Living a natural lifestyle has many advantages to the body, mind, and spirit – and there are numerous things we can do to make the transition.
Many are easy, modest adjustments that can be implemented anywhere, such as utilizing natural personal care and cleaning products or reusable bags and water bottles.
However, after you have made a few modest adjustments, you will probably want to extend your green lifestyle to include your house.
Green house construction is no longer a passing fad. Bighorn Rentals says people are very interested in constructing an eco-friendly house these days. 51 percent of builders anticipate at least 60 percent of their new homes to be green by 2022.
Here are a few things you should know about eco-friendly house construction, whether you are renovating or constructing new. Consult LondonEcoMetal for amazing eco-friendly roofing.
Create a smaller structure.
No matter how environmentally beneficial a big house is, a smaller home built with the same energy-efficient and eco-friendly building methods has a lower environmental effect.
And, although “Little Homes” are all the rage, constructing smaller doesn’t mean you have to limit yourself to living in a tiny house – by utilizing innovative design concepts, you can make your more spacious dream home designs have a wiser but smaller footprint.
Smaller housing alternatives are becoming more popular because of their efficiency, lower maintenance costs, affordability, and lesser environmental effect, and are being designed in both urban and rural locations.
The idea is, while designing and constructing your house, think about how you will utilize your area. Design your house to fit your lifestyle while being controllable and cost efficient.
Consider square footage to be an investment; place it where you want it the most rather than extending in every direction.
Consider going solar
The sun is the ultimate source of low-cost, clean energy. When you construct, you have a unique chance to design for solar power usage in ways that older house owners cannot.
By incorporating solar power into the design of your new house, you may take advantage of light, placement, and geography to maximize efficiency and energy return on investment.
The location of your house on its lot and where you install solar panels may have a major effect on the amount of electricity you gather.
Solar shingles are an emerging new alternative that may have a more aesthetically pleasing look than a conventional solar panel installation, and even Tesla is developing a solar shingle product.
Keep Your Roof Cool
The material chosen on your roof may have a significant impact on the energy efficiency of your house. In order to assist decrease energy expenditures and consumption connected to heat, you may want to investigate a product that reflects the sun’s energy away from the roof, cools quicker at night, and retains less heat for less time.
Slate, terra cotta, white tiles, special membranes, and metal roofing are just a few of the green roofing options available.
There are many roofing choices available, and although green solutions are generally more costly – both in terms of materials and installation — you will likely recover the expenses via energy savings, product lifetime, and little maintenance needed.
Green House with a live roof made of plants
We had to highlight the “living roof” since it is simply…cool. Living roofs, also known as green roofs, are built to contain plants that grow on the roof to collect and filter rainfall and also insulate the house.
This also prevents roof water from entering the storm sewer system. While they are more often utilized in commercial buildings, living roofs may definitely be integrated into residential roofs.
Utilize Geothermal Energy
Geothermal power requires a significant initial investment, but it provides almost unlimited energy to heat and cool your house. With geothermal energy, the ground itself acts as a heat sink.
Heat flows from deep below to your home’s HVAC system during the winter; during the summer, your AC removes surplus heat and distributes it underground utilizing the same concept as a heat pump.
Consider geothermal heating and cooling to be a method of moving heat rather than producing it via combustion.
Count on Recycling
If you have ever wondered where old blue jeans and newspapers end up, the answer may be as near as your own walls. Total-fill insulation produced from recycled materials saves money in both the short and long term.
Because you are utilizing recycled materials, your initial material cost is often cheaper than it would be if you were using virgin materials.
You will also save money in the long run by choosing insulating materials that perform as well as or better than first-use insulation.
Cotton, wool, wood pulp, and byproducts of soybeans are just a few of the materials used as spray-in or roll insulation.
Other recycled materials utilized in greenhouse construction include reclaimed wood and worktops constructed from recycled glass, aluminum, and even soda cans.
You should also explore with your builder the possibility of utilizing recycled steel or recycled wood/plastic composite, both of which are high-quality, long-lasting materials that may decrease the quantity of new timber needed in your house.