How To Stay Environmentally Friendly When Building Your Home

December 7, 2022

Many people are making more sustainable alternatives to lower their environmental footprint as the world gains a basic understanding of the ecological costs of daily life. Fresh and innovative approaches, such as sustainable home style are getting more popular.

Building your home "eco-friendly" can be challenging, but the good news is that it doesn’t have to be. We’ve prepared a list of strategies to lower your home’s carbon impact. Starting with basic efforts to develop an eco-friendly home and progressing to greater steps to build a green, energy-efficient home.

Consider Installing Solar Panels For Your Roof

Through photovoltaic technologies, solar panels convert the sun’s energy into power for your home. While they can be expensive up front, some reports claim you’ll see a return on your investment in less than ten years, or even less if you go with a larger system.

Solar power systems are becoming increasingly popular. Solar power can considerably cut or eliminate your electricity expenses if the system is sized to supply all of the electricity required to power your home.

Solar panels harness the sun’s power to reduce or eliminate your energy expenditures. The one disadvantage is that this renewable energy resource is unavailable to some houses because its efficiency depends on parameters such as sun exposure and roof position. Home builders should consider these elements early in the process for clients to get the most value for the money.

Select Environmentally Friendly Building Materials

Whether you’re remodeling or building a new house, you’ll need to decide on the materials you’ll need for your flooring, walls, and even structural components like your roof.

Nowadays, numerous environmentally friendly solutions are available, including sustainably certified hardwood, reclaimed wood, recyclable insulation, and eco-wood treatments. The good news is that, contrary to common assumptions, these options do not have to be more expensive than non-eco alternatives.

While house aesthetics, appliances, and lighting are essential for conserving energy and reducing carbon emissions, building materials and construction techniques are equally significant for constructing an environmentally friendly home.

Choose Hardwood or Reclaimed Hardwood for your Flooring

Hardwood flooring is one of the most environmentally friendly floor options available. Hardwood is made from a renewable resource. Hardwood has a low carbon impact compared to other flooring materials when supplied domestically.

The longevity of hardwood is a major environmental benefit. Some wooden floors have existed in houses for hundreds of years, making them an artisan heirlooms. Hardwood may be refinished several times, maintaining its original beauty and increasing its longevity, which is significantly more environmentally beneficial than replacing the flooring entirely. And if you ever decide to change the look of your home by replacing your hardwood floors, you can be confident that it is sustainable and will release the environmentally retained carbon back into the earth.

You can also choose reclaimed wood flooring as an alternative. Reclaimed hardwood, as the name implies, is made from restored or refurbished hardwood that is decades or even centuries old. Reclaimed hardwood can originate from various sources, including old factory floors and barn timbers. The aging process imparts a specific natural character to reclaimed timber that cannot be replicated. Every salvaged hardwood plank has a rich visual history that can be seen through individual color variations, saw marks, or even microscopic fractures and fissures. Before arriving at your home or office, reclaimed hardwood is meticulously handled and repaired to ensure that flaws do not affect longevity or performance. This restoration technique breathes new life into existing lumber, minimizing the need for deforestation and keeping wasted wood out of landfills.

Purchase Energy-Saving Light Bulbs

Although energy-saving light bulbs have been around for a while, it is only in the last few years that the general population has been more aware of their efficiency and how they may save money around the house.

There have been complaints in the past that they do not produce enough light or take a long time to fully illuminate a room. Technology advancements are becoming prevalent, and now is a better time than ever to transition. They only use less electricity and do not need to be replaced as frequently as traditional light bulbs.