Four Rules of Green Home Design
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by: hugatree
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Word Count: 500
As a people, our current wasteful lifestyles wont be sustainable for long. This is a fact that were becoming more and more aware of every day. And so green home design, formerly a small market, is spreading steadily over the world. Many predict that green home design will eventually dominate the housing market-- which would be a very good thing.
In the United States, homes create 38% of the total carbon emissions. Especially if we want to stop global warming, building our homes with green home designs will have a significant effect on the future. If youre looking to incorporate a bit of green home design, there are a hundred small things you can do to green-up your home. But if youre seriously interested in reducing the impact your home has on the environment, there are four basic green home design concepts to follow.
Green Home Design Rule 1: Smaller is Better
Theres something gloriously attractive about large, mansion-like homes. Unfortunately, large home need a huge quantity of fuel for heating and cooling-- fuel which is generally in for form of environment-killing fossil fuels. These homes also require more resources for building and create more waste as a result. So its important for you to build small if you want to incorporate a green home design.
Green Home Design Rule 2: Incorporate Passive Solar Design
Passive solar cooling and heating is one of the most important elements of green home design. This kind of heating and cooling is relatively simple, and uses the climate to dictate the design of the home. In warmer climates, homes are designed to absorb less heat. In colder areas, design is used to reduce the amount of heat lost. Green home design uses the buildings orientation to the sun, window positioning, stone flooring, and other building elements to control the temperature and save energy.
Rule 3 in Green Home Design: Recycle and Reuse Materials
Unfortunately, almost all the materials you use in your home will harm the environment, either during manufacturing or transportation to your home. Using locally produced renewable materials can help reduce the amount of damage your building can do. Use recycled materials, such as recycled insulation and lumber composites, or quickly-renewable products, such as bamboo flooring, in your green home design.
Rule 4 in Green Home Design: Shrink your AC
Heating and cooling a home accounts for the huge majority of its energy consumption. And even though the thought of the hot summer months might make an oversized air conditioning system sound pretty tempting, this kind of cooling is as anti-green home design as you can get. Large AC systems overcool the air, and tend to cycle on and off too frequently. This constant on-and-off cycle gives large AC systems a short lifespan, making them create extra waste along with using up extra fuel.
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