Choosing a sustainable lifestyle should also reflect with how your home looks like. Your home will be an extension and expression of your lifestyle. This will also make your home look simpler, cozier, and more beautiful once you have completed the sustainable look for your home. Doing a sustainable home means you have to cut down on your energy consumption. This will be an excellent chance for you and your family, so you have to be more patient to achieve a sustainable lifestyle.
Here are some factors that will make your home more beautiful and sustainable:
1. Create an Energy-Efficient Design
Having large windows that will allow natural lighting during the day and the cool breeze at night belongs to an energy-efficient design. You could also place solar panels on your roof so that you can use them as your electricity. Look for experts who can create exterior sidings for your house to preserve the house, the foundation of the house, and the inside.
This has been a trend in some countries because of the money they save when using solar panels instead of connecting to the grid. Some people chose to put in-slab heating and more comprehensive insulation around the house.
2. Use Recycled And Sustainable Building Materials
Some people use recycled materials to build their homes. This means that refurbishing some old materials and use them for a different purpose. The used beam can be reused as part of the flooring. Oak slabs can be used as walls. Some people created hollow blocks made by recycled plastic bottles. You can be creative and innovative when you recycle materials for your house. Some paints and finishes that are locally produced and organically created are better options for your sustainable home.
3. Smart Lighting
The wattage will give you an idea of which light bulbs are brighter but use less energy. This way, you have brighter lights but cheaper electric bills. Check the wattage, not the voltage of the appliances that you will buy. This will help you choose which appliances are more energy-efficient than the other. You can also combine LED and CFL light fitting in your home so that you can have lower consumption without compromising the purpose of lighting your home.
4. Reuse Wastewater
You can save rainwater for your plants and when cleaning your yard. You can also install showerheads and other water fixtures that will help you reuse wastewater. You can use your wastewater to water your garden and lawn or for laundry and toilet flushing. These methods will help you achieve a more sustainable home and save money by cutting your water use costs.
5. Use Eco-friendly Paint
Some paints are eco-friendly and more cost-efficient than the old paints that use too many chemicals. You can choose to have organic-based or water-based paint because these are friendlier to the environment. You can also save more money by researching which brands are used for sustainable houses in your area. This also emits fewer toxins that help reduce indoor pollution.
6. Install a Smart Meter
This device will help you gauge and measure the energy that your appliances consume and cut it. This way, you can determine which appliance uses too much electricity.
7. Research on Sustainable Products
Researching and talking to experts regarding sustainable products you can use for your home gives you more extensive knowledge about a sustainable lifestyle. This will also help you make the right decisions for your home, whether you should make renovations or re-build your entire home from the ground up. Some websites will give you information about sustainable houses.
8. Recycle and Reuse Any Construction Waste
Trimmings, excess bricks, wood, or metal used to build your home should not be sent directly to the dumpster. You can always find ways to reuse such materials when you have another renovation project in your home. Otherwise, you may use this to improve your garden, lawn, or backyard.
9. Install a Cool Roof
Some roofing materials absorb heat and trap it inside. This will make your air-conditioning work double because of the trapped heat inside your home. You have to find which roof reflects the sun’s rays, ensuring that the sun’s heat does not get trapped inside the house.
10. Insulation
Making your home insulated will help you with reducing heat inside your home. This will make your air-conditioning, and electric fans work less if you have properly insulated your walls, floors, and ceilings.
All these ideas will help you make your home more sustainable than before. Changing into a more sustainable lifestyle and extending it to your home allows you to reduce your carbon footprint, thus enabling Mother Nature to heal herself. You are also saving more money by choosing energy-efficient appliances and a more sustainable lifestyle.
