An Eco-Friendly Home Is A Home For Life
The eco-friendly home is energy efficient and continues to have a low environmental impact. One of the most important features when it comes to planning an eco-friendly home is its design. Taking these simple yet effective steps will help ensure that selling your eco-friendly home is as successful as possible.
Building an eco-friendly home is something that is easier said than done. An eco-friendly home is said to be easier on the wallet and healthier for your body. An eco-friendly home is energy efficient, uses fewer products, controls waste accumulation and is powered by an alternative source of energy.Building an eco-friendly home is one of the most effective ways in which one can make a personal contribution to keeping carbon footprint low.
Why is it Important to Design a Sustainable House?
Each year, Americans become more aware of the need for environmentally friendly housing and home design, and paying attention to the needs of the world around us often leads us back to questions regarding sustainability. New construction offers an opportunity to build eco-friendly designs from the ground up, from energy saving designs to recycled building materials. So, why is it important to design a sustainable house?
1. Sustainable homes are friendly to the environment. As precious natural resources are consumed in great quantities each year, it is quickly becoming apparent that we must act now or face very serious problems within the next few decades. To avoid contributing to this problem, do your part and consume as little as possible of the resources that cannot be replaced easily.
2. Sustainable houses are cheaper in the long run. Because they are much more energy efficient, a sustainable house will have fewer and lower utility bills. Since most rely on solar power, it may seem almost that there is no actual utility bill, outside of city-required water or sewer. Those that are able to have a well may also avoid paying this utility as well. Although initial startup may be expensive for these options, they quickly pay for themselves in other ways. Read more here.
If building an eco-friendly home is your goal, then using environmentally or eco-friendly materials like reclaimed timber, any material that does not have high embodied energy used in its production, like aluminum, glass.
25 Ways to Create a Green and Healthy Home
Doing your part to protect the environment once meant separating paper from plastic in your recycling bin and buying organic greens that you carried home in a reusable tote. But these days, there is a lot more you can do to create a green and healthy home.
Creating a green and healthy home: Save energy
- Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs: These bulbs – now available to fit many light fixtures – use just a quarter of the electricity of regular incandescent bulbs. Plus, they last up to 10 times longer, Yarrow says in 1,001 Ways to Save the Earth.
- Turn off the lights: If you or others in your household are forgetful, install movement sensors so lights only activate when needed. Another way to save energy is to install automatic timers for lights frequently left blazing in empty rooms.
- Set cooling and heating temperatures correctly: Your refrigerator and freezer are probably the biggest electrical energy consumers in your house. Take steps to make sure they’re not working harder than necessary.
- Get unplugged: Electronic appliances, including TVs, computers, and CD players can consume almost as much energy when in standby mode as they do during the relatively small amount of time they’re being used. See more here.
Even those who do not currently live in an eco-friendly home are trying to do their part through the use of energy-efficient lighting and appliances, and the installation of solar panels in some cases.
5 benefits of building an eco-friendly home
More than a win for the environment, an eco-conscious home also has the following surprising benefits for you and your family:
1. Maximum energy efficiency. With growing energy costs, building an insulated concrete form house is more energy efficient and can save you significant amounts of money on a yearly basis. Walls that reduce outdoor air infiltration greatly optimize energy performance.
2. Safety from natural disasters. “Our advanced Canadian design combines two panels of thick (EPS) foam with the structural strength and thermal mass of concrete,” Rector explains. “The resulting envelope immediately gives your house wind resistance up to 402 kilometres per hour.” A home built with this concrete system is also fire resistant for up to four hours.
3. Less outside noise. If you have noisy neighbours or live near trains or high-traffic areas, this one’s for you — ICF construction acts as an effective sound barrier, dampening sound vibrations and filtering out unwanted noise.
4. A more comfortable space. Outside cold can easily travel through a typical wood-framed wall, causing thermal bridging and creating uncomfortable cold spots inside your home. If you build the envelope of your house with concrete instead of wood, you can say goodbye to cold spots, drafts, and even mould. Check full article here.
An Eco-Friendly Home Can Help To Promote Better Health And Well-Being
An eco-friendly home is built just as solidly as any other home. Building an eco-friendly home is the epitome of living an eco-friendly lifestyle. Building an eco-friendly home is a challenging task especially for common people.
An eco-friendly home is only as green as its components and materials. The two overarching ways to achieve an eco-friendly home are Active and Passive. Many elements of a sustainable and eco-friendly home are decided in the planning process, contact us here: (951) 805-1262.
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