Sustainable Homes promotes a far better quality of life and involves less waste, higher responsibility, lower life-cycle environmental impacts, less maintenance, and a lot of utilization of eco-friendly resources.
When you build your house sustainably you’re creating a contribution to the atmosphere. However, that’s not all. Bills such as water bills, electricity bills, etc. will be reduced in process of saving energy and make your house energy efficient. Even quite that you produce a healthier atmosphere for yourself, your family, and pets.
What Is A Sustainable Homes?
A Sustainable Home is an innovative approach in producing an economical home that is designed or built-in order to conserve natural resources, optimizes energy, and water use, and is durable with minimum maintenance.
Sustainable homes design use low-impact, superior materials. They’re economical in terms of producing, shipping, and putting in. However, as a result of high-quality materials and systems, materials are durable with higher design life.
Sustainable home style is usually concerning wisdom and whether you’re building or renovating, you will benefit from the start.
A Sustainable home ought to be energy economical and cheaper to run. So, it sometimes called zero-energy home. It is sturdy and made of materials that are not a bigger concern to damage.
Building Sustainable Homes will be outlined as meeting the requirements of nowadays while not compromising the requirements of future generations.
Thus it will help us aim at the economic, social, and environmental property from getting to the implementation part and at the same time lead to housing that’s cheap, accessible, and environmentally impact is less.
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Materials Used for Sustainable Homes
Following are the properties of materials used for Sustainable Homes;
- Construction materials used for Sustainable House design are having a high design life and undergo less wear and tear when exposed to the environment. Hence very little maintenance is required during its use.
- Materials are easily recycled or renewable after completing their design life, which helps in reducing waste to some extent.
- They are energy efficient and undergo a non-toxic manufacturing process while it’s making.
- They are capable of reducing the potential for moisture or mold problems.
- Have good thermal resistance.
- Its manufacturing is carried out such that when used in sustainable houses it maintains good indoor air quality.
Characteristics of Sustainable House Design
Characteristics of Sustainable Development are discussed below;
- Facilitate the socially and economically poor classes, unfortunately, left with no choice aside from destroying the environment for livelihood.
- It customizes the concept of autonomous development inside the natural resources act.
- It conceptualizes efficient development which means the development should not degrade environmental quality, nor ought to it cut back productivity for a longer span.
- Sort the problems of health management, applicable technologies, food security, clean water, and shelter for all.
- Sustainable housing implements development in the economy and reduces the gap between social communities.
- From this point of view eco-friendly housing policy ought to incorporate 3 objectives;
- The first: of those is that future policies should offer the premise for unit improvement.
- The second objective: of the policies that may lead to property housing improvement is concerned with the authorization of poor individuals.
- The third objective: of such policies should be to psychologically offer the lower phase of the urban society a sense of self-worth. Thus, sustainable housing initiatives should be economically viable, socially acceptable and cheap, technically possible, and environmentally friendly.
How to Build A Sustainable Home
Obtaining sustainability is quite a simple task and does not need to be given attention after construction. Sustainable housing creates economical use of resources and energy with nominal impacts on the surroundings.
Principles that maintain sustainability criteria in sustainable housing are a higher quality of life, reducing, less impact on the environment, less maintenance regarding sustainable materials, reliability on non-toxic materials, and accepting 3 R’s criteria.
The following are the ways to make self-sustainable homes,
1. Making Appropriate Use of Sunlight
- While constructing a sustainable structure, proper facilities should be implemented for maximum usage of sunlight.
- Sunlight is the major source of light and energy in sustainable homes.
- Windows and other openings are to be provided for better allowance of light within the house.
- Subsequently, care should be taken while installing windows such that the heat should not get transferred through it which might cause a heating effect inside the house making indoor air warm.
2. Hire a Sustainability Expert
- Instructions guidelines given by Sustainability Experts should be followed with min. changes in guidelines, for better results.
- This is the first and major necessity for uninterrupted sustainable construction projects avoiding their failures and increasing their design life.
- Modern technologies and other efficiency improvements can be implemented in the structure with his/her help.
- Obtaining efficiency and making sustainable houses cost-effective projects. Sustainability experts can perform an energy audit to give you advice on easy fixes and faults.
3. Using More Energy-Efficient Appliances
- This could be the major source of saving a lot amount of energy when used on day to day basis.
- Replacing old energy-conserving appliances with newer modified ones will contribute to this cause.
- Lights, Fans, Cooking appliances, etc. are available in the market which can reduce electricity consumption at the same time give more efficiency while working.
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4. Eco-Friendly Houses With A Passive Design
- Either control of heat during summer or the cold during winter is possible through this design. Hence two-way protection is possible.
- A house that contains a passive style creates the area cool and warms up naturally; this can make the occupants feel better, possibly due to its wonderful orientation and correct ventilation.
- The house also will facilitate the sun’s rays throughout cold seasons and can be able to quiet down throughout the new season.
- Eco-friendly houses can also be designed to receive additional natural light-weight than artificial light-weight, reducing the general electricity prices.
5. Design Life of a Sustainable House
- For a house to be sustainable it should have an adequate design life otherwise the tag of sustainability will not follow.
- Hence while designing such structures it is well required to obtain the higher design life of the house.
- So what makes increase the design life of a Sustainable house? And Materials used for construction are the only answer.
- Henceforth choosing sustainable materials with longer life and less maintenance is a topic of interest.
6. Instillation of Regulatory Walls and Solar Panels
- Solar Panels create an adequate amount of electricity to run a house without an outer source. Hence once installed will save energy to a good extent.
- Installation of solar panels also cools down the surface beneath to some extent which in turn keeps the house cool and might result in less energy conservation.
- Even though the cost of installation is high it will cover this in a few years ultimately being eco-friendly.
7. Efficient Heating and Cooling Without Appliances
- This is possible with the use of curtains at windows and blinds. Sealing any leak also solves the problem at a smaller range.
- Using the sun’s heat and shading also proves excellent climate insulation.
- Even though after buying cooling appliances its effect could be multiplied by simply installing ceiling fans. Ceiling fans distribute the energy through the house through air circulation.
- After applying the above changes the remaining need of cooling or heating the indoor environment should be fulfilled by eco-friendly appliances with minimum emission.
8. Using Renewable Sources of Power
- Wind Energy and Solar Energy are the two renewable energy sources that are cheap and non-polluting. Before installing Wind energy plants, it becomes important to use wind maps that can help to predict the mean annual wind speed in your locality.
- Solar energy as discussed above will supply the house with clean and free electricity.
- Maintenance of both energy sources is considerably low with a lot of profit in it.
- Solar panels and solar heaters are of great interest nowadays in cities.
9. Use of Energy-Efficient Materials such as Doors and Windows
- Door jamb draft stoppers are probably not performing well enough as conditioned air may be skipping out along all the edges of exterior doors. Which means heat is escaping the rooms in winter.
- Coolness generated in summer through ACs also finds its way out through the gaps in doors and windows. Hence making rooms of the house unable to retain energy within the required space
- Draft-proof doors have a variety of styles to be chosen from like multi-paned glass, fit tighter to the frame, made from improved materials, and today’s efficient options also include patio doors. Windows of the same verities are also available.
- These windows and doors are installed to save energy and make our house sustainable.
10. Some Other Innovative Methods for Building a Sustainable Home
- Install double-glazed windows
- Use of Building Materials which are non-toxic
- Use of local materials will be worthy
- Keeping control of resources wastage
- House which can fulfill future demand is sustainable
- Making Compost or Goober Gas Plant for kitchen waste
- Use of organic beading
- Install Energy efficient windows when required
- Install low-flush toilets for water conservation
- Using non-toxic carpet as an eco-friendly material for flooring
Advantages of Sustainable Homes
Following are the advantages of Sustainable House or Homes;
- The environment created around Sustainable development is healthy and good for in terms of living point of view.
- Potential environmental pollutants secretion is reduced to the acceptable level which creates a healthier home environment for one’s family.
- The biggest benefit of choosing to build with eco-friendly material is that they are free from harmful chemicals, finishes, and polishes.
- Products used for building sustainable homes are eco-friendly as well as durable which are environment resistant hence require less maintenance and lasts for a longer duration of time.
- Higher design life and low maintenance make sustainable products economical than the traditional materials used for the construction.
- Sustainable homes are now the topic to look after which results in much higher property value than the non-green counterparts.
- Some sustainable materials are reuse or recyclable as per the standards hence need not be thrown away contributing to the garbage.
- It increases the aspect of living by creating good architectural occupancy.
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Disadvantages of Sustainable Homes
Sustainable Homes might have the following disadvantages;
- Materials used in Sustainable Homes need to be handle with care hence a high precautions need to be taken which can be done by strenuous labor.
- Proper planning and execution are required in building the same as it has less margin for error.
- Sustainable homes are not beneficial for the regions having a humid climate for the most part of the year.
- Construction materials used are not supportive in building thick walls.
- Better results can only be obtained by experienced professionals.
Key Elements of Sustainable Homes
Economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental protection are few key elements of Sustainable Homes which are as discussed below;
1. Economic Growth
- Economic growth is equal for all forms of sociality, through the development and implementation of the eco-friendly concept of sustainable homes.
- Sustainable Homes focuses on equal economic growth for all norms that, help in developing economy without harming the environment.
- Researches and inventions in this field encourage the financial growth of the country through the distribution of formulas at the international level.
- Sustainable home development methods are eco-friendly in a general sense but also cheaper and affordable with a lot of benefits hence helps in eradicating poverty in all its dimensions and forms.
2. Social Inclusion
- Sustainable Homes provide a good quality of life that too socially fairly distributed between all the components of society. Henceforth reduces the gap between upper and lower communities of society.
- Quality of life enforced by Sustainable homes can foster gender equality, development of people, communities, and cultures to help the development of society.
- Social inclusion through Sustainable home development will implement education and health care facilities at the global level.
3. Environment Protection
- The definition of Sustainable home is nothing but environmental protection. The concept of Sustainable homes put forward is for the safety and shielding of the environment.
- Sustainable Homes form the foundation of using eco-friendly materials on daily basics hence reducing the frequent amount of emission to the environment on a quotidian basis.
- It shields nature from being used as an inexhaustible source of useful resources and guard it against getting polluted at every platform.
- Carrying out innovation in sustainable construction and architecture, finding sustainable mobility, environmental conservation, investment in renewable energy are some of the necessary and implemented aspects of Sustainable Homes.
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