If you think an eco-friendly home is all about living a hippie lifestyle, nothing could be further from the truth. Today’s dream homes offer eco-friendly features that increase functionality, reduce maintenance, and provide a safer environment, both ecologically and physically. If you’re planning your next dream home, take into account what you want from the home improvements, and check to see if you can’t do them in an environmentally friendly fashion.
Top 3 Ways to Improve Your Home with Eco-Friendly Ideals
Want to help the earth while making your own life more pleasant? Focus on the goal of the home improvement before making a choice. Here are some typical examples of reasons people choose eco-friendly projects to enhance their homes, and what types of projects suit their needs.
1. To Increase Functionality – Homes that are not near to the gas grid or power lines opt for wind and solar energy projects to bring energy into the home, in a way that might be impossible otherwise. People who live near large bodies of water may decide that they would rather have a water-source or ground-source heat pump to warm and cool the home, rather than the standard furnace and air-conditioning units. They invest in these projects to increase the functionality while reducing long-term costs associated with rising energy prices. Landscaping to reduce heat gain in the summer, by placing trees next to south-facing windows, is another way to increase the functionality of the home and reduce energy consumption, with very simple ecological principles that are good for the earth.
2. To Reduce Maintenance – Homeowners who are looking to reduce maintenance will focus on projects like replacing carpeting in the home with renewables, like bamboo, or recyclable laminates. Some will even put radiant heating, powered by a solar array or heat pump, in the home to greatly increase the comfort level. Not only does replacing carpeting reduce cleaning maintenance, but it also is ideal for people reducing synthetic elements (like carpet fiber) that off-gas volatile organic compounds inside the home and create indoor air pollution. This helps people with breathing problems, like asthma and allergies.
3. To Provide a Safer Environment – Solar cells are used for lighting and to power the home. Solar lighting will light up walkways at night, reducing the potential for accidents. It can also increase security in the home by lighting up darker areas that might invite burglars. You can even have your security ADT alarm systems powered by solar power, especially if you have no such option in a remote living location. Landscaping can also be kept to a minimum in artificially lighted areas, if you want to make sure no one can hide behind bushes or trees.
Passive solar energy designs can help you heat our home in the winter and cool them in the summer. Landscaping can provide additional ways to cool the home, while adding more oxygen-bearing plants on the surface of the planet. Active arrays can help power the home. Recyclable materials can help reduce allergens and reduce landfill trash. Everything that is eco-friendly usually reduces pollution or conserves energy in some way. However, whatever you choose should always seek to enhance your own life, even as it does its job saving the planet.