ShareThisWhat does it take to make a green home?
It’s more than bamboo floors and low-VOC paint. A green home contains a collection of design elements, materials, and equipment assembled with careful attention to detail.
The global economy is about to enter the zero-energy generation. Over the next 2 decades, residential buildings will evolve to a point where they generate as much energy as they consume over the course of a typical year. Because it is generally less expensive to conserve energy than it is to generate energy, this “net-zero” energy approach starts with the outside shell: floors, walls, and ceilings. It’s like an overcoat and requires as much insulating value as can be accommodated in the walls, ceilings, and floors. Air leakage must be restricted as much as possible by sealing every opening, crack, and penetration with caulk, gaskets, or expanding foam sealant. Windows lose 7 to 10 times more heat than walls, so the windows must be oriented to maximize or minimize heat loss and solar gain as appropriate to the local climate and building design. The building shell has no moving parts and should last the life of the house, so it pays to make it as efficient as possible at the outset.
High efficiency equipment for heating and cooling is essential. Ductless heat pumps are highly efficient while offering the comfort of summer cooling that occupants enjoy. Space heating and cooling, lighting and water heating are the four main culprits of energy consumption, and where green building focuses on to create reduced consumption, leading to lower carbon emissions.
In modern society, people spend as much as 90 percent of their time indoors. Sharing the day with dust, mold, and toxic chemicals, increases the risk of health problems. Green homes strive to eliminate assaults on health by minimizing exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), formaldehyde, mold, and other harmful elements. All combustion devices, such as water heaters, must be properly vented to the outside. Indoor pollutants that can’t be avoided must be flushed out through an automatic fresh air ventilation system.
An emphasis of green building is to make the home durable enough to last at least 100 years. The number one cause of premature building failure is moisture damage. Rain and surface run-off assault the building from outside. Water vapor generated by occupants, attacks from inside.
Footprint considerations are another key element of green building. A well-designed small space can be more comfortable than a huge empty expanse. Small houses also cut construction cost. Savings from down-sizing can be applied to higher quality finishes and furnishings.
The use of material with post-consumer recycled content is promoted. This reduces resource extraction and makes landfills last longer. The concept of ‘buy local’ is rewarded in green programs to stimulate acquisition from local sources. Materials should travel no more than 500 miles. Design with architectural styles that are appropriate for the local climate is integral in sustainable building.
In this modern-day age, the importance for people need to connect with nature is increasingly important. The preservation of the indigenous values of the building site is safeguarded by carefully protecting existing trees and shrubs. Landscaping should attempt to use native plant species wherever possible and irrigation needs to be kept to a minimum. Surface water run-off should be inhibited so as to protect water quality in streams and the water table. Builders wishing to adopt green building practices need to assemble a skilled team to integrate all of these elements in their projects. With the explosion in green building in the U.S. experienced designers, builders, and subcontractors are now fairly plentiful. Working with an independent third-party verifier, such as Earth Advantage, is the best way to have all of the efforts certified. Certification programs set the standard for what it means to be “green.” Builders and homeowners can be confident that a certified home shows more than a pretty face.
About the Author
People automatically assume that turning back the thermostat will save loads of money. The key here is not to turn it too far back! When you are heating a home everything in the house gets warmed as well. So all the furniture, cabinets and other items in the home act as a sponge absorbing heat. When you turn the heat down it actually makes the furnace work harder to raise the home temperature as well as everything in the home back to the original temp.