10 Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint When Building Your New Home 

When building a new home in today’s economy and landscape, it is essential to consider goals for clean energy, and a clean earth.  Global warming is real and affecting people in the ways they build their new homes, in order to help the earth, as a whole, by reducing carbon footprint.

When a home owner wants to build a new home; smart building companies in Australia Perth, Sydney, and Wollongong are keen to imparting new techniques to make lasting changes that affect every homeowner’s carbon footprint.

1 – Efficient ventilation and passive cooling and heating

Building designers at ZengCAD use special software tools to ensure insulation is appropriately selected, heating and cooling are reduced to a minimum.  Every design is precisely created to reduce drafts and air leaks. Much of this is done with insulation, and weather stripping.  Passive cooling is a building design approach that focuses on heat gain control and heat dissipation in a building in order to improve the indoor thermal comfort with low energy consumption. This approach works either by preventing heat from entering the interior (heat gain prevention) or by removing heat from the building (natural cooling)

2 – Use Sustainable Cladding

Sustainable Cladding is used on the skin of a building. It catches the eye, and is a combined board material which can be shaped easily to the form required; often it is comprised of recycled materials.

3 – Install Energy Efficient Appliances

Appliances that are energy saving for efficiency are a primary consideration when choosing a new furnace, air conditioning unit, dishwasher, or refrigerator.  ENERGY STAR products are labeled and known and recognised to be the best choice for superior efficiency.

The boom of smart appliances has also improved the energy efficiency of a home, cleverly switching on and off elements around the house as required.

4 – Consider Energy Efficient Lighting

Today’s light fixtures are created with beautiful designs and cutting edge technology. Incandescent light bulbs are being replaced with compact fluorescent and LED lights that last longer and save money for home owners in the long run.

5 – Install Solar Panels

Installing Solar Panels’ and having a solar energy system go a long way in conserving valuable resources and especially money. Smart home designers and owners are adding solar panels to the roof of homes where the costs up front are a bit more, but in the long run with reduced energy bills, the panels really pay off. There are even homeowners who are able to eliminate their electricity bill altogether or even earn money back from rebates.

6 – Install thermally efficient windows

Energy efficient windows can substantially reduce the costs associated with heating and cooling.  They eliminate drafts and increase a clear and beautiful view.

7 – Reduce water usage

It is a smart move to lower the amount of energy used to pump, treat, and heat water by installing energy star water heaters.  Reducing water usage by installing drip irrigation for gardens and greenery, is essential so that plants receive only what is needed. Making water-efficient choices is important when choosing shower heads, faucet heads, toilets, dishwashers and washing machines. All pay off in the long run for homeowners and home builders.

8 – Use environmentally friendly construction materials

A good building designer will know the best products to use and purchase when building a new home. In today’s’ economy it is not unusual to re-use and re-cycle and to use environmentally friendly construction materials.

9 – Create Space for vegetation

Vertical gardens and veggie gardens are another way homeowners can reduce their carbon footprint.

10 – Collect Rainwater 

Finally, by collecting rainwater using stormwater tanks, home owners can conserve valuable water resources to be used for watering gardens, washing cars and more.

To find out more about designing your home to be sustainable and energy efficient, get in contact with us.

Disclaimer: this guide should not be used as sole guideline for any application, construction or intent to build any development.