Eco-design and green construction minimize energy use, natural resources and ensures a healthy indoor environment. Eco-friendly homes also last longer and, hence, save you on maintenance expenses.
Shipping containers, or tiny homes, prefab, have become favourites for green homebuilders, but other approaches — using recycled wood or bamboo — rapidly replenish its resources supply. Then there are orientation measures that control sunlight, which further supports sustainability.
Energy Efficiency
Green home design is more than about avoiding the use of fossil fuels, it’s about smart energy usage. Energy efficient lights, appliances and HVAC appliances decrease electricity usage and fossil fuel consumption.
Other methods include adding more insulation to keep interior temperatures stable, no matter what outside temperature; green roofs, walls and landscapes can filter stormwater and bring the indoors outdoors in a close knit.
By using green building materials like bamboo flooring, reclaimed steel, reclaimed wood, you save the environment. Paints and glues that are low in VOC also come in greener versions, so no VOC’s go up into the air.
Building with green building features at a very early stage in your home construction can cost you less, use less energy and increase your property’s sale value – which has far-reaching consequences well beyond the time of your Florida custom home build.
Water Conservation
Water conservation is also an integral part of eco-friendly house design. Low-flow plumbing fixtures, rain water harvesting and greywater recovery systems are solutions homeowners can use to cut environmental and utility bills at the same time when designing homes.
Ecological landscaping methods like native or drought tolerant plants are another good strategy to reduce home water use in the outdoor area of a home. Also permeable surfaces can recharge the groundwater, while reducing surface runoff.
An eco house needs to be built with an eye to both short-term and long-term environmental considerations, including construction waste minimisation, recycled or reclaimed materials, energy-efficient appliances and optimised airflow – small but significant changes that will help reduce energy consumption while preserving natural resources. Fox Blocks ICF complies with 5 out of 6 environmental principles of sustainability – positively impacting money and the environment.
Materials
Green interior design relies on sustainable and recycled materials, green paints and finishes, and organic textiles – not just to save the planet but also for its aesthetic value and healthier interiors.
High Performance Windows, Solar Panels and Smart Thermostats: High performance windows, solar panels and smart thermostats can save you money. Save Water: Install rain water harvesting, low flow plumbing and greywater reuse for non-potable water. Planting and Landscaping – Last, native and drought-tolerant plants to control the temperature and how much water you have at your disposal.
Architectonics is the engine of green living: orientation, geometry/shape, insulation/air-sealing, shading & daylighting, all designed to minimize their environmental footprint. Buildings made of clay roof tiles (eg, at Xala in Mexico), natural plasters & concrete and locally sourced wood all reduce energy carried by the buildings.
Site Selection
It is essential to place, if we are going to minimise the environmental footprint of green homes, that it be constructed near public transportation so that we no longer need to use cars and get some exercise in the local parks. That will reduce greenhouse gases and save natural habitats and ecosystems on-site.
Moreover, green construction sites should be in close proximity to current utilities (water, sewer, electricity). That will help you save on cost and energy while building it and reduce material wastage.
You can achieve this by building your sustainable home with the most advanced technology and materials at Mark Lawler Architects.