In the past very few people questioned the ecological impart of their home when they built it and even those who did often didn’t know how to go about making any real change, but if you are building a home now there are many options which will help you impact the environment less but cut costs as well. While not all of these will be practical for everyone, nearly anyone can find at least one or two ways to implement energy saving measures into their new home.
One possibility, and one of the most dramatic is to build a earth sheltered home. An earth sheltered home is one which in large part is underground and while this idea may draw your mind to thoughts of dreary back rooms which never have any light it really doesn’t need to be that way. With some work on design most if not all of the rooms in your home can have either a window or a skylight opening it up just as much as any other home. In fact once inside many of these homes you would have trouble imagining that it is underground but it allows for far more yard, and a great amount of savings as a earth sheltered home is both cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter than a typical home.
There are of course less extreme ways to make a traditional home far more green, and by doing it will a new home you can save a great deal of effort and time as well as making it far more efficient.
One of the first things to ensure is that you are not loosing excess energy through the walls and windows. You can skimp on inselation and windows while building your home, but if you plan to live in it for any period of time you will end up paying for that. Add extra inselation to the walls and attick and buy the best windows you can. double pained windows will not only keep your house more comfortible but save you a great deal of money in the long run.
Next is appliances. Nearly every appliance uses less energy than it did in the past but there is still great advantages in looking carefully. One of the best of these is the tankless water heater. These save a great deal of energy because instead of constantly keeping a large tank of water heated they heat the water as it comes through the pipe. Not only this but you never run out of hot water because there isn’t a tank that needs to be refilled. Other possible ways to save are to use compact florescent light bulbs and replacing that old refrigerator rather than moving it into your new home.
And finally there is the possibility of creating some of your own energy. Again this is where planning ahead can come in handy. If you are interested in using solar panels at some point then the positioning of your house is important. Simple changes in the design of the roof of your hous or simply turning the angle can make it possible for solar pannals to be in the sunlight all day rather than being in shade most of the time. THis can not only help cut down on your carbon footprint but save you money every month.
There are hundreds of other small and big ways that you can make a house you are building more green and still fit it into your lifestyle and the best part is that very few of them require much work once they have been done and they almost all will save you money in the long run and while saving the planet is a nice idea saving money is something that no one is going to argue with.
