Green House Building ... Sustaining Our Future

Our Planet is facing dramatic changes owing to the accelerated rate of human development and indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources. A warning sign that our delicate global ecosystem is very near the 'tipping' scale is characterized by Global warming. Therefore, it devolves upon the human race to find solutions so that man and nature can harmonize their needs to ensure a sustainable future. Building 'Green' Houses is one such important initiative.

What is a 'Green' House building? It encompasses cost effective and eco-friendly use of resources to build houses, institutions, markets, malls, and other similar structures.

There are various methods used for building 'Green' houses. Use of architectural designs, which maximize the availability of natural sunlight and wind, help reduce consumption of electricity and polluting air conditioners. Another method is to use solar heaters and photovoltaic cells to save electricity. Conservation, an important facet of 'green' design is helped by using locally available natural materials. Rationalizing one's needs also helps the green initiative; for example, building a house only as large as you actually need. Conservation of water is a 'green' principle, which can be achieved through installing smaller cisterns, using recycled water for your garden and rainwater harvesting.

The advantages of building 'green' are many. Experts have estimated that a well-planned 'green' building consumes upto 30% less energy than a normal building. Greater use of natural air and sunlight make 'green' building healthier, increasing human efficiency and yes, mean lesser visits to the doctor!

It is generally misconstrued that green building costs more to build than normal buildings. Such a perception is not true. A well-conceived 'green' house project might cost in the range of 0.5% to 6.5% over a normal building in the initial costing. In the long term, those initial costs are recovered.

For 'green' buildings to be sustainable it is recommended that one considers incorporation of the 'green' features in the initial design itself. Sustainability of a 'green' concept is also increased by establishing a common area for selected facilities or sharing of resources including a common swimming pool or a rain water conservation unit in the neighborhood.

'Green' is here to stay. In fact more and more people will be opting to live in 'green' buildings in the future. Giving encouragement to this initiative will be our contribution towards securing a sustainable future for mankind and our planet.

Green Home Design Ideas

As a people, our current wasteful lifestyles won't be sustainable for long. This is a fact that we're becoming more and more aware of every day. And so green home design, formerly a small market, is spreading steadily over the world. Some experts predict that green home design will soon make up a huge slice of the real estate industry.

In the U.S., housing accounts for 38% of the country's carbon emissions. Especially if we want to stop global warming, building our homes with green home designs will have a significant effect on the future. If you're looking to incorporate a bit of green home design, there are a hundred small things you can do to green-up your home. But for those into truly lowering their home's impact on the environment, there are four basic green home design rules to follow.

Rule 1 in Green Home Design: Go Small

Large homes are a symbol of wealth, status, and success. But large homes use up an incredible amount of energy for heating and cooling-- and this energy generally comes from nasty fossil fuels that muck up our environment. These homes also require more resources for building and create more waste as a result. So it's important for you to build small if you want to incorporate a green home design.

Green Home Design Rule 2: Incorporate Passive Solar Design

Passive solar cooling and heating is one of the most important elements of green home design. The relatively simple concept behind passive solar design is to design a home according to the climate. In warm climates, design is used to reduce the amount of heat absorbed by the home. In colder areas, design is used to reduce the amount of heat lost. To do this, green home design is incorporated into the orientation of the building, the location of the windows, the flooring (stone is best), and other elements of the home to reduce the amount of energy wasted.

Rule 3 in Green Home Design: Recycle and Reuse Materials

Almost everything used in a traditional home harms the environment in some way, either by its manufacture (plastics and artificials) or its transport (naturals). The use of renewable or recycled materials which are manufactured locally helps to reduce the damage building can have on the environment. Consider installing bamboo or recycled wood flooring and incorporate a green home design using recycled materials, such as cellulose insulation and lumber composites, throughout the home.

Rule 4 in Green Home Design: Shrink your AC

Heating and cooling a home accounts for the huge majority of its energy consumption. And no matter how tempting a large AC system might sound during the hot summer months, this type of system can ruin your good intentions for a green home. Big air conditioning systems cool the air too much and too quickly, causing them to turn on an off constantly. Because of this, they don't last nearly as long as smaller systems, creating a huge amount of waste along with energy loss.

World Variations in Green Home Building

As new information comes in, the global community becomes more and more concerned about the environment and energy conservation. And even though the United States is doing more every day to conserve energy, Americans are still a step behind in the energy conservation movement. Europe in particular has been leading the way in green home building and especially in energy conservation for many years.

European Energy Consciousness

Europe is at the forefront of the green movement, including green home design... and with good reason. In Europe, oil, natural gas, and electricity are more expensive than in the U.S., and have been for decades. And of course this makes Europe more aware of energy and power usage than the U.S.. This is seen in European culture in a lot of ways.

One of the main ways that Europeans save energy is through a tightly knit and efficient public transport system. In addition to mass transit in essentially every major European city, the continent also boasts a well utilized long distance passenger rail service. While cars are common in Europe, many more Europeans use public transport (or even ride bicycles) than would be found in the U.S..

Europeans also build their homes with energy conservation in mind. In large European cities in particular, green home building concepts are widely used. Most people residing in a large European city live in a much smaller space than the average U.S. home. Most homes (and many businesses) in Europe do not have central air conditioning, and use basic green home building concepts for cooling. They use simple ideas, such as rolling black out screens, roll out terrace shades, double paned windows, etc., to cool or heat their homes.

The Green Home Building Trend in the U.S.

To sum it up: in Europe, the people have been conscious of the need to switch off the lights when they are not using them for decades... because they needed to save money. Americans, who are used to thinking of energy as a cheap and limitless commodity, are just starting to adjust to a "more European" mindset... including remembering to turn out the lights. This is easy to see when you consider how popular green home building and design has become in America during recent years.

The green home building concepts being used in America revolve around simple ideas, such as less square footage, improved insulation, and smarter positioning to the sun, as well as the use of alternative energy sources like solar paneling. More long term, in depth ideas are also used in green home building in America, such as using renewable materials and environmentally friendly building processes. America is a little behind, but with luck will start catching up to the standard set by Europe.