Saving both energy and money has been the focus of many people for years. Then, there is the growing awareness of a sustainable lifestyle that not only consumes, but gives back resources to our environment.
For many of us, this consequently includes living in an environmental-friendly house. But what exactly does this mean?
What specifically constitutes an “eco” or environmentally friendly house is not firmly defined and is certainly individual: This could be solar collectors as well as domestic water treatment or geothermal energy. When planning an individual eco-house, it ultimately depends on what the particular persons focus on. Is it more about independence, energy autarky or self-sufficiency from the organic garden? About ecological, sustainable and pollutant-free building materials? Or conservation of fossil energy? All the above? What exactly do you want to achieve? First, it is important to clarify this and to estimate the feasibility depending on the location and possibilities. Only from there can an environmentally friendly construction project be sensibly and systematically planned.
Does an eco-house pay off?
Unfortunately, many environmentally responsible people reject the numerous advantages of an eco-house on the basis of this obsolete prejudice. Fact is: In view of rising energy costs, investments in an ecological building not only pay off, they actually pay for themselves. Nowadays, people are building ecologically also for farsightedness and long-term financial reasons.
The most important foundation is saving energy. Even the architecture of the house takes this into account: The living spaces and window areas are designed according to sun exposure, optimally use and distribute free solar energy. Supplemented by highly efficient insulation, users save money in this way. Houses according to Low-energy house or Passive House standards are designed to do just that.
Many eco-houses also actively use renewable energies: via photovoltaic systems or other sustainable technologies. They generate their own needs and those of their occupants. With electricity storage systems it is possible to live almost completely self-sufficiently. Having one’s own power supply means being independent of annual electricity price fluctuations without having to make concessions in terms of state-of-the-art equipment.
Nevertheless: The main goal of any ecological house is to conserve resources, because the recycling of once used resources is costly and sometimes takes a long time. Energy sources such as oil or gas should be avoided, electricity should be saved and water, biomass and materials should be handled with care. A highly effective eco-house even collects, stores and conserves electrical or thermal energy for later use.
As a basic conceptual principle, energy cycles run through the entire eco-house planning, fed from “inexhaustible” sources. This could mean that solar collectors produce hot water directly: saving fossil fuels and reducing energy costs.
Basically, the ecological building concept tries to imitate the fundamental principles of natural ecosystems. What does this mean? An ecosystem comprises the interdependent relationships between living organisms and their inanimate environmental elements air, water and earth. They are interconnected by energy flows and nutrient cycles, with the main energy coming from the sun. Living and inanimate elements in the system merge into each other, transforming in the process and being in constant circulation.
A great example of a near-natural ecosystem is an organic garden. Food leftovers, cuttings and other organic “waste” are put into the composter or directly on the living soil, where they become rich plant fertilizer that nourishes our vegetables, fruits and healthy herbs. Cost-reducing self-sufficiency and “controlled organic” at the same time.
Another option is to use your domestic service water several times, using grey-water and shower water for washing laundry. Separate pipe systems will do this for you. Collect rainwater in cisterns and irrigate your garden with natural water instead of costly treated and chlorinated tap water. In this way you not only save drinking water, but also sewerage costs.
As a pioneer of healthy house building, Baufritz Limited is the the forerunner when it comes to building energy-efficient wooden houses. With our health and exclusive houses, our customers do not have to sacrifice standard of living and quality of living, because we combine all aspects.
