The Green Building Guides provides a comprehensive guide to building a sustainable home. It emphasizes the importance of choosing the right location, focusing on orientation and size, using natural light, and selecting sustainable materials. The guide also highlights the need to consider the environment the home will be built in, using a bioclimatic chart to guide the holistic process of green home design.
The guide covers principles, planning, materials, energy systems, water conservation, and more. It offers eco-friendly house ideas that show how to build a more sustainable living space without sacrificing design style. Passive design is an essential aspect of sustainable homes, as it reduces the need for energy consumption. Common energy-efficient house features include draft proof doors or windows, drip irrigation systems, skylights, low-flush toilets, lockable taps, water tanks, energy-smart lightbulbs, and certified energy-saving appliances.
To create a sustainable house, consider new technologies such as double glazing, special coatings, and nonconductive frames. Additionally, tailor your window design to minimize VOCs.
The guide also discusses 10 sustainable global home design trends, including the use of sustainable and natural materials, prefabrication, reuse, indoor gardens, and solar energy. It also provides information on passive design, choosing sustainable materials, water use efficiency, adapting to climate change, and reducing waste.
The guide also provides 21 construction techniques for building a small, sustainable, and eco-friendly home, including passive solar design, landscaping, and insulated concrete forms (ICF).
📹 10 Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Houses | Green Building Design
We visit 10 eco homes to see how green building design is being using in a variety of ways. From Passivhaus buildings to …
How can we make self sustaining ecosystem at home?
A DIY closed terrarium is a self-sustaining mini ecosystem that can be created by adding pea gravel or clay pebbles, water halfway up the gravel layer, and a layer of soil mix. The soil mix should be a mix of sphagnum moss, sand, and potting soil. 3-5 plants should be added to the terrarium, and the water added evaporates in the air and condenses on the glass walls, then rains back down to water the plants.
What is the difference between green and sustainable interior design?
Sustainable design and green design are not the same, as sustainable design focuses on long-term consequences and minimizes negative environmental impacts for years, decades, or centuries. It is not just about building structures, but also about building a future for the earth’s inhabitants. Sustainable interior design is crucial for the planet’s wellbeing, as it reduces our impact on the environment through various practices such as using public transport and purchasing environmentally friendly cleaning products.
The best place to start is with the buildings we create and use, as it helps keep the environment and us healthy. Incorporating sustainable principles into home interior design is essential for both environmental and human health benefits.
How to live 100% sustainably?
Conservation International is working to protect nature by promoting sustainable living tips. These include reusing your dryer, replacing bulbs with better ones, refreshing air filters, reducing heat or AC usage, using rechargeable batteries, making standard shipping the norm, dining in instead of eating out, and steering clear of steers. Individual action is crucial for major improvements to the planet.
To combat climate change at home and eliminate plastic while traveling, consider reusing your dryer and using a drying rack instead of using it. This will save money, energy, and prolong the life of clothes.
What are the 4 pillars of sustainable design?
Sustainability is divided into four pillars: Human, Social, Economic, and Environmental. Human sustainability focuses on people and their impact on production and service provision. It emphasizes responsibility, capacity, and skill development to support business operations and sustainability positioning, promoting community wellbeing. Social sustainability aims to create and prove social systems that form the framework of societies, considering global perspectives and communities and cultures. It works to protect future generations by reminding us of the impact of our actions and reminding us of the importance of being considerate.
What’s the most eco-friendly building material?
This article discusses ten sustainable building materials that are eco-friendly, durable, and energy efficient. Bamboo, a fast-growing grass that can reach maturity in three to five years, is an ideal renewable building material. It is lightweight, strong, and flexible, making it ideal for building structures and furnishings. Hempcrete, an eco-friendly construction material made from hemp plant stalks, is known for its insulating properties, durability, and fire-resistant properties.
Rammed Earth, cork, recycled glass, and straw bale are other sustainable building materials that are becoming increasingly popular due to their low environmental impact and reduced carbon footprint. These materials are designed to conserve natural resources, reduce waste, and minimize energy consumption.
What is the most sustainable house shape?
House shape is influenced by various factors, with simple shapes being more sustainable and energy-efficient. Complex shapes, such as igloos, teepees, and roundhouses, use more materials and are less energy-efficient. Traditional circular shelters, such as igloos, teepees, and African mud brick huts, are preferred due to their strength, energy efficiency, and reduced vulnerability to strong winds. Squares are the most efficient shape, followed by rectangles.
House location, position, and orientation are crucial for design, construction, and sustainability. Building a new house should be oriented to maximize winter sun exposure and shelter from cold winds and hot summer sun. Positioning the house on the property can also help maximize its benefits.
How can we practice environmental sustainability at home?
This article provides five ways to be sustainable at home, emphasizing the importance of transforming your home into an energy-efficient space. These include conserving water, reducing, reusing, and recycling, shopping green products, and adopting sustainable eating habits. By implementing these eco-conscious practices, you can reduce pollution, strive towards zero waste, and embrace biodegradable alternatives. The article also discusses the importance of sustainable shopping advice, water conservation techniques, waste reduction strategies, and eco-friendly eating habits.
By focusing on these aspects, you can enhance energy efficiency and minimize your environmental footprint, leading a more sustainable and fulfilling lifestyle. The article emphasizes that being environmentally responsible doesn’t have to be complicated, and by focusing on these key aspects, you can lead a more sustainable and fulfilling life.
How can I make my home more green or sustainable?
To make your home more earth-friendly, consider implementing 37 ways to make it more eco-friendly. These include insulation, air sealing, rethinking floor plans, installing sustainable flooring, using energy-efficient air conditioners, choosing hydronic radiant heating, investing in solar panels, and upgrading power strips. Implementing sustainable solutions can be onerous and expensive, but it can lead to significant cost savings due to reduced water and energy consumption.
To start, consider realistic progress today, add tomorrow, and aim for future projects. Insulating your house is a crucial step in preventing warm air from leaking out in winter. Choose sustainable materials like cotton, cork from cork oak trees, and cellulose from recycled newsprint and paper. By implementing these measures, you can create a healthier, more environmentally friendly home that is both cost-effective and environmentally friendly.
What is the most eco-friendly house?
Tiny houses, ranging from 100 to 140 square feet, are a sustainable and affordable housing option suitable for mobile living. These compact homes have a reduced carbon footprint, requiring less water, heat, and air. They generally have lower utility bills due to their smaller size. Zero-carbon homes, which use renewable energy sources like solar panels and wind turbines, have an annual net carbon footprint of zero. These homes integrate sustainability with a traditional aesthetic.
Passive houses, designed for optimal energy savings and comfort, follow rigorous standards such as extreme airtightness, continuous insulation, and high-performance windows and doors. These houses maximize energy efficiency while ensuring year-round comfort for residents.
📹 How to build a Sustainable House – 21 Sustainable Home Ideas with Architect Jorge Fontan
How To Build a Sustainable House Sustainable house design is building with the minimum negative impact on the environment.
Nice article 👍 .. can I ask about the next article or can I suggest a subject to learn about it ? If yes I will be happy 😊❣️ .. the subject is about the impact of ceiling hight on the hygrothermal comfort .. And if there not possible to prepare a article about this subject, I hope that you can inform me about it in email thank you in advance Cordially
Nice birds seen….cool architecture…i miss my dream. May i know who is in this field working for exactly my dream project.. hope not me again i really love this wonderful piece of art work in eco friendly way Thank you for sharing just valuable job Jocks appart if me not involved in designing Thank you Great job All the best 🕊️ next project..nice peaceful Architecture 🕊️
Loved the vid dude. That earth one in Texas did look beautiful. Well they all did to be fair. But my fav still has to be the earth ship. Theirs factors to take into consideration for different country’s as it varies the earthships capabilities. But it’s just how it ticks so many boxes whilst being so unique too. An they all just look so comfy too. An free air con, I mean common Lol. I want too have a small patch of freehold land on UK one Day, have a home stead an just make a big long earthship for my family an friend’s l. And just enjoy life at a much safer budget an really leave my kids something wonderful
I liked the #4 wood house and #2 rammed earth home. Eco houses would have a more welcoming reception if they looked like….HOUSES. Most people just want to live in regular houses, not igloos or glorified crates or space ships or Bilbo Baggins’ shire. Is there a rule that says eco stuff has to look otherworldly or trailer trashy?
Good Afternoon Sir, i am building a bamboo home at present, we are obliged to use a percentage of concrete in the Philippines. we aim to use 95 % of the materials from our land, we have bamboo and wood. We are building an eco resort also, the same, 95 % from the land, all furniture built on site with NO glue. Architect has designed the house, would love to share pics, do you have an email address? when finished i will invite you to visit
I live in my grandmother’s old house, built in 1930, which is a 20’ x 20’ square box, with a partial upstairs coming in at 748 sq feet. Hearing that small square houses are more energy efficient made me so happy. I used to feel ashamed about the size but as I learn more about sustainability I see smaller is better! This little house was built to last! We live in Mass where the Mass Save program will come to your house and install insulation and do the blower door test. We have been making improvements like this since we moved in 3.5 years ago. Thanks for making this article! It will be saved and I’ll come back to it to check in ways to make the house sustainable.
Also the building materials should ideally be able to be recycled at the end of your house life.Don’t use materials that just end up in the tip.Consider using plants which can shade the verandah or windows during hot summer months and then drop their leaves to let in sunlight during winter.Natural cross ventilation is a winner – warm air rises and draws out excess heat through vents up high on walls.
Before deciding to built in air-conditioning I think it would be useful to contemplate if it is really necessary. Where I live we had up to 38 or 40 °C in the past summers but we managed to keep it relatively cool and we don’t have air-conditioning. I think one part is that we don’t live inside the city but next to a field, we have trees and bushes and grass on three sides of our house, a good insulation as well and an open staircase that leads to the basement. Two summers ago we got new blinds, they’re sliding metal (?) blinds with small gaps in between. And they cool down the ground floor in summer so much more while also letting in more light. So I believe, that with a good built, that really fits the climate the building will be located in, you don’t necessarily need air conditioning.
What you might add is: Thermal mass. High Thermal mass makes all “flows” slower. It is basically the resistance of the walls against heat/cold, giving more comfort in winter and summer. You wanna build so you have some mass that can actually store the energy. Americans don’t know that cuz they build paperwalls 😀 (friendly joke, don’t hit me) Another big point of sustainability is financial sustainability. It is a topic for itsself tough. But basically you want everyone to be able to afford living sustainable and expensive solutions are not really solutions.
Great article Jorge, offset wall with vertical glass at 90deg to wall faces and a reverse pitch roof with eave step to allow sun onto glass in winter works well. Exterior concrete and vertical studs attached to Gyprock to allow air flow from bottom levels up inside walls to upper vents, so air can be pumped along concrete to suck out thermal mass, either cold or hot side of house… to control internal temperature, I have seen this system with DC fans in basement, no air cons, and cool in summer. Computer controlled lines of fans in basement wall.
Make your house disabled accessible – you’ll be able to find a code for that somewhere. Remember that the disabled person in the house could be a child with a broken leg, or could be an elderly grandparent, or could be a pregnant mother with complications that put her in a wheelchair for the duration but she still needs to be able to read the older kids to sleep at night. Build your house to last. If you can change from the modern standard of a 50 year design life to a 500 year design life, you just reduced by 90% the annualised embodied energy of that house. So think about durable materials, a long-term-viable location, and planning for the future. People 500 years ago weren’t thinking about indoor plumbing, never mind electric lights or wifi to every room. Will your house accommodate new plumbing and wiring expectations? How much of it will actually last 500 years, and how much is going to need replacing every century or so? Are your electrical and data cables in conduits so that the lines can be replaced easily in future? Are the waste water pipes in a place that you can dig them up and replace them too? If a new room type arises, like the indoor bathroom that isn’t just a bath by the fire and a pot under the bed, do you have a space that can be converted to that new use? If working from home becomes the norm for everyone, can this house still handle a family? Houses in Europe built in the aftermath of WWII are barely habitable now because they get so hot in summer – is your design ready for several centuries of worst case scenario global warming or cooling?
How can we deconflict the two concepts : a home designed on Passive solar principles and an airtight envelope by keeping element like wind out? Sustainable home should be able to take advantage of natural element like wind, sun, geothermal. This particularly in sub tropical climates. Waiting for a solution.
i think the therm “breathble wall” might be misunderstood in this article. to my knowledge, a breatheble wall breaths vapor not air. we use blown in celluoloce and the wall needs to be air thight but vapor open. athorwise condecation wil take place inside the wall. light staw clay walls finisht whit a natural plaster breathts, and is a lot more sustainble than synthetic or miniral insulation. it alos creats a haelty inviorment. Unlike pur and pir insulation. An athor alternative for the instant hot water is a heat battery. like a salt hydrates or phase change battery. This way you don’t need t store electricity in battery’s. Wich are more expansive and less sustainble. The heat battery can be charged with solar hot water collectors and a heat pump powerd by green enegry. A house schould indeed be build to last a long time. But, ad the end of its life. The materials used, schould not and up on a landfill. but be biodergdable or endlessly recycled.
I purchased a house in Astoria R6B zoning. Thinking to install a backyard office (no bathroom, just electric power/insulated). Lot size 24X100 sq foot. Building size 24×40. My question is – do I need a permit for it and would this office shed (18×10 ) effect building 3/4th floor in the future? Thanks a lot in advance. Hope you have a quick answer for me ;). Thank you
What’s your opinion on geothermal HVAC over microsplit? We’re in the early RFP phase of our home construction and I’m leaning heavily towards geothermal HVAC with a desuperheater and tankless water heater. This will be built in Florida where the water table is fairly high making the thermal exchange a lot easier on the system. Do you think geothermal is as viable long term as the microsplits you propose in your article?