In the housing world, there are three main concerns these days when it comes to designing and building new homes. Can we make them smaller yet not feel compacted? Can we make them more environmentally friendly? And finally, can we have the home sustain its own power and resources?
All of these questions are actually rather crucial to answer when it comes to building a green home. Having a smaller place may not seem like much, but with growing populations all across the world, being able to make smaller places that don’t make people feel cramped is a huge benefit in the long run and falls right under the same environmentally friendly tag we also care about.
As for the environmentally friendly aspect, we have known for some time that current houses have been made with a lot of things that are not good for the environment. Of particular notice above all else are furnaces, which most have started to be weeded out in the United States in favor of natural gas furnaces at least, which are better, but not as good as no furnace.
Finally for the sustainability for a house, it all comes down to providing the house with outlets to gather supplies naturally. Creating things like a place for rainwater to collect can improve water problems dramatically. Being able to produce its own energy too is just as important, and one of the reasons why smaller homes are better as well. The smaller the home, the less energy it will consumes overall, and that makes it much easier for everyone to have things like sun panels to absorb energy and supply plenty of energy for a small home.
Surprisingly all of these things have been combined in houses that already exist today, including ones like the Passivhaus, by Madison Environmental. The first of which had been created in 2011, and more have continued on with getting smaller and more efficient homes with each passing year. It is these kinds of green homes that everyone should be striving for. And best of all, with using recycled wood and other resources to build it, it doesn’t end up costing all that much in comparison to the average American house currently.
So why aren’t you in a green home?