Green Home Building Techniques!

This post is provided by Jesse Hughes.

Most people are familiar with the usual ways to make our home greener or environmentally-friendly, like using efficient appliances and low-flow water fixtures. But what about ideas that make our homes more eco-conscious right from the ground up? There is only so much we can do once the house is built, so it can be more effective to take green steps during construction as well. 

Professional construction companies like Advanced Group Services (http://www.advancedgroupservices.com.au/) are changing the way they build houses to use as many green techniques as possible. 

Adding Insulation

One of the very best ways to keep a house energy efficient is to prevent heat loss, especially in areas where the winters are below freezing on average. Taking the extra step to keep a house insulated is important for this. Extra layers of insulation in the attic, proper duct and pipe wraps and careful sealing of all potential openings around window and door frames. 

Heat is also lost directly through window glass, so using windows with a high R-value during construction will help keep your heat in where it belongs. 

Sustainable Materials

A great deal of material goes into building a house and it makes environmental sense to use as much reclaimed or sustainable products as you can. Insulation can be made from recycled fibers, wood can be reused from other projects, and even many fixtures can be found second-hand to reduce the impact of your building. If you can't reclaim, you can choose sustainable materials like bamboo for flooring or products made from recycled plastic and metal. 

Size

Of course, everyone has different space needs and a family of 7 is not going to be happy with a house built for 2. But the days of huge mansions are over and people are choosing to live in more reasonable spaces to save on materials and for lower utility bills later. You do not necessarily have to join the tiny house movement to appreciate the savings of a smaller home. 

Rainwater Use

It is getting quite common to "harvest" rainwater with some barrels out in the yard, usually placed under the downspouts. They can provide hundreds of gallons of water for gardening or even household needs. You can capitalize on this idea during construction by planning a rainwater system with a cistern tank and proper drainage. If it is incorporated into the house at the building stage, you can even plan the plumbing so that this free water is used to flush the toilets as well as serve the outside yard. 

On-Demand Hot Water

While technically, this is not part of home construction but most home builders plan for hot water systems in these initial stages of development. A hot water tank uses a lot of energy through the day, keeping a large volume of water hot just in case it is needed. Why not use a system that just heats the water when you need it? Known as tankless or on-demand hot water systems, these new formats use much less energy and take up less room compared to the older bulky tanks.