Most homeowners are adopting energy efficiency in their way of living, especially by using star-rated appliances. However, you can go beyond this and transform your entire home into a sustainable one from the ground up. To ensure this, there are key factors you need to consider. Hence, continue reading to know about the factors needed in building a sustainable home.
1. Orientation
Orientation refers to the positioning of your home concerning the sun and wind. It’s a key component in determining your home’s heating and cooling needs.
It would be best to position your home in such a way that it’ll receive maximum heat from the sun. The southern direction should be ideal if you’re in the northern hemisphere. Besides your home, your main windows should be in the sun’s direction to absorb as much heat as possible.
However, it’s good to note your orientation depends on your preference and the properties you want to tap in, whether it’s cool air or hot air.
2. Location
Another factor to consider is the climatic conditions of your home’s location, which can be cold or hot. Once again, it boils down to your insulation needs.
If you’re in a cold region, you could check Boutique Home Plans and other similar firms. They provide plans and services in a manner that ensures the least amount of heat loss most of the year for your home. If in a hot area, the reverse applies. Additionally, your comfort levels are the determinant in this case.
3. Plumbing System
Plumbing is one other way you can ensure your home is sustainable. The aim is to promote water conservation and reduce wastage.
Consider harvesting rainwater in your home instead of wasting it away as surface run-off. You can build an underground tank system that your gutter and surface run-off will feed. This eliminates the need to adopt two different systems to cater to gutter water and surface run-off. Therefore, have your plumber establish a system that allows you to recycle your used water, often from the kitchen. Instead of going into your sewer, you can reuse this water for your flushing systems.
Adopt smart plumbing accessories, such as faucets that regulate the amount of water leaving your taps. This can be through pressure reduction or a mesh system that controls the flow. For your water closet, use one with two flushing systems to regulate the amount of water you use in a single flush, or depending on your needs.
4. Material
The materials you use are the greatest contributor to achieving a sustainable home. For an ideal energy-efficient home, use recyclable construction materials that have the least negative impact on the environment and are preferably locally sourced.
One such material is wood as it is bio-degradable. This means even if it ends up being wasted, it won’t negatively affect your surroundings. It will rot and ‘go back’ to the ecosystem. Another material you can adopt is steel. Steel is highly recyclable and any waste can be smelted and formed into another product. As part of being sustainable, you should refrain from using toxic materials that can negatively affect your health, such as asbestos.
5. Insulation
Insulating your house refers to putting in measures to control heat movement in your home, such as gaining or losing heat. This is important for your home so it could reduce your need to invest in an HVAC unit. Even if you need one, it won’t consume much electricity to run. Hence, allowing your home to be more energy-efficient.
Construction of new and modern modular house. Walls made from composite wooden sip panels with styrofoam insulation inside. Building new frame of energy efficient home concept.
There are several insulation tips you can adopt for a sustainable home. Consider glazing your windows with double or triple coating. It’s believed that windows are the greatest source of heat loss in a building. However, its material thickness reduces the possibility and amount of heat loss when glazed. Additionally, choose a roofing material color that’s light and bright to prevent the absorption of heat into your home, especially if you’re in an area with a hot climate.
Another sustainability tactic is installing solar panels. Once the panels absorb and store heat energy from the sun throughout the day, you can use this energy to power your house at night. This reduces your energy consumption rates through electricity use. Consider adopting sunshades on your windows to prevent excessive heat absorption in your home, especially during summer. With this, you’ll reduce the need to use a cooling unit to provide comfortable temperatures in your home.
Typical new residential property with solar panels in South Australia
You also need to factor in the U-Value of the materials you use on your building envelope. U-value denotes the thermal transmittance of material for your wall, windows, doors, or any other parts. A low U-Value is what you should consider for how much heat will be gained or lost through the material. It’s good to note how some regulations depict the standard U-Values for certain elements. Consider familiarizing yourself with these before settling on a material.
Another component you can utilize to alter the thermal performance of your elements. One such tip is the use of UV reflective paint on your external walls. The paint will reduce the amount of heat absorbed into your space.
Conclusion
The factors mentioned above are the most simple but effective ways of ensuring you build a sustainable home. Before settling on any one of them, get more insight from your contractor. This is because there’s a technique that might not work for your kind of home. You don’t want to blindly implement something, only for it to run inefficiently in the long run.
