Green Housing

Green housing is a term used for eco-friendly living. Whether building a new home with all Green Technology or making improvements on an existing home to make it more eco-friendly the green housing industry is growing.

Green housing is a step to help reduce the impact of humans on the environment and helps to promote better health and economic prosperity through energy efficiency and the use of sustainable resources.

Through making homes more efficient, using sustainable resources, and replacing appliances with energy efficient models we can lessen our impact on the environment and save our financial resources as well.

When choosing to build a new home the size and shape can greatly influence the eco-friendliness of the home.

Choosing an excessively large home reduces the efficiency and increases the impact on the environment, a greener choice for the size of your home would be to figure about 500 sq ft per occupant.

This provides a comfortable living condition with less raw material and energy consuming space.  The shape of the home can increase the efficiency as well; today more dome shaped homes are being built.

A dome shaped home can save an average of 30 percent more surface space as a box home of the same size giving less area for heat and cooling to escape.

A dome shaped home allows for more natural light and    air circulation and thus can decrease the usage requirements of energy in the home.

A dome shaped home also is more aerodynamic and cold air will blow around the home instead of penetrating the walls.

An existing home can be re-modeled into a green home thus utilizing the materials that are already in the home reducing waste that would find itself in the landfills and dumps.

Some of the biggest impacts on making your home more eco-friendly are to make your home more efficient.

This can be done by insulating it, using energy efficient windows and doors and replacing the appliances with energy efficient ones. Insulating your home can save your energy use by up to 50 percent and tax credits are available for many people who insulate their homes. When choosing an insulation look for natural material insulations such as recycled denim and cotton insulations.

Replacing the windows and doors in your home can increase the efficiency and energy conservation as well as making you eligible for tax credits.

Energy efficient appliances are available that use less water and energy as well as costing less per use.  There are many ways to improve the eco-friendliness of your existing home even if you are cannot remodel or do extensive changes like appliances and windows.

Replacing your regular light bulbs with CFL bulbs can save up to 75 percent more energy usage and save money in energy costs as well.

Adjust your heating and cooling by just 3 degrees; turning the heat down and the cooling up, can save over 1000 pounds of CO2 emissions each year.

Wash clothes in cold water instead of hot, line dry clothes when you can and if using the dishwasher always ensure a full load and allow it to air dry instead of heat drying.

If you do not have a low flow toilet you can convert your existing toilets by placing water filled bottles in the tank; this displaces the tank water and saves with each flush. When it is time to paint, look for paints that do not use VOC (volatile organic compounds) which is bad for the environment and health.

Green housing and Earth friendly living is the responsibility of everyone; however, there are varying degrees that people can achieve. If each person lives as environmentally responsible as they are able the impact of the efforts globally will be seen.

One family may be able to build an entirely green home whereas most families are able to just improved the eco-friendliness of their existing home; whatever your level, it is only effective if you do it.