If you are building a new house, then how you build it matters just as much as the house’s aesthetics. You must build with sustainability in mind for greater energy efficiency, safe construction materials, minimizing resource waste, and the least possible negative impact on the environment.
Eco-friendly home designs can lower the cost of running your home as they optimize energy flow and water use and reduce the need for maintenance. Additionally, the materials used in construction are low-impact, high-performance materials that are efficient in manufacturing, shipping, and installing and ensure more excellent durability to the house, increasing its lifespan and leading to an increase in property value.
From orientation to the types of material you use, there’s a lot to consider when building a sustainable house. Keep reading this article to learn about five ways to incorporate sustainable design elements into your new home.
Passive Solar Design
A passive solar design is a sustainable approach to building a home that can reduce energy consumption and costs by using the sun’s energy to heat or cool your home naturally, reducing energy consumption by up to 50%.
In this design, the house’s orientation is such that it faces south in the Northern Hemisphere and north in the Southern Hemisphere, allowing the building to receive maximum sunlight in the winter and minimal sunlight in the summer.
It also incorporates overhangs that shade the building from the sun in the summer but allow the sun’s rays to enter the building in the winter when the sun is lower in the sky.
This design also uses high thermal mass materials like concrete and masonry to build walls and floors, which absorb and store heat, heating the building in winter and cooling the building in summer.
Other passive solar design features include sunspaces (enclosed spaces attached to the south side of a building that collect and store heat) and Trombe walls (a type of solar collector that uses a south-facing wall to heat the building).
If you’re building a new house and your house plan doesn’t contain a passive solar design, then contact custom home builders like Excel Builders to make your house more energy-efficient.
Sustainable Roofing
There are several ways to make your roofing more energy-efficient and sustainable, like installing a cool roof. These roofs absorb less energy and reflect more sunlight than standard roofing materials, which can have a significant cooling effect on your home interior.
Cool roofs use materials with a low thermal mass, like tiles, clay, and slate, and the lightly colored pigments reflect sunlight hitting the roof. They can save your energy use and money by reducing up to 15% of energy use for air conditioning in a single-story home.
You can also use Polyisocyanurate (Polyiso) roof insulation. Polyiso insulation consists of a rigid, continuous foam board that uses closed cells pressed together so air and moisture can’t get between the cells or inside the foam. It has one of the highest thermal efficiency levels among roofing materials available in the market and does not have CFC and HCFC either, making it safe for the ozone layer. Plus, it uses recycled materials, which makes it an attractive option for houses with a sustainable and environment-friendly design.
Invest in High-performance Windows
High-performance window systems are more energy-efficient than conventional windows. These windows consist of a few glass panes with insulating spacers in between, with the window frames made of materials like wood, vinyl, or fiberglass with low heat conductivity.
The space between the glass layers also contains a nontoxic gas like krypton or argon, which offers better insulation than air. Also, the glass panes have a low-emissivity coating that blocks heat radiations but allows light to pass through. This glass design can reduce heat transfer to and from the house, keeping it cooler in summer and reducing the energy used by air conditioning systems.
Use Sustainable Paint Options
When painting your home, you must look for environment-friendly paint options that use natural or recycled materials, are free of harmful chemicals and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and are produced through environmentally responsible manufacturing processes. Their lower VOC content can lead to lower air pollution and improved air quality.
Different types of sustainable paint options are available in the market, and most are typically water-based. Water-based paints use water as a solvent, making them easier to clean up, and they are more environment-friendly than oil-based paints, which use petrochemical solvents.
When shopping for environment-friendly paint options, look for products that are certified by organizations like Green Seal or the Forest Stewardship Council, as these certifications can ensure that the product meets specific environmental and performance standards. Also, consider the finish and durability of the paint and look for products that give a durable and longer-lasting finish, as this can save you money on maintenance and repainting in the long run.
Use Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs)
Insulated concrete forms (ICFs) consist of two concrete walls with insulating materials and an open-air channel between them. They lead to a tight building envelope, stop thermal bridging, and improve the house’s effective R-value.
ICF walls lead to a strong, sturdy, energy-efficient system offering disaster and safety resistance, mold, rot, insect resistance, and soundproofing. The most significant benefit of ICF walls is that they are very energy efficient, causing the house to require 32% less energy to cool and 44% less energy to heat than wood-framed structures.
Go Solar
Installing solar panels in your home as an energy source will go a long way in laying the foundations for an environment-friendly home. Not only does solar energy help you generate less greenhouse gas emissions, but it also helps reduce nitrous oxides and sulfur dioxide emissions, which can cause respiratory and cardiovascular health problems.
Additionally, it will help reduce electricity bills, especially in summer, and apart from the initial capital required for installing a solar-powered system, there are no extra costs to using solar-powered energy in your home.
Endnote
There are many benefits of building sustainable and environment-friendly homes. They are energy- and water-efficient and save you money in the long run. Plus, they are durable and sturdy, leave less carbon footprint, minimize waste, and have a greater lifespan and property value.
You can make your home more environmentally friendly in many ways. First, your house construction plan should include a passive solar design. Ensure you use insulated concrete wall forms and polyiso roofing to confer better insulation to your home. Opting for high-performance windows is also essential as they offer more excellent insulation than conventional ones, ensuring they minimize heat losses in winter and reduce heat entry into a house in summer.
Look for environment-friendly paint options as they contain lesser VOC content than traditional paints. Following these tips will help ensure that you played your part in leaving as little negative impact on the environment and our planet as possible.