10 Impressive Green Design Tips for an Eco-Friendly Home

Tony 04/10/2019
10 Impressive Green Design Tips for an Eco-Friendly Home


©[Brian Jackson]/Adobe Stock


Mother nature needs our help now more than ever. In an effort to take care of the planet, many of us have taken up recycling, have transitioned from driving to biking, and even replaced our plastic straws for metal ones.

There are various things we can do to adopt a greener lifestyle. If you’re looking for another way you can do your part to keep the planet clean, we have a new concept for you—eco-friendly home design.

Green Homes are Trending

It’s becoming more and more mainstream (and affordable) to have a green home. A lot of the products that used to be difficult to find or expensive are now located in a lot of hardware stores. Plus, many home builders and contractors are taking on more and more green-based projects.

In a study done by Dodge Data & Analytics, they found that “green building activity will increase, and, even more important, it shows that most of the increase comes from a large percentage of respondents (47%) who believe that they will build the majority of their projects (more than 60%) green by 2021.”

This increase for builders just goes to show how much green homes are trending—and for good reason. A green home tends to be a healthier home—not just for the environment, but for your bodies.

If you’re looking to install eco-friendly awareness and practices into your home, you will find many options for sprucing up your home. Whether it is interior or exterior, here are some of our favorite design tips for an eco-friendly house.


10 Design Tips for an Eco-Friendly Home

Exterior Design Tips

1.       Build Smaller

A smaller house is going to be much better for the environment than a large one. This is not to say that a big house can’t be energy-efficient, but a smaller home will have a smaller environmental impact. Be thoughtful about how you use your space. Square footing should be considered an investment—don’t just build out in every direction.

2.       Green Roofing

Not much thought goes into your roofing. However, the material used on your roof makes a dramatic difference in your home’s energy efficiency. You want to choose a product reflects the sun’s energy away from the roof, holds heat for less time, and cools faster at night. Textiles such as slate, terra cotta, white tiles, and metal roofing are a few examples of what you could use. You could even create a rooftop green garden with the whole works—perimeter drains, subsurface drainages, and gutters to collect rainwater. These options can be more expensive but will save you bundles later on.

3.       Choose Building Materials Carefully

Sustainable building materials can reduce the impact that home construction has on the environment. Make sure you’re looking into whether the materials used for your home are sustainably-sourced. Wood is a wonderful choice, but you’re going to want to do some research and make sure that the wood doesn’t contribute to the deforestation epidemic.

4.       Work with Your Surroundings

When choosing or building your home, it’s important you take the surrounding landscape into consideration. A typical transformation many homeowners make is removing trees from their plot. Don’t cut down trees—use them to your ability.

Another common issue many people run into is uneven land. If your property slopes, use that to accentuate your home’s overall design. Paying attention to this can reduce construction cost and the need for extensive heating, ventilation, and lighting.

5.       Utilize Solar Power & Geothermal Heat

Solar energy is a big deal—it’s one of the ultimate sources for clean and low-cost energy. If you’re building your home, you have the opportunity to plan for solar power in ways that older homes did not. Think about where to position your home and its solar panels so that you’re getting the biggest impact; Project Sunroof can help you do just this.

Geothermal goes kind of hand-in-hand with solar energy, in that it moves heat around (sustaining the energy) rather than creating it by combustion. Basically, it is an eco-friendly alternative for an HVAC system that uses natural heat sources to either warm up or cool down your home.

Interior Design Tips

6.       Multi-Functional Rooms

In the most basic sense, having multi-functional rooms means fewer rooms that need heating, cooling, and lighting requirements. Oftentimes, this is not an intentional feat, but it can be a really impactful eco-friendly option for your home. If you have the luxury of building your house, consider combining rooms such as the family and living room or the laundry and mud room.

7.       Powerful Plants

Decorating with plants is an often-neglected aspect for a greener home, but it can do so much for your house. Plants are not only extremely versatile décor, but they will also help to improve overall air quality for your home. For example, ferns and palms can increase oxygen and help purify your home, combatting the pollutant and chemicals produced from man-made materials.

8.       Let the Sunlight In

Whether you’re building from the ground up or are making renovations to a new home, you’ll want to think about adding more windows to your design plan. Make sure that they are Energy Star windows—they’re significantly more energy efficient than other options. The more windows you have, the greater the opportunity is to let natural light in and harness its natural heating and cooling benefits.

9.       Choose Products with Low VOC Content

VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) are oftentimes harmful to your health. When you’re designing your home and deciding on paint colors, wood stains, and so forth, make sure that you pick out low VOC options. These are eco-friendly wood stains and paints that will be much more purifying than other options.

10.   Furniture & Flooring from Organic Materials

This may seem basic, but nevertheless, it is going to be very important for your home. Do your best to choose furniture, table tops, and flooring comprised of materials such as wood, marble, or stone. These materials allow for a personal touch while keeping your home environmentally friendly.

 

As you go through the home building, renovating, and decorating processes, it’s important to keep in mind your impact on the environment. Try to do your best to put eco-friendliness at the forefront of your planning. It may seem a bit more expensive in the moment but at the end of the day, these choices will be much better for your wallet and the environment.

At ECOS Paints, we make sure to provide products that are easy to apply, extremely durable, and resilient for floor painting. As you design your forever home, come to us for your paints, stains, and primers.



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