Living in a sustainable world means utilizing every opportunity we have. As well and making the most of the natural resources available to us. This is especially true when building or renovating your home. So therefore if you put your mind to it, you’ll surely find dozens of viable ideas. Ideas that will help your immediate environment and make a real difference in the world. The concept of green building isn’t technically new. However it seems that it’s making its biggest impact right now. Here’s why this idea is so important and how it can become the future of environmentalism and sustainability.
What is a green building?
In order to understand the benefits of green buildings, you must first learn the basics of sustainable architecture. Although these concepts look quite complex and incomprehensible to a layperson. Yet they’re actually quite simple. That’s because a green building is your average building that actually does something good for the environment. It’s a building instead of ruining it. In other words, such a building shouldn’t disrupt the land and resources that were present before its construction. Nor should it make a negative change in the world.
Benefits of green buildings
Green buildings are made from sustainable resources. As well as second-hand materials and repurposed supplies such as steel, stone and wood. In addition, the absolutely most valuable resource out there is about reuse. Yup it’s all about reusing already existing materials to lower your energy consumption. This will definitely reflect not just in the amount of energy your area uses, but also affect your monthly bills, which is quite important as well. However, what are some of the other reasons why sustainable architecture is so essential?
First of all, these types of building reduce the carbon footprint and can make a huge difference in the air quality around them. This might not seem too important. Yet if you look at just one building, but imagine how great an entire neighborhood of green buildings would be! Also, these constructions create less trash and air pollution. Plus and require less energy and water to be fully functional. In the end, they enable their residents a healthier life and help them become more productive, and that’s particularly important if a green building is used for office space.
Insulation, insulation, insulation
The only problem with green architecture is the fact that you can’t fully apply this concept to an already built house. Because doing so when you’re building from scratch is much easier. However, there’s something you can do whenever you want: insulate your house. That’s both from the outside and inside, and you’ll instantly make it much greener and more sustainable. Moreover, a properly insulated house will require less energy for heating and cooling. So this investment will enhance your quality of life all year long.
While completely insulating your home doesn’t seem like a big project at first, something you can do on your own in a matter of days, things aren’t always that simple. While you may know some of the basics when it comes to construction, you should definitely hire a team of professionals who will show you the newest trends in insulation technology and suggest useful solutions. One of these is effective non-combustible cladding that’s basically a layer of special material applied on top of your insulation in order to provide additional sustainability, protection and temperature regulation. So, talk to your architect and general contractor and investigate this option together.
Green roofs
If you’re a big fan of nature, yet don’t have a spacious backyard, don’t worry – you can always turn your flat roof into a green oasis. This is another costly and long project, but its benefits are versatile: from giving you a new place to drink your morning coffee to providing you with space for growing your own herbs and vegetables. Of course, it also elevates the sustainability level of your house and helps your local eco-system stay greener and healthier. You can build a green roof on your own easier than most people think, so look into it as soon as possible.
Other ideas
Some of the other ways to make your home greener and more sustainable include recycling your own waste, using LED light bulbs instead of the regular ones and installing solar panels and wind turbines on the roof in order to produce your own electricity.
