Thinking of switching to a more sustainable home? Maybe “going green” is what made you do it and you want to actively participate in reducing climate change and your impact on the planet. Basically, from the word ‘sustain’ means to retain and make it last for the next generations. Choosing a sustainable home is not just about being eco-friendly and helping the environment, you can also save time and money, enhancing the quality of life remarkably.
The construction industry has been shifting to more modern construction and eco-friendly homes and is more practical than ever. Now that you understand what sustainable means, we will go in depth and look at some of the reasons why sustainability should be your priority when it comes to building your home. We will also give you ideas for sustainable building materials and how you can apply them to your home.
1. Longer lasting home
Making a home to be sustainable is making it last a lifetime. Mainly, using sustainable building materials is and having lower maintenance costs and reduced upkeep. Wouldn’t someone get convinced in building a sustainable home with having cost reduction and extended life-span? So you might ask, what are the materials to be used that can make a sustainable home to last long and make it cost-efficient?
A few examples are hardwearing bamboo and cork flooring, water-saving plumbing fixtures, solar panels, genuine fiber wool carpeting, solid flooring and walls, recovered wood, steel roofing and siding, and many more. We should definitely use these durable construction materials since it is easily available to us.
2. Highly developed framing techniques
This technique is normally utilized by a lot of meticulous builders who build ‘green homes’ that uses less wood. Today, steel frame kit homes are getting very popular in different countries instead of using wood in traditional constructions. This technique emanates in fewer materials and reduced labor costs, follow building codes, better home energy performance, for a more durable and sturdy house.
There are builders who use advanced framing with wood from sustainable forests if you prefer that more, they can add it to your sustainably-built home. But keep in mind that if you are considering advanced framing techniques, do your research too. There are some builders that are against the techniques of advanced framing.
3. Healthier sustainable home
Most conventional building materials are not good for health compared to sustainable homes. If your home is made with sustainable materials, it will emit fewer toxins such as VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds), carcinogens, and mold spores.
Sustainable homes can also improve the air quality including natural wool carpeting, air systems that can cause refreshing outdoor air to enter your indoors, great insulation that prevents the growth of mold, and laminates that don’t employ toxic glues. If you want a healthier home for you and your children, then you must look into this when you are building a sustainable home.
4. Higher resale value
The interesting thing that comes with using sustainable building materials is the money that you can save aside from the lessened carbon footprint. You can benefit well with its home resale value and pacing of sale can be improved.
From the Washington Post’s article, there is a study stated that a home that utilized third-party certifications for sustainability is sold for 8 percent more on median than an identical non-certified home. There is an impressive factor for realtors who can present potential buyers all the cost-effective sustainable materials that are in the home.
5. Meets personal design
It doesn’t matter if your design taste is more on the contemporary minimalist side or towards a rustic country. You can still achieve a sustainable home that will reach your personal taste in style and design.
You can use reclaimed wood beams for a rustic country feel. If you want a modern touch, you opt for glossy cement floors that are durable and eco-friendly. It doesn’t mean that since you want to live a greener life, you will have to give up your personal design taste.
6. Preserve energy and cut costs
The main idea of employing sustainable materials in your home is you will get to conserve more energy and save more money in a longer period of time. You may ask, how? First, you are preserving energy on a bigger scale by utilizing sustainable materials fabricating results in reduced unwanted products that add up to the world’s junkyard. Second, you are conserving your home’s energy by using materials that are ultraefficient including water-saving plumbing fixtures, insulating materials, tankless water heaters, and programmable thermostats. So you are saving money while saving the world’s resources!
So there you go, try starting taking these steps little by little if you want to achieve a sustainable home. Using sustainable building materials can save you a lot of money, give your home more value and long life, and avoid toxic environmental impacts.