Four Rules On Green Home Design
The way we humans are currently living isn’t going to be sustainable for long. This is a fact that we’re becoming more and more aware of every day. And so green home design, formerly a small market, is spreading steadily over the world. Many predict that green home design will eventually dominate the housing market– which would be a very good thing.
In the United States, homes create 38% of the total carbon emissions. Especially if we want to stop global warming, building our homes with green home designs will have a significant effect on the future. For those who want to give their houses a bit of green home design, there are many little steps that can be taken. But if you’re seriously interested in reducing the impact your home has on the environment, there are four basic green home design concepts to follow.
Rule 1 in Green Home Design: Go Small
There’s something gloriously attractive about large, mansion-like homes. But large homes use up an incredible amount of energy for heating and cooling– and this energy generally comes from nasty fossil fuels that muck up our environment. Large home also use up more building materials and so, of course, create more waste. So if you’re looking to incorporate green home design in your building plans, build small.
Green Home Design Rule 2: Incorporate Passive Solar Design
Passive solar cooling and heating is one of the most important elements of green home design. This kind of heating and cooling is relatively simple, and uses the climate to dictate the design of the home. In warm climates, design is used to reduce the amount of heat absorbed by the home. In colder areas, design is used to reduce the amount of heat lost. Green home design uses the building’s orientation to the sun, window positioning, stone flooring, and other building elements to control the temperature and save energy.
Green Home Design Rule 3: Use Recyclable or Renewable Materials
Almost everything used in a traditional home harms the environment in some way, either by its manufacture (plastics and artificials) or its transport (naturals). Using locally produced renewable materials can help reduce the amount of damage your building can do. Use recycled materials, such as recycled insulation and lumber composites, or quickly-renewable products, such as bamboo flooring, in your green home design.
Green Home Design Rule 4: Optimize your Heating and Cooling
Heat and AC systems are the most energy-consuming elements in almost any home. And no matter how tempting a large AC system might sound during the hot summer months, this type of system can ruin your good intentions for a green home. Big air conditioning systems cool the air too much and too quickly, causing them to turn on an off constantly. Because of this, they don’t last nearly as long as smaller systems, creating a huge amount of waste along with energy loss.