General

With the spirally costs of heating and cooling a home, building green homes that are energy efficient makes economic sense. Living in a green home greatly reduces the cost of energy for a U.S. household.
Designing a green home involves maximum utilization of natural elements to provide natural energy to the interiors. Harnessing the power of nature in a green home like solar power or wind power can help run most household consumer durables without the fear of a power outage. Naturally occurring stone and terra cotta bricks are eco friendly and do not have the harmful effects of chemically treated mass produced building material. Building a green home includes using Recycled building material to avoid waste.

Unlike the conventional light bulb that turns light into heat compact fluorescent lamps convert the gas inside their glass casing into light and no unnecessary heat is generated to artificially alter the temperature in a green home. . When building a green home it is preferable that pastel shades or whitewash is used to color the walls to make greater use of natural sunlight. The cost involved in building a green home may be off putting for some but it is a small price to pay compared to the long term energy and maintenance savings benefits it provides.

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Big news this week on climate change and policy For the first time, there was affirmation from the White House that climate change was real. I see this as very big for the climate change camp. However, policy change is not very clear as a result of this announcement. From what I saw, the environmental folks were not too happy because the republicans didn’t say they were going to do anything about it. Check This Out.
This is understandable. But, this is a step forward. Prior to this week’s statements, the republicans were saying that there is no real consensus on the climate change debate. That was just flat-out wrong. From my point of view, they are now finally acknowledging what has been accepted by the scientific community for many years now.

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The Green movement has seen a considerable evolution since the early 70s. In those halcyon days of the Peace Movement, Vietnam War and the winding down of counter culture, building ‘Green’ was in its infancy. Many concept homes were designed in those early years which looked more like cave dwellings or ant hills and one really wondered whether people were actually serious about living in such homes.

Environment, ecology and living with the nature were very much a concept then, but was the domain of few people. What has changed from the 70s to the present day is that building Green homes has very much become an enterprise being seriously attempted by reputed builders and encouraged by various governments. So what started out as a popular cultural idea in the 70s, has now gained the stamp of international approval.

In the 70s there was no real professional effort at building Green homes. Designs mimicked natural designs of indigenous people without really trying to incorporate the wishes and aspirations of modern day living. There was no concerted effort at scientifically arriving at Green home designs. Modern day avatars of Green home designs follow a rigid certification code in many counties in the world. In the US, The Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) is an initiative that sets standards for Green Home designs. Countries the world over, from the West to the East have incorporated the LEED standard and in some cases their own standards. In the 70s, Green home designs tended to concentrate on ’stand alone’ projects. Today, designers approach Green home designs as full-fledged eco systems. All aspects of the environment, architecture and every avenue for using indigenous methods and recycled materials is explored in a holistic manner.

An important role in the evolution of Green home design has been brought by Science. In the 70s powerful computers were not available. Computer Aided Designs (CAD) with wind flow computations and solar capture calculations make designing Green homes far more efficient than the 70s. Even ‘greening’ of construction materials has received an impetus thanks to advances in science. Construction companies now regularly use recycled products, which are closer to nature thanks to advances of science. For example, cement an important ingredient in any construction today can be mixed with Fly ash, a waste product, which is just as efficient as original cement. As our environmental challenges increase and more and more countries recognize that it is our responsibility to conserve our resources, building Green homes has become an internationally recognized initiative. Thus Green home designs have traveled from a ‘niche’ specialization in the 70s to the mainstream of the construction business today.

Building a green home is something that many people strive to do. Features of most green homes include utilizing the sun and land for natural heating and cooling, lessening waste produced by construction, making using of sustainable resources, and employing energy efficient fixtures and appliances. These features can be implemented in many ways both in building a green home and in updating an existing home.

So, in what way can you go about building a green home? There are really some very simple steps you can take to improve the home that you have now or to take into consideration when building a green home. One of the biggest things that you can do to promote greenness in your home is to update fixtures and appliances, especially those that use water.

An essential step to take is to update your toilet. Old toilets use much more water than updated ones and can be replaced relatively easily. It is also important to check your faucets in your home. Dripping faucets can waste gallons of water per day and you may not even notice it! Additionally, and I do know that this is expensive, but top-loading washers use a lot more water than front loaders. I am not saying that you should run out and buy a brand new washing machine, however, you should keep that in mind if you find that you are going to be purchasing a new washing machine.

Other features to keep in mind when building a green home or updating an existing home are windows and insulation. If you are building a green home, paying a little more for energy efficient windows can help cut heating costs, which is especially important with today’s fuel costs. Also, having your home properly insulated can cut heating and cooling costs.

While I understand that it is not always possible to go out and spend a lot of money on updates for your home, there are many things that you can do to that are very inexpensive. I think the most inexpensive thing that I have done to make my home more green is to purchase a water-saving showerhead. It cost me about seven dollars, and uses half the water that a conventional showerhead does. Building a green home or updating and existing home is actually pretty simple and does not need to be expensive.