September 08, 2022
What are the features of sustainable housing?
There is a lot of talk about sustainable housing but what actually can a home builder do to make their home more sustainable or environmentally friendly?
At the macro level, sustainable housing involves a shift from the urban sprawl (which is evident in most Australian cities) to an emphasis on medium density and light urban development, and on sustainable cities in which things like transport and amenities are accessible and well-planned.
In terms of individual dwellings, there should be recognition of the entire life cycle of a building as the most important single goal of sustainable architecture.
From that starting point, architects aiming to design energy-efficient homes have several strategies at their disposal including the use of double glazing on windows, insulation, solar panels, and in-slab heating.
They have access to innovative products like Hempcrete, which is made from hemp, lime, and water; or rammed earth and straw bale which can help reduce the thermal mass of a house. All can play a part in helping sustainable house ideas become reality.
Building environmentally friendly houses involves several considerations, these include:
With utility costs on a continual upward trend in Australia, many homeowners are increasingly looking at ways to lower their gas and electricity spending while also reducing their carbon footprint.
Employing energy-efficient elements in your home design could reap big rewards in both the short and long term. Some examples of popular tactics include double glazing on windows, concrete floors with in-slab heating, as well as more comprehensive insulation throughout the house.
Solar panels are a common choice, and there's even the option of Trombe walls, which are dark masonry structures that trap heat and slowly release it through the house, moderating the temperature.
The orientation of the house, thermal mass, ventilation, and insulation are all important aspects of eco-house design.
Your home should always be a comfortable living space, and sustainable homes are doing this by introducing passive design techniques.
According to the Centre for Liveability Real Estate, there are seven core components of passive design in home building:
Orientation– Spatial zoning– Thermal Mass– Ventilation– Insulation– Shading– Glazing
With the right home design, these components can work together to provide exceptional – and natural – heating and cooling methods to ensure your home is as comfortable as possible.
There's a wealth of ways that pre-used materials can be recycled and adapted into a home's design.
Outdoor brick pavers can be brought into the home and used for bathroom flooring. Sturdy wood – such as oak – can be salvaged and used as feature walls in living areas as a striking statement piece.
For other sustainable materials, popular choices include low-VOC (low volatile organic compounds) paints and finishes, locally sourced building materials for the home's exterior and wood products that are always sustainably sourced.
Those designing sustainable homes can recycle beams and use them for sub-floor structures, use recycled outdoor brick pavers as bathroom flooring, and use low-VOC paints and finishes, locally sourced building materials, and only sustainable timber products.
Hemp houses are becoming popular because the material is resistant to insects and therefore does not need to be chemically treated with insecticide. Rammed earth and straw bale are other popular choices.
Depending on where you are around Australia, water is a precious commodity that must be managed well.
To moderate the country's warm, dry weather – as well as exorbitant water bills – homeowners can be water-wise by installing showerheads, water fixtures and toilets that are WELS rated at three stars or more.
You can take sustainability to the next level with wastewater reused via two different methods.
A grey-water system is used for general external use as well as laundry and toilet flushing, whereas a black-water system is used to irrigate gardens and lawns.
Did you know that lighting alone makes up about 11% of the energy consumed in the average Australian home?
That's the same amount as refrigeration. However, you can make a serious dent in that energy consumption by choosing more efficient lighting technology.
Well-designed sustainable homes feature smart lighting systems, which ensure lighting is only turned on when needed. They feature lighting that is wired through a C-Bus smart wiring system.
When choosing lights, householders should consider the wattage, not the voltage of lightbulbs; and realise that by combining LED and CFL light fittings they can lower overall energy consumption.
Passive solar design captures energy from the sun to help heat and cool your living spaces.
Using no mechanical or electric equipment, the passive solar design relies on building materials that reflect, absorb or transmit the sun's radiation.
Inside spaces are designed to facilitate the movement of sun-heated air without the use of fans. A passive house requires less energy to heat and cool.
High-performance windows can cut energy usage, as windows account for 50% or more of lost energy.
New technologies include double glazing, special coatings, nonconductive framing materials and higher-quality, air-tight construction.
Replacing windows makes your home more energy-efficient, protects your belongings from fading, and makes rooms quieter.
For a warmer climate: Look for what is called low solar gain, meaning less heat is conducted into your interior through the windows. Reflective technologies are very helpful, as is double glazing. Windows that also facilitate ventilation are ideal.
For a colder climate: Choose frames that are well insulated and have the right U-value, which is the measure of the rate of heat flow through a material. Lower is better. Triple-glazed windows with a vacuum between panes can further minimize heat loss. Look for a tight fit to eliminate drafts.
After your HVAC systems, appliances are the next biggest energy consumers in your home.
Think of them as having two prices: the cost of buying and the cost of operating. When you buy the most energy-efficient options, you dramatically cut the cost of using them, which can easily exceed the cost of buying them.
What grows outside your house increases home sustainability.
Landscaping choices can keep your home cooler, serve as a windbreak and contribute to cleaner air.
Make choices that need less water and upkeep. Mowing lawns eats energy. If you are in an area where watering your landscape is necessary, drip irrigation is a sustainable home alternative.
Drip irrigation systems use gravity to deliver water to plants, focusing it directly on the roots where it's needed. You not only save electricity by eliminating water pumps but also minimize water wasted through evaporation.
Use eco-paints in your sustainable house that emit fewer toxins.
They reduce indoor air pollution and are less toxic to manufacture.
A cool roof reflects the sun's heat instead of absorbing it into your home. The effect on your cooling bill can be tremendous.
Smaller houses are far more efficient. Building a smaller house is going to reduce your material use and energy needs.
A larger house will obviously use more materials and require more energy for heating and cooling.
Think about your needs and try not to go overboard with the size of your house. Smaller houses are inherently more efficient and less wasteful.
Orientation is important for sustainable homes.
If you live in a cold climate in the Northern Hemisphere, you can take advantage of the sun by having more windows facing south. If you build a long wall with windows facing south, you maximize direct sunlight in the winter.
This will help heat your home, as well as bring in natural light. You do not want too many windows facing west, as this will give lots of glare and provide heat in the summer. If you do have windows facing west, you can plant a large tree to block some of that uncomfortable sunlight.
You can plant a deciduous tree in front of your south-facing windows for more energy saving. Deciduous means the tree loses its leaves in winter. The tree will block sunlight in the summer, but lose its leaves and allow the sunlight in during the winter.
This will help reduce your heating usage. Another trick is sun shades or a roof overhang.
The sun is higher in the summer than in the winter, so a roof overhang can block the sun in the summer. In the winter, the sun will be at a lower angle and not be blocked by the overhang. These types of passive design features can make a big difference in sustainability at low costs.
For the Southern Hemisphere think in the opposite direction
Did you know that igloos are very energy-efficient house designs? An igloo is built in a cold climate with a shape that minimizes surface area. The reduced surface area reduces interior heat loss.
Building a house that is very wide and spread out is going to have more heat loss and less efficiency than a house that is compact.
Building taller can be more efficient than building wider. A cube or a sphere is a very efficient shape.
There will always be trade-offs in sustainable house design. However, you don't have to actually make your home resemble an igloo.
The idea here is that a compact design is better than a spread-out one.
A compact two-story house will tend to be more efficient than a one-story spread-out house. For example, if you want to build a 2,000 square foot house, building two stories with 1,000 sq ft per story is most likely going to be more efficient than building one story with 2,000 sq ft.
Using local materials in your new sustainable house will reduce the need for shipping.
It's more green to buy wood that is locally milled than to order it from across the country. This is a tough one, though, because you may not have as many options based on your location.
The availability of materials will vary depending on where you choose to build your house.
Recycling is very important. This will have to be balanced with availability.
Depending on where you are, the materials that are easily available will vary. There are all sorts of materials that are recycled, reclaimed, and reused.
Here is a list of some materials made of recycled products that you may choose when building your sustainable house:
Countertops made from Recycled Glass
Steel made from recycled metals.
Reclaimed Wood. This can be beautiful! When a contractor demolishes a building or does a renovation, they can often reuse the old wood products they salvage for other projects. There are lumber yards that specialize in purchasing and selling reclaimed wood.
Reclaimed Bricks and other masonry. Bricks, stones, and pavers can also be reclaimed and reused.
Reuse soils from the excavation for new landscaping.
Roof shingles can have recycled content.
Plastic Products with recycled content.
Drywall materials that were recycled.
Just about any product in your new home could come from recycled materials.
You can also reduce job site waste by making sure the contractor recycles the waste materials during construction.
Energy efficiency is one of the most prominent features of a sustainable building.
From small measures like sealing air ducts to preventing air leakages to larger initiatives like using renewable resources for heating and cooling systems, every aspect of the building is sensitive to the environment.
Top energy-saving techniques incorporated in green buildings include the installation of solar panels, energy-efficient lights and timer-adjusted street lights. These buildings also generate energy from non-exhaustible resources like tidal and hydroelectric power.
A green building benefits all the stakeholders of the building – including the occupants!
Each unit is designed to ensure residents ample amounts of natural light, panoramic views, and superior air quality.
A home in a sustainable development doubles as a tight envelope from noise and air pollution, improving the health and well-being of its residents.
Furthermore, since all units are sealed from the toxins of polluted air, this also keeps moisture at bay which, in turn, reduces the possibility of mould or mildew.
A development is characterised as a sustainable one right from its inception.
The construction and design are implemented keeping existing fauna and flora in mind, with eco-friendly raw materials that are purchased from local suppliers.
A few of the top sustainable materials used in green buildings include recycled metal, recycled stone, certified third-party forest wood, bamboo and straw, to name a few.
Prior to construction, the site is deep-cleaned from pollutants and toxic materials that can counteract sustainability.
The ideal location for a sustainable building is a site that is unused and needs to be redeveloped, in order to contribute to the infrastructure of society. Farmlands and fields cannot be considered ideal sites for development since they are natural habitats and are vital aspects of the green spaces around us.
Overflowing landfills are a pressing concern in urban cities today, making efficient waste management the need of the hour.
Sustainable buildings are constructed with the main objective of keeping wastage to a minimum. Waste materials generated during development are recycled into new materials or composted for reuse.
Even the wastewater that is conventionally directed to sewage plants is treated onsite to reduce the building's carbon footprint.
However, the concept of sustainability is not restricted to the construction phase alone. Even after occupation, green buildings offer efficient waste management systems with the segregation of wet and dry waste to further reduce the negative impact on the environment.
Water is one of our most-valued exhaustible resources.
Sustainable development gives top priority to water efficiency right from construction to completion.
A few of the sustainable initiatives taken to conserve water include the installation of low-flow water fixtures that do the job with half the amount of water consumption and ample rainwater harvesting.
Another important feature of green buildings is the use of alternative water sources for irrigation and sanitation.
If you are planning a new home spend some time investigating what sustainable features you can include.
Comments will be approved before showing up.
September 30, 2024
September 11, 2024
August 23, 2024