What Technologies to Use When Building a Sustainable Home

Building a ‘green home’ sounds like an excellent idea, but which of the “green technologies” are best to use? There are quite a few, there is perhaps the most well-known, solar energy, which can be split into two categories; active solar and passive solar power. Then there are the wind-generated and the hydro-electric sources (as in the use of waterwheels turned by a running stream, for example). There is also geothermal power as well, which uses the heating and cooling qualities of the ground in applications for home energy consumption. But which of all of these is best to use?

That’s a bit of a trick question because the best way to achieve efficiency is to cover all angles. In building a green home, it’s best to diversify your sources of energy, create backup systems, and even have some systems help out or complement others. After all, it’s free energy, why not grab all of the opportunities available?

Let’s look at what geothermal power can do. With a network of pipes set underground below a house’s foundation, you can have water running through them, collecting the Earth’s heat, circulate it within the home to provide heat and hot water, and with the use of heat pump generators, and even produce electricity from it.

Another angle to consider when building a green home is the use of the power of the wind. Many homes today are self-sufficient using only this source of power, generating more than enough needed electricity using one or two windmills to produce it all. The power that they generate is stored in cells such as the batteries found powering forklifts and the like, and from there, the constant flow of electricity to the home is regulated. Many have built windmills, and have very cheaply acquired these battery cells used, and have recycled them for use with their wind-powered generators.

But when building a green home, perhaps the first power source that may come to mind is solar energy. Using solar panels today is vastly cheaper than it was decades ago, and the power output of today’s photovoltaic cells (“solar panels”) is quite superior to that of those from the seventies when solar energy had its first big burst of popularity. People today are even making their solar panels as weekend projects, spending less than a couple of hundred dollars on easily procured parts to create a single 2×5 foot panel which can power a desktop computer, air-conditioner, and a small garage refrigerator. A person might only need three or four of these to power everything requiring electricity in a small home today, and decades ago an entire roof array was needed that would cost well over ten thousand dollars to procure.

If you are planning to build a sustainable home, you need to contact sustainable design assessment testing experts who will come and examine your design. The experts will come and have a look at the design concerning energy, materials to be used, water harvesting methods and all that makes a home green. After that, a permit will be awarded, and you can go on with the construction.