Green homes can help save you money on your energy bill and have a smaller impact on the environment. Let’s take a look at three tips that will help you build a green home and reduce your carbon footprint.
Tip #1: Optimal Location On The Property, Maximizing Sunlight, Winds And Natural Sheltering.
The best possible location, or orientation, is positioning your home as it relates to seasonal variations in the sun’s path as well as determining prevailing wind patterns.
To begin, proper orientation of a new home allows the homeowner to take advantage of a powerful source of lower utility costs: passive solar energy. The power of passive solar heating and cooling is not to be underestimated. Much can be done to position a home so the daily and seasonal movements of the sun work to the homeowner’s advantage to increase indoor comfort while reducing heating and cooling costs.
Orienting a home to accept the sun’s warmth in winter while avoiding excessive solar heat in summer is nothing new. Ancient Greeks and Roman houses were oriented with seasonal solar exposure in mind. Some certitudes never change!
The wind is another environmental factor you need to include in the home’s design and orientation. Simply check the wind data to determine the predominant and general wind direction so the house can enjoy cool breezes to reduce the cooling needs on hot days.
Deciduous trees such as oaks, maples and beeches, should be planted on the east and south side of your home. Their canopy can provide solar shading in summer months while in winter months, they lose their leaves to allow natural light and solar heating of the house.
Tip #2: Non-synthetic, non-toxic materials used inside and out.
There are numerous decisions to make when it comes to choosing materials for building a home, including color, design and sturdiness. But do we also need to consider whether or not the materials we put in our homes are toxic? Absolutely!
A good rule of thumb is to look for building products made from natural materials. Building materials that are natural and can be cultivated are one of the most popular in green homes since they can be renewable and, in many cases, need little or no processing. These materials can usually be recycled after use.
Tip #3: Insulate, Insulate, insulate!
Sustainable building begins with reducing the heating and cooling loads of the home as much as possible and insulation is the key to energy conservation, a cornerstone of green building. In fact, insulation is one of the most efficient ways to save energy at home since it keeps it warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
As technology advances, so does our ability to build homes more efficiently and sustainably. Green homes will not be a luxury in the future, but will be the new standard of building that already is present in many places. I, for one, can’t wait for this future to arrive.
