Everything about making your home eco-friendly!
Sustainable construction described in the most basic sense as the construction of buildings or homes in an environmentally friendly way.
Before a structure is built, contractors consider the impact the structure will have on the environment throughout its lifetime and build it in accordance to what is the most optimal way. They use materials that are recycled or renewable if they can before using new raw materials. By using these green materials they are helping to protect the environment.
Also, they consider the environment the building will be integrated into and try to build it so it can sustain itself in its location. This is an earth friendly approach because if the structure is able to sustain itself, it will require less maintenance and energy. Constructing in a sustainable manner is becoming more important to the mainstream society, and, therefore, easier to use as a method to constructing buildings and homes.
Building materials that are considered sustainable are materials that are eco-friendly. These are usually recycled or renewable materials. According to the ca.gov website, the reason these are considered green materials is because
“[b]uilding and construction activities worldwide consume 3 billion tons of raw materials each year or 40 percent of total global use (Roodman and Lenssen, 1995). Using green building materials and products promotes conservation of dwindling nonrenewable resources internationally. In addition, integrating green building materials into building projects can help reduce the environmental impacts associated with the extraction, transport, processing, fabrication, installation, reuse, recycling, and disposal of these building industry source materials.”
If we were to use only raw materials to build structures, not only would our resources continue to deplete rapidly, but many eco-systems would be destroyed, which would harm animals, our atmosphere, even our amount of precious and limited water. This is because the demand for building new homes and commercial buildings grows as populations grow and demand to live by modern, technological standards. The only way to meet the needs of society’s thirst for a modern lifestyle and the delicate state of our earth and environment is to build with recycled materials, or green materials that are composed of renewable resources.
A sustainable house is just like a sustainable building in that it is made from green, recycled materials and is able to function either partially or completely on green energy source. For example, a home that uses solar panels for energy instead of using non-renewable electricity would be a home striving to be considered. This energy can light and heat the house by utilizing solar power from the sun’s endless supply of energy.
By using solar power, homes do not have to use the typical electricity that not only costs money but is also not environmentally friendly.
Another self sustainable quality you could find in a green house is the utilization of water. A home whose water that might come from a nearby well and is heated by the solar panels is also considered a self sufficient home.
Unfortunately, solar panels themselves are not eco-friendly or sustainable because the materials that make them are not recycled materials and are not recyclable, so when they are no longer useful, they become waste. Also, they are very expensive to purchase, but once you apply them to your home, you will eventually make up for the money you invested by saving on your gas and electric bills.
Another way a house could be considered sustainable is by the building materials and how they are built. Many sustainable homes have walls that are built with natural insulators that are able to keep heat in when its cool outside or keep the inside temperature tolerable when the outdoors are radiating heat. These walls are often built with straw bails or rubber tires and clay is often used to fill in the gaps. The walls are often thick, but work extremely well no matter what the weather conditions inflict upon the home.
Also, a more obvious way a home could be considered sustainable is by the landscape and design of the home. The actual landscape of the house can affect how much sun can heat the house by the way the windows or glass areas are facing. For instance, a home with a sliding glass door or solar panels would want to want to face south to utilize the most optimum sunlight.
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Categories: Eco Friendly Homes
Greate…
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