Eco-friendly homes are becoming more and more recognized in the last few years, and building an eco-friendly home is shifting from being an alternative way of building a house to a mainstream way of building a house.
In 2015, almost one-third of home builders and owners are pushing towards going green, and that is 31% of the overall number of builders. In the past year, almost 60% of homes are eco-friendly, and that is just in the United States alone.
There is now a slew of options for homeowners because of the expansion of green home markets. Eco-friendly homes can improve the quality of your house, it can help reduce energy costs and it can also protect your overall health and can also help if you want to make sure your home appraises as high as possible.
This is great news for those who are looking to grow their business and expand their market when it comes to their materials and homes becoming eco-friendly. This is also incredible news for those who want to build their homes as green homes or a house with green home elements.
(See also: 7 Eco-friendly Home Cleaning Tips That Work Like Magic)
Another benefit of having an eco-friendly home is that promotes Net Zero Energy, which means that it can produce more energy than it uses. After learning all of these, you may now be thinking, how do I build an eco-friendly house? Here are some of the ideas that you may want to consider:
1. Build Smaller
You may build a large home that is eco-friendly, but a smaller eco-friendly home still does the trick. It is more energy-efficient and its construction techniques have a less environmental impact.
This does not mean that you need to limit yourself to building cottages, you can actually expand your dream home but you need to be more thoughtful about how you use your materials and your space.
You can plan your eco-friendly home depending on your lifestyle and you can keep your space cost-effective and manageable. You can think of square footage as a kind of investment.
2. Go Solar
If you are thinking, how do I build an eco-friendly house?
One of the answers is by going solar. The sun is the source of low-cost and clean energy. When you build your home, you can have an opportunity to plan for a solar power source of energy and you can use it in a way that the owners of non-eco-friendly homes cannot.
You can take advantage of the light that is emitting from the sun if you go solar. It is important to consider the position of your home and where you place your solar panel so that the impact of the power that you collect can be effective.
Solar panels can help you save electricity at your home and generate energy that can help you sell some of the energy back to your utility company. There are also tax breaks and government incentives that you can get if you use solar power in your house. If you decide to go solar, there are ways to get more from your system by adding a smart energy management system.
3. Cool your roof
Another answer to the question, how do I build an eco-friendly house is by choosing a material for your roof that can help make a difference to your home’s energy efficiency.
You need a product that can help reflect the energy of the sun away from your roof and that it can help your roof cool faster at night plus material that can hold less heat for less time so that it can reduce energy cost and usage that is related to heat.
Meta roofing, slate, terra cotta, white tiles, and special membranes are some of the roofing products that are available with different degrees of benefits.
4. Rely on Recycling
There are a lot of things inside your home that you can recycle, such as your old pair of blue jeans and newspapers. You can do total-fill insulation that is purely made out of recycled materials since they pay off in the shortest term and also in the long run.
Since you are using recyclables, your material cost is lower than it would be, you can also save money by using insulating products that can help it perform better than the first insulation. Wool, wood pulp, and cotton are just some of the materials that you can use as roll insulation.
You can also use reclaimed countertops, wood, and recycled glass. You can also discuss recycling with your builder so you can use recycled steel or recycled wood, which are both of the highest quality.
5. Focus on water
People are becoming more and more aware of freshwater consumption as well as conservation and are all taking the necessary steps to reduce water usage.
You can consider fixtures and different appliances that can help you conserve water such as the low flow faucet aerators, water heaters that are tankless, and rated washers that are Energy Star.
You can also purchase a new product in the market that can pause your shower once the water is warm enough to use, this product can help you save gallons of water. You can also capture rainwater and use it to water your plants.
(See also: 9 Tips for Conserving Water in the Home)
About The Author:
Thomas is an academic who is always looking to expand his knowledge. An avid reader and podcast listener, he believes that a day when you don’t learn anything new is a day wasted. He is interested in technology and sustainable energy, but his true passion and hobby are bookbinding and books in general.
