Imagine watching National Geographic on your TV, showing you the worst deforestation images. Wondering how this can be related to the house you live in. Till now, your renovated living room has offered you a great deal of comfort, and you might have heard nothing about green building practices.
Unfortunately, many companies dealing with construction do not build houses in an eco-friendly manner. This leads to numerous unwanted consequences that could have been otherwise prevented. The environmentally-friendly houses don't compromise with the quality; rather, you will love the attractive and durable features coming along. Still, confused about how to make your home eco-friendly? Read this article and learn about some fantastic options:
Use sustainable wood
The floor of your house must be made from some top-quality wood. But have you ever thought about where that wood comes from! Next time you wish to build a house, do consider the wood being used. As per research, adding a good quality but sustainable hardwood floor has numerous advantages. They provide a cool look to your room, are relatively durable, and are easy to clean.
Using reclaimed ideas can be a great idea, although it may not look as cool as its fresh counterpart. But, what it lacks is a fine touch of polishing that adds life to it. Their twisting wood grain patterns look like they are telling a story. Remember, recycling wood for a purpose is a good idea, while choosing certified sustainable wood is equally important. Thinking about what sustainable wood exactly means? Well! The harvesting process for these woods is sustainable, meaning that the forests from which they are obtained are actively restored. Thus, if choosing wood for your home is an option, choose sustainable wood.
Proper insulation
Proper insulation plays a great role in efficiency as having comfort at home is more about the right temperature. Remember, half of the total energy consumption at your home is accounted for by the home's cooling and heating. This is why putting a green approach to insulation is vital. Such tactics can also be used for transforming your home office into a green office, adding value to your life.
A closed-cell spray foam might be best for your home insulation. Higher efficiency is provided by the closed cells, while insulation is evenly distributed in your home's walls or attics by the spraying process. Spray foam insulation uses less energy than fiberglass-insulated rolls while being more eco-friendly and cheaper at the same time.
Quartz countertops
Although granite is still a good choice, quartz is not lagging behind. It offers extreme durability and a luxurious look and is quite eco-friendly than marble and granite. Bear in mind that natural stone gets to your home after energy-intensive quarrying and is more detrimental to our environment. On the other hand, less energy is required to produce and transport the quartz with a fabricated surface.
Quartz is engineered for immense efficiency and can last up to decades. Thus, go for quartz if your budget allows. There won't be any radon emission either, as seen in the case of granite, and it allows you to enjoy the product for years together. Furthermore, little to no maintenance is required over time as quartz feature a bonded solid surface without any porosity. On the other hand, granite is porous, allowing moisture to soak, which creates mold problems. Thus, ensuring safety is your top priority when choosing the countertop material, which obviously comes with a quartz countertop.
Smart thermostats
Today's climate is extreme, making it tougher to control extreme temperatures. You will find many smart home devices on the market today that act as cool thermostats. They have changed the way how temperatures are monitored.
These days the temperature of a room can be monitored with a single tap on your phone, or even one can do it remotely. Thus, ensure you incorporate a smart thermostat in your room, saving energy and making your room more eco-friendly. With smart thermostats, you can adjust the temperature of your room based on weather, time of day, occupancy, etc. Since we live in the future, your living spaces should depict it too.
Wastewater management
Consider the amount of water being wasted every day at your home. Water is an essential natural resource sustaining our lives. For an eco-friendly home, it's necessary to manage wastewater. Although it takes some serious planning to recycle wastewater, it can make a huge difference to the amount of water used daily.
Thus, setting up a waste management system at your home should be feasible. For this, you can plan to seep the wastewater into a collection chamber and later recycle it in a separate unit. Houses that don't have a wastewater management system in place can try the reed bed system for managing wastewater too. Remember, it's equally important to work sustainably from home rather than owning one only.
Solar energy
You can do the dual trick of using power sustainably and bringing down the electricity bills by powering your homes with solar energy. Many studies have proven that installing solar panels in homes is both economical and healthy. Because of these reasons, many households are switching to clean solar energy.
Summary
Choosing between a sustainable, eco-friendly home and a regular home should not prove a tough choice. Making small sustainable changes go a long way. Try the above steps and see the cool changes yourself. Your health will improve, but your economic conditions too in the long run.
