacturing process. When choosing or buying materials for your home, consider buying construction materials that do not have a high energy intensity value, like bamboo or even recyclable materials.
Natural Energy
Conventional energy sources like gas, electricity, and firewood are useful, but they do contribute to carbon emissions and pollution, leading to the world’s environmental problems. You don’t have to design your home to look like The House of the Future to save energy. Here are other sources of energy you can consider for your home:
Solar panels can be used as a secondary (or even as a primary) source of electricity. Solar panels are cheap, and rely on the heat of the Sun to generate a reliable source of power for some of your energy-intensive appliances, or even power your entire home.
Skylite and LED/fluorescent lighting. Conventional electric lighting takes up a lot of energy, which contributes to pollution and increased carbon emissions. Instead of setting up lighting fixtures to illuminate your home, try to design your house in such a way that you let in as much natural light as possible. LED or fluorescent lighting fixtures also save more energy compared to conventional incandescent lamps.
Design
One way to make your house green and environmentally friendly is to design it in such a way that it’s organic, or more in tune with nature. Here are some things you may need to keep in mind when designing your home:
Open rooms. Heating and cooling are two of the biggest contributors to greenhouse emissions. Try to maximize airflow in your home so that you won’t have a need for many air conditioners, fans, or space heaters.
Gardening and landscaping. Plants, trees, and other landscaping elements can help a great deal in keeping your home more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly. Plants help absorb carbon and cool down your home efficiently, and also keep your home looking and feeling more in tune with nature.
An environmentally friendly home does not need to be very expensive or futuristic-looking. With these tips, you can design the kind of dream home that can be part of that dream of a better environment.