From Guest Blogger Chloe Taylor: Go Sustainable in 2016 with Smart Home Designs

The cornerstone of the eco-friendly home project is a suitable backdrop. It all starts in the initial, building phase: An ideal home needs to be well-designed, properly insulated, and on a location that enables passive heating and cooling. It should nurture a strong connection with the outdoors, and limit the environmental footprint on the ecosystem. Reduce, reuse, and recycle is the sacred mantra of sustainable home design that guides you every step of the way. It summons the empowering combination of sublime functionality and stunning visuals that drives many architectural innovations of today.

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A sealed envelope

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No green home project is viable if the envelope of the building is not sealed and insulated. When preparing for outline changes and upgrades, opt for sustainable and local materials. Eco-friendly insulation includes materials such as icynene, spray polyurethane foam, cellulose, and natural wool. Designers have already managed to make a near-airtight thermal envelope and create structural insulated panels (SIPS) for property construction.

Furthermore, salvage and reuse everything you can during renovation or construction.  Material that cannot be repurposed should be sent for recycling. Today, it is possible to build a house using exclusively discarded waste material, which the amazing Waste House demonstrates. The facade of this home was clothed with unexpected items like toothbrushes, DVD cases, floppy discs, and carpet tiles.

Same rules apply

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Next, it is time to outfit the home with green capabilities from the roof to the foundations. The goal is to use minimal heat to run appliances and reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses. So, avoid fixtures that contain chemicals like formaldehyde, heavy metals and dyes.  Turn to Energy Star-certified refrigerators, cloth dryers, water heaters etc.

Search for low water consumption toilets, washing machines and showers. Finally, equip your home with LED lighting fittings- they use way less electricity than fluorescent lighting, have zero radiation, and no harmful chemicals.  Of course, it is equally important to use the appliances in the right way and turn them off when they are not needed.

A green mile

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There is no reason not go an extra green mile with technology. Smart heating and cooling solutions can do miracles for assembling a sustainable home. Get high on renewable energy, purchase a geothermal heat pump, and install radiant floor heating or Energy Star HVAC system.  Solar panels are widely popular, and they can now not only supplement energy requirements, but also produce a surplus of juice.

The sunlight blesses us from the morning till the early afternoon, dramatically reducing or even eliminates grid-based energy dependency. You should take your time to check out some other cutting edge green tech: heat exchangers, heat recovery ventilation system, roof-based wind turbines, kitchen sinks with a photovoltaic array, rainwater collection and filtration systems.  The latter enables you to cover gray water uses, such as sprinkler systems and toilets.

A window of opportunity

The orientation of the home is essential for taking advantage of renewable energy sources. A house with the majority of windows facing south is capable of reducing the heating requirements by 25%.  Even a front door placed due south cuts down energy costs by 10%. To maximize the solar input, one can utilize the photovoltaic glass, which converts the energy from the sun into clean electricity.

Transparent, photovoltaic cells are integrated into windows, letting some of the light through and reducing the air-conditioning costs. This solves the problem of too much sunlight in the summer. You can also instigate the ventilation and invite more natural light with windows that are programmed to open automatically. One can use double glazed residential windows, as well as recycled ones, although it might take some retrofitting or upgrading to increase their thermal properties.

In harmony

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Smart home design requires you to make the best use of site layout and architectural features.  So, put the creative ideas and ecological notions into play to assemble a healthy, efficient and comfortable living space. You will be helping your endangered environment and your finances, killing two birds with one stone.

This calls for thorough planning, lengthy renovations and paying attention to factors like glazing, insulation, orientation, and space dimensions. Use eco-friendly building and insulation materials, energy efficient equipment, harness the energy from the nature and treat it well. This will enable your household to lower the carbon footprint and establish a harmonious relationship with the surroundings.