Reducing the amount
of materials and energy required to build or maintain a home can help to
substantially reduce your carbon footprint. At the same time, a green approach
to home ownership ensures greater peace of mind, physical comfort, and
preservation of a sustainable investment over the lifetime of the home.
Save money while
living a more responsible green lifestyle - whether buying a condo, remodeling
a home, planning new construction, or just wanting to take simple environmentally
conscious steps forward. Here are some of the many interesting paths to a
greener home:
• Passive heating
and cooling techniques can be also employed by almost any homeowner to capture
or deflect solar heat with a reflective roof, intensive insulation, or just strategically
placed old-fashioned ceiling fans. An open floor plan with good
cross-ventilation, in fact, can actually reduce energy bills significantly by
making a home easier to cool - so green options do not necessarily have to be
radically futuristic.
• Homeowners can
also choose more environmentally safe and beneficial products such as
"on-demand" water heaters, energy efficient light bulbs, low-VOC
paints, and flooring or counter top products made from renewable materials like
bamboo, cork, and recycled plastic or glass.
• Conventional house
paints contain toxic Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC). But low or zero VOC
paints and finishes perform just as well and they are more pleasant to use
because they do not have the strong odors associated with high VOC paints.
• Bamboo is harder
and more durable than many varieties of hardwood, yet it also happens to be the
fastest growing plant on the planet. As one of the most rapidly renewable
sources of potential building materials on Earth, it is also beautiful to look
at and gives off a warmth and glow that will enhance any ambiance at a highly
competitive price.
Based on the article by Jeffrey A. Hammerberg
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