Useful Guidelines for Building a Green Home
How to Follow Global Trends in Energy Efficiency
If you want to keep up with the 21st century trends in construction, you should start with some “green” strategies that could completely change your perspective on overall quality of life. Namely, some quite simple principles that can easily be incorporated into your budget can drastically improve the level of comfort you experience within your home not to mention that this can also contribute to global energy efficiency and environmental protection. If you are not sure where to start, we offer some useful guidelines for building a green home.
It is important to understand that green homes include an entire system of different measures that give best results when implemented together, but you can always take it one step at the time, since some green upgrades are always better than no green upgrades at all. These components may involve careful choice of building site, reduction of CO2 emissions, promotion of natural and renewable energy sources, water efficiency, airtightness and so much more. So, you can simply incorporate some of the available measures into your home building plan and start from there.
Although there are many measures that could be taken into account and it is not always easy to list all of them, just as it is not easy to choose among them, we will try to give you some pointers and hopefully give you some ideas for building a green home.
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In order of doing things right, we suggest you consult some of the numerous green strategies and available public documents regarding green buildings that can not only give you ideas you can use but also usually include applicable building code obligations and responsibilities that you should comply with. If these are too much for you to understand and implement, then you can always hire professionals to assist you. It is important to do this at the very planning stage, since you should always try to do things right from the start, rather than correcting the, later on. Professionals you are planning to hire need to have all relevant information and knowledge on energy efficient and green designs, sustainability, as well as all requirements imposed by local regulations and thus direct you in the right way.
- Another important thing to remember refers to the choice of the building site. As it is vital to choose a location for your future home that will allow you to easily connect to the water supply system and infrastructure, it is equally important to make sure that you only build in locations that are included in the building permit and that will not anyhow endanger the surrounding environment (sites around public parks, endangered species habitats etc).
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Be cost efficient. Namely, energy efficiency of your soon-to-be green home is closely connected to the matter of cost efficiency. This can be applied to every aspect and step of construction, starting from the size of your home. The equation is pretty simple – the bigger the home, more energy it will require and consume which will not only affect the environment but also your overall utility costs. Thus, try to build a home that would fully meet all your requirements but try not to go overboard and build a mansion that will not be properly used and occupied.
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Think and act green>. If you want to create a nice and green home, it is important to think and act green. This goes for each and every element of the building and its surroundings. For example, it is well known that trees and plants can minimize the so called heat island effect which only increases your inner temperature during the summer when sun is at its peak, especially in green areas. Thus, try to plant something around your home or better yet, if it is possible, construct a green roof that is quite useful when it comes to regulating high temperatures and can easily be insulated for superb performance with some of the widely available insulation materials specially designed for this type of roofs.
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Use natural water and energy sources. This can be achieved through some very simple green techniques but can go a long way. For example, modern irrigation systems and water collectors can reduce your water needs while some even simpler and not to costly equipment installed to use energy from natural sources like the sun or wind can decrease your energy needs and thus lower your costs.
- Remember that insulation is an integral part of any green design. Although insulation should be applied to every part of your home since each part of the construction is equally important, you can start by making a plan and then taking things one step at the time. You can start with wall insulation, regardless of whether you have cavity or masonry walls and regardless of whether you choose interior or exterior wall insulation. Then, you can continue with insulation your floors, especially those between exterior and interior areas, such as floors above the basement or garage. Finally, you should add insulation to your roof and attic space and any, thus even turning into a living space. Please note that there are many insulation materials that you can choose from, so always consider the result you want to achieve and then start planning.
- Take care of airtightness when building your green home. This goes for all those small gaps and openings in the building envelope that need to be properly treated and sealed. Firstly, make sure to choose proper windows that will provide adequate protection and air seal, such as double glazed windows. Then, you also need to insulate your electrical sockets and also seal the gaps around doors, which can be done with nothing more than some sealant and some crafty hands.
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Our final guideline in building a green home refers to all those little things that you can do, that will not cost you any money, but on the contrary help you save some. Simply try to minimize your energy needs on a daily basis. For example, switch to less consuming lights such as LED lights, make sure to turn off the lights and electrical appliances whenever you are not home or not using it, try to use as much natural daylight as you can and properly ventilate your home instead of using air conditioning.
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