Integrating green features into new homes from the planning stage is one of the biggest trends in modern building. More of today?s new houses are being thoughtfully, deliberately planned to reduce their impact on the environment.
They are also being constructed with sustainable living in mind. The top five eco-friendly new home features of 2011 include:
1) Photovoltaic solar: Solar energy generation technology has made considerable advances in the last decade. Today?s solar panels are more efficient and aesthetically-pleasing and less expensive than ever.
Photovoltaic solar (also known as PV) converts sunlight into energy that can be used to power your home. PV is safe and does not produce any emissions or pollution. Unlike early versions of solar panels, today?s PV can generate power even on cloudy days.
Installing PV does add to the bottom line price tag of designing and building houses. The extra expenditure, however, can generally be recouped within a few years to a decade due to the money PV will save on energy costs.
2) Efficient insulation materials: One of the easiest ways to save on the cost of energy is to keep interior temperatures stable through quality insulation. Today?s new homes are employing more efficient methods of insulation. Two of the most popular in modern new homes include insulated concrete forms (ICF) and blown cellulose.
ICF blocks resemble large, shoe-box shaped building blocks. They consist of a foam outer shell with a cavity in the center that gets filled with concrete.
ICF blocks are among the strongest yet most flexible wall building materials available. Concrete provides excellent weather and sound insulation and moisture barrier. The foam shells allow for walls to flex with changing temperatures, ground settling and even cataclysmic events like tornadoes and earthquakes.
Blown cellulose is increasingly being used to replace or complement traditional fiberglass insulation in new residences. It is blown into cracks and gaps or spaces like attics similar to fiberglass. Yet blown cellulose provides a better barrier against moisture and therefore superior mold protection.
As an insulation material, blown cellulose is considerably more environmentally-friendly than fiberglass. It is 75 to 85 percent composed of recycled paper, the highest of any insulating material.
3) Efficient, earth-friendly heating/cooling systems: Radiant heating and geothermal heating are two of the most popular such systems in new homes. Radiant heat may be thought of as the opposite of the more tradition convection-style home heating systems (like furnace heat). Furnaces and other convection-type systems transfer heat to a home?s air.
The problem with this is that a great deal of heat gets lost in the process. The result is that a furnace has to run longer and more frequently to maintain a comfortable environment.
Radiant heating systems, on the other hand, essentially heat the objects in a room (like a person) rather than the air itself. Instead of transferring heat to the air, it?s transferred directly to an individual.
The room itself does not need to be ?room temperature? in order for the individual to feel comfortable. This system can save a significant amount of energy (and therefore money).
Geothermal heating draws heat up from the ground to heat a house. It takes considerably less energy to do this than to heat up air that has come from the exterior of a house. During hot weather seasons it works in reverse, delivering warm air back into the ground leaving the house cool.
4) Green roofing: Standard asphalt shingle roofing is among the poorest of roofing materials in terms of sustainability. It is the least moisture-proof and requires the most maintenance of any roof system. It also needs more frequent replacement than other, greener types.
Green homes of today are shying away from asphalt roofing in favor more efficient roofing materials. Metal and ceramic are some of the most common, providing excellent moisture resistance and requiring far less upkeep and replacement.
For new home buyers who want to go even greener (literally), the rooftop garden is gaining popularity. Rooftop gardens work particularly well in places that don?t experience extreme winters. They provide natural insulation for new homes while giving off oxygen and without emitting toxins.
5) Eco-friendly building materials: Sometimes going green can be as simple as choosing more sustainable, eco-friendly building materials. Modern home buyers are eschewing imported wood in favor of materials that have been recycled.
Many of these have been recycled from old items. Others are literally old items put to a new use, such as building new homes out of old airplane parts.
Building green, energy efficient new homes benefits homeowners and environment as well. Shea Real Estate supports development of eco houses in San Diego County, CA, as partners with New Pointe Communities.
http://www.shea-realestate.com/sd_investment.php
http://www.sre-newhomesforsale.com
Source: http://www.buying-real-estate.info/the-top-5-ecofriendly-new-home-features-in-2011/
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