EXOTIC HOMES: Green Homes
Green Homes
Green is the buzzword, especially this week. Sajive Gangadharan takes the green home path around buildings and offers a few tips on what you can do to get them greener.
The planet has long suffered by the irresponsible thoughts of governments and greedy manufactures who have used the natural energy resources in the name of increased profits. Our planet earth has suffered enough and it is up to each of us to reduce our individual carbon foot prints. No one can easily wash their hands from being the cause for global warming and rising the sea levels! Many people erroneously assume that their actions don’t have any direct impact on the environment. They feel that there are so many others destroying it at all times that cannot possible make a difference. Nothing is further from the truth. As a matter of fact, it is exactly what each of us do that creates the cumulative detrimental effects. By changing your habits and making your actions greener in nature, you do help to change the world! Many people begin to exercise new eco-friendly habits and see the results immediately. You do make a difference and start it from your green home itself!
Green buildings are not easily defined. It is generally agreed that green buildings are structures that are sited, designed, built, renovated and operated to energy-efficient guidelines, and that they will have a positive environmental, economic and social impact over their life cycle. Think of constructing a sustainable one or upgrading the existing one. Expressing attention to the environment, few banks are offering various discounts for housing loans to buy or build “Green” homes. Time to avail it!
GREEN HOME CONSTRUCTION
With great enthusiasm you can decide to build your green home. What are the steps required to commence your green home construction? Well, for starters there are some basic questions, which need to be asked when planning green home construction. These basic questions are where do you want to build your dream ‘green’ home? What are the green resources locally available to you? What are the green designs suitable for your dream house? Find out a good architect with proven track record who knows all the design aspects of green home construction. It would be his job to advise you on the best designs to incorporate and the best resources to use for the best value of your money.
REGULAR ENERGY AUDITS
Home to your refrigerator, dishwasher, stove, and cooking range, it’s obvious that your kitchen uses a large portion of your home’s energy. By creating a green kitchen, it shall help you to reduce the amount of energy that you are using. Working towards a green bathroom is extremely important as you work towards making your home more eco-friendly. It has been calculated that over 60% of home water use is contributed to the bathroom for flushing toilets, washing hands and taking showers. That makes the bathroom a great place to make changes, explore new technology, and to conserve water, electricity and natural gas. Perform regular energy audits! This key step is to determine the best improvements required for your home as each house is different. The professional energy auditor should do a room-by-room examination of the residence, as well as a thorough examination of past utility bills.
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY METHODS
Solar is another option that you should give some serious consideration when looking for alternative methods to power your home. You can actually get all of the material you need to build a reasonable solar panel is not all that difficult to find. In fact you may even have some of parts waiting in your car shed or store. Most of the other parts that you will need like solar cells and framing material can be found at your local solar cell provider’s store or hardware stores. People all over the world are testifying to great savings on their electric bill just by building their own solar panels and windmills. Of course wind mills are not an easy option for an individual, but community living can still think of erecting small type of wind mills. It depends upon the location of their houses. Biogas production through decomposing will help you cook in the green way. Why not give it a try yourself?
WASTE MANAGEMENT & RECYCLING
If you aren’t recycling at home yet, now is the time to start. It’s actually quite easy and it can be a fun and educational activity for the whole family and be passionate about reducing the amount of waste in our landfills. The very first thing that you will want to do when you recycle at home is to find and purchase recycling containers. Get enough recycling bins so that you have one for each type of item that you’ll be recycling. A large bin in the house could work as well. Wash all items that have had food or liquids in them before placing them in your recycling bins. Have one bin in the kitchen or a designated spot for all recyclable items. You can prepare your items to be taken to your recycling center at home on a daily basis. This is a great job for kids. If they are too small to read or remember what goes in each bin, tape a picture on the outside of each bin showing what should go in it and allow them to sort the items for you. Also contact your local recycling center to see what they accept; accordingly you can plan up your recycling process. If you have a designer mind, you can amaze others by designing home artifacts and many other useful items from the waste materials around you.
COMPOSTING
Composting is an integral part of an eco-friendly lifestyle. Unfortunately, only a relatively small percentage of people currently compost. Many people don’t really understand what it is or how to do it. They may think that it’s too hard or that they don’t have enough space, even if you live in an apartment and have no open ground. In those instances, you may have to get a little bit creative; composting is simply a normal process of nature. Anything that was once alive will decompose. Use proper tanks or bins which are be located either in your garden or your apartment balcony, some times inside the kitchen base counter! The end result is compost, when we compost, we’re just speeding up nature’s own process.
GREEN EDUCATION
Green Home is the key for parents who want green caring kids. Just as we teach kids about all other things in life, we must also teach them the importance of incorporating sustainable habits into their lives. I think that this whole movement will become a way of life and is much more than just a passing fad. What we teach our children today are lessons that they will take with them for the rest of their lives. Teaching them to be responsible and to care about the environment will help them as they become adults, as good habits will already have been formed. Let them harvest the rain water in this dreamy monsoon!
