2 Ways To Focus Residential Building Design On Sustainable Living

Posted on: 26 February 2020

When making a residential building design for your custom home, you could be under the impression that sustainable living is merely about enhancing the energy efficiency of the property. While energy-efficient housing is crucial in managing your overall costs once you move into your custom build, sustainability goes much further than that. When the construction of your house is guided by sustainability, it is a step towards the conservation of the environment. Thus, you are proactively minimising your carbon footprint while also getting to enjoy significant costs savings from your electrical bills. Read on for just two ways that you can focus your residential building design around sustainable living.

Prioritise renewable and recyclable building supplies

The first step towards integrating sustainable living in residential building design is by investing in the right materials. You may have heard the terms renewable supplies and recyclable materials, but you should note that they are not supposed to be used interchangeably. Renewable building supplies refer to materials that will regenerate naturally with time as long as they are replaced into the environment. One good example of a renewable resource is responsibly harvested timber products. As long as the timber materials you use did not contribute to deforestation, they are considered a renewable resource. Recyclable building materials, conversely, refer to materials that can be reclaimed to reuse or repurpose them. Metal is a great example of a recyclable supply since you can opt to use recycled metal for the roofing of your custom build, which eliminates the need for new metal products to be manufactured. Furthermore, once the roofing is worse for wear, it can be salvaged and repurposed for other uses.

Prioritise water conservation

Water is progressively becoming a dwindling resource, and one does not even have to embark on a substantial amount of research to establish this when you consider the droughts that Australia has experienced in the recent past. Therefore, if you want to ensure that your residential building design is focusing on sustainability, it is crucial to prioritise water conservation. Fortunately, there are several ways that you can do this right from the building stage. To begin with, rainwater harvesting systems should be assimilated into the structure to ensure that you have a supplementary source of water rather than relying solely on the municipal provision. Secondly, you should opt for fixtures designed for water conservation such as dual flush toilets, aerated showerheads and more.

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How to Construct a House

Hello, my name is Lisa and this is my blog. I live in Perth, Australia and for the past two years, I have been working on my home to improve it. My husband works away a lot, so the upkeep of the family home is completely in my hands. At first, I didn't have a clue what I was doing. Thankfully, my brother works as a contractor and knows about electrical wiring, plumbing and general construction. He gave me some great advice so I decided to start this blog so I could pass on his wisdom to others. I hope you enjoy my blog.

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