How Green Is Your Home?
A home that is green is a home built and run with the environment in mind. With the threat of global warming becoming more urgent everyday, the average family needs to do their part to make as little impact as possible.
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| How green is your house |
Going green is a way to do this and the first place to start is with your home. You can find a lot of home supplies from bathtubs to faucets at fuzing.com. Whether you are constructing your toilet or your kitchen, it will help you in the long run if you build it from an environment friendly perspective.
The greener your home will be; the healthier environment it will have. You can use environment friendly things from paints to drapes and other objects that will add to the overall décor of your home.
Possible Building Materials You Can Use
If you are looking to build a new home, think with the environment in mind. You can use renewable resources such as lightweight concrete, manufactured, stone, straw, wood or earth. Each one of these materials has its own merits and disadvantages, but they all have the environment in mind.
- Earth is an abundant resource. What can be more environment friendly than the very dirt beneath your feet? You can choose from earthen materials kind to the environment such as cob, adobe and rammed earth.
- Lightweight concrete has been used for building for the last 50 years in the United States. Its strength is not as great as the usual concrete used for construction, but you can rest assured that it will weather the elements just as well. Advantages to using this building material is that can be used for insulation, it has great fire resistant properties, it will require a smaller foundation and there isn’t as great a need for reinforcement of structural steel. This impacts the environment in a positive way.
- Manufactured building materials appeal to those who have concern for the environment but don’t want to live in a home made of dirt, tree parts, straw, etc. Usually a home made with this type of material once built will make an excellent home that is energy efficient with thought to the environment.
- Wood is one of the most versatile materials for building. It used to be considered a sustainable material for construction, but with the over harvesting of forests worldwide, the world’s greed has outpaced the capabilities of forests to regenerate. You can build a green home with an eye to the environment by using stick framed, timber framed and log wood if wood is what you must have.
Styles of Green Homes You Can Choose
There are quite a few styles of green homes available. Styles can range from conventional, to rounded, earth-sheltered and organic. Each style has many plans you can choose from to make your home unique, comfortable and concerned with the environment.
- A conventional styled home typically means that it will fit the normal concept of a home according to the opinions of the Western world. Homes that are considered conventional usually have vertical walls and a rectilinear floor plan. Styles that are considered conventional can include traditional, contemporary, bungalow, Victorian or southwestern to name just a few.
- A home that is rounded or curved in appearance is considered rounded styling. This means that the plan for the house has a significant part that is curved or rounded. It is said that when you use natural materials and this style of home you will feel in touch with nature to the extent that your home feels like you are part of the environment itself. This style of home is very environment friendly.
- Earth sheltered styles of green homes can be situated either partially or entirely into the earth. There are many advantages to you and to the environment when you choose this style of home. When you go about six feet below the surface, you will notice that the temperature only fluctuates a few degrees all year round. The benefits to this are that it will require much less energy to heat and to cool your home, saving the environment from the depletion of natural resources.
Building green can mean a lot to the environment. The environment and its natural resources is something that needs to be passed on to our children. If we don’t start thinking towards the future there will be nothing left of the environment to pass on.
Article highlights: Building materials that can be used to construct a green home. The different styles of green homes you can choose when you decide to build a green home.
Interesting Fact: A recent report states that with all the huge costs associated with the building of a new home, there is no significant difference in the price of building green.
Home Energy Saving Tips
Whether you admit it or not, with all the expenses you have in mind, no matter how big your salary is, you still want to save some extra bucks in one way or another. And the best place to start saving is right at your very home; on your power bills. Yes, your power bills.
All your appliances and electric gadget consume electricity and pile up to your ever-growing electric bills month after month contribute to your burden as a homeowner (or a tenant on a rented place). This calls for complete information on how to start lowering your home energy consumption while not depriving yourself with all the technology you have bought.
Let us start with how well-sealed your home is…
Ensuring that your house is totally sealed keeps your heating devices maximize its use, at the same time, save some energy. If you live on the southern part of the country, a perfectly sealed home keeps the temperature of your house maintained. This will also maximize the power of your air conditioning system.
To do this, keep your window, sills, doorframes, and joints tight. Apply sealant on these places so that the air from the outside does not mix with the air on the inside. Whether you want to heat up or cool down your home, properly sealed house will keep your heater or air conditioning system in its best functions. You surely don’t want the warm or cold air go in and out of your home. This will consume more energy than it should be.
Heat loss can also occur on windows. To prevent this, use plastic window cover. Plastics are best material to insulate and keep the heat of your home inside.
A free flowing heating vents and air grills will maximize the flow of heat in your home. Keep interference such as rugs, furniture and drapes away from them.
On moveable sections of windows and doors, you may want to use weatherstripping. Weatherstrips are rubber materials that seal the movable object from its non-moveable object. This will go on garage doors, exterior doors, operable windows, and door of attic.
Then, proceed on the blinds and drapes…
If you want to keep your home warm during cold weather, choose drapes that would cover the windows entirely. If it is sunny, open the drapes let the sun’s heat insulate your home. In this way, you save a lot of money on heating system.
The thermostat…
You can lower down your thermostat while you are away and while you are asleep. A centigrade lower equals to 2% saved energy. Again, you may want to turn the heating down if you are not around.
Then the laundry and dishwashing…
You should know this: You can save as much as 85 to 90% when you turn the dial of your laundry to cold. Heating the water will consume a lot of energy. Also, you can save a lot when you wash full load. One last thing: a front loading washing machine saves you 50% on water and 50% on energy.
Dishwashers consume the same energy regardless of wash loads. Therefore, it would be much energy efficient if you load your dishwasher full.
Go to the basement…
Most heat is lost when your basement has leaks and drafts on the walls. Make sure you seal these places so that you can conserve a lot of heat and energy. You may also add insulation in your basement to ensure that the heat is conserved.
One good way to know if your basement has leaks or draft is to look for spider webs. When there are web, there are leaks.
Time to go to the garage…
Do not turn on the heating system at your garage full time. Whether you stay at your garage often or not, you can always heat it up minutes before you get in there. You can save a lot of energy if you do this. Remember: use your garage heating system only if necessary.
And finally… you electronic devices.
Whether it is your tv, stereo, lights, or any other devices that use electricity, make sure that you turn them off when not in use.
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