The Sustainable Home Design
Sustainability has taken on increasing prominence as a design principle in recent years. The undeniability of global warming and rising energy costs has now forced us a society to really examine how any action we undertake may impact on the environment. Outside of how we get from one place to another, there is no area as individuals where we have a greater choice in terms of living at odds or in harmony with the environment, than in our choice of house design. The hallmarks of a sustainable home design are energy efficiency and building materials and home furnishings that are environmentally friendly and healthy – i.e. devoid of toxins. On this page we will look at some of the things that need to be incorporated into a sustainable home design. Probably the most obvious design element to consider is size. As a rule, large house require more energy to heat and cool, so it follows that smaller houses are by their very nature, greener. Also, the larger the house, the more materials and energy required for its construction. As a rule, a sustainable house design will be of a sufficient size to house its occupants and accommodate their activities. What is required is efficient use of space, good organization and keeping possessions at a manageable level. The second thing that your design should consider incorporating is that great lump of natural energy source called the sun. A good passive solar design should provide just enough sunlight into the rooms to be absorbed by the surrounding thermal mass. The thermal mass can be viewed of as a kind of heat battery that absorbs the warmth during the day to keep things from getting too hot and then gives the heat back to the room when the sun goes down. Of equal importance to thermal mass is insulation (e.g. straw bales) that will ensure that the heat remains inside. Following hot on the heels of passive solar heating, is making as much as use of renewable energy as possible. Solar power (obtained by placing photo voltaic panels on the roof) is probably the most accessible form of alternative energy source but wind and water can also be used. Irrespective of whether you’re planning to draw your electricity from alternative means or off the grid, care should also be taken to use energy efficient appliances. Consideration also needs to be given to how your home will use water. Measures such as using low water capacity toilets and flow restricted shower heads are now actually quite common. But this theme can be taken even further by diverting gray water from clothes washing and bathing facilities to watering plants; catching rain water from roofs for use inside the house and switching to composting toilets. Landscaping with drought tolerant plants can also save you an enormous amount of water. Sustainable homes will also strive to use eco-friendly building materials and furnishings and will incorporate leftovers where possible. A sustainable home design will make use of materials that are renewable and long lasting. Durability is a key tenet of green building. The less often you have to replace the material, then the less material and effort that needs to go into maintaining it, resulting in a diminished cost of upkeep and less frequent replacement. Cork, bamboo and eucalyptus are examples of earth friendly and renewable materials that feature prominently in sustainable home designs.
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