Tips for Green Construction

[ryan]

You can for example build houses with sky lights and/ or large windows or even glass walls facing to the north. This will create a lot of natural light in the buildings without the excessive heat or glare.Insulation is of course crucial as well.

There are some pretty fancy solar hot water heaters out there now. Another thing is running some type of antifreeze from the roof in pipes through the walls and even in the floor in the winter time . The pipes are covered in glass on the roof to prevent heat loss.

Have you ever heard of autoclaved aerated concrete ? It's 80 % air and because of that is a type of concrete that insulates well. It;s light weight and easy to work with. It even comes in large lego like snap together type blocks with holes already in them for plumbing pipes and wiring to go through.

How about also making the roof tops of these houses into living spaces as well? That would work really well in dry climates like the south west. But you have to have walls strong enough to hold the supports for a strong roof. I sleep outside in Arizona where I live 7-8 months of the year. You could have a jacuzzi up there. A bed, out door furniture, a bar, barbecue, a small water fountain etc.

I can see real eco friendly relatively reasonably cheap to construct high end houses. It's all in how you do it.

I wouldn't want to have a stock house with tar on MY roof. That's so yesteryear!
We've been building houses all wrong for the longest time now.

Have you heard of solar ink? solar powered electro chromatic windows, transition glass windows, LED recess light bulbs, and other LED light bulbs, under cabinet LED light strips,

How about making a strong semi submerged foundation with really deep wide footings? this is not only attractive and also makes it easier to add a second story where height restriction is an issue, but is also help keep maintain a more constant temp in the home.

There are so many options to be explored, but construction itself is the main key in creating an eco friendly energy saving home.

And some roofs could have a lawn or vegetable garden on top of it, and that would prevent heat or cold from coming in through the house.