Ecological Friendly House

2016-04-22T07:42:08Z

Hagen-Petters: Created page with "In today's modern world were more and more people are trying to conserve energy and money, many now crave the idea and lifestyle of living in an environmentally friendly house. W..."

In today's modern world were more and more people are trying to conserve energy and money, many now crave the idea and lifestyle of living in an environmentally friendly house. What they love is the idea of being fully sustainable and of being able to give back precious energy and nutrients to the environment. However many have little knowledge of what this actually means in order to implement their ideas.

== What is an ecological house? ==

To be truthful there are no set rules about what an ecologically friendly house or "Eco" house should actually feature. Some have features such as solar panels or recycled kitchen appliances. What needs to be considered when planning your own and individual ecological house, is ultimately what you want to get out from it. Do you want to live 'off the grid' and be self sufficient in all energy needs? Or do you simply want to grow your own vegetables in an environmentally friendly manner? What you want to achieve will help guide you during the planning process. In essence, you should have an end plan and work from there. The German Eco House Pioneer Baufritz offers some great insights and best practices for ecological housing: [https://www.baufritz.com/uk/ https://www.baufritz.com/uk/]

== Save energy ==

What is important to keep in mind when planning your ecological house is that the main aim is to save as much natural energy as possible that are required for daily living needs. What this means is conserving as much water, food, materials and household energy, such as gas and electricity as possible.

== Reusing energy ==

As well as being able to save energy, an ecological house also has the added benefit of being able to store and then use this conserved energy. This therefore helps to save you money while helping to preserve the environment at the same time.

== Reduces household waste ==

What the ecological house does is to reduce the amount of household waste by storing and then reusing it. The ecological house is planned around having a circular flow of energy throughout it, that nurture nature. For example, if the ecological house has solar panels placed upon its roof or in the garden, then you are able to store and use the natural power of the sun. Homes that do not have solar panels will be unable to utilise this natural resource in order to save and reuse energy. In the ecological home, the energy that is created via the sun can be used to heat water for washing and bathing. This therefore helps to save precious fossil fuels as well as helping to reduce it eliminate your household energy bills.

== What is an ecosystem? ==

If we understand nature's ecosystem then we can better understand how to utilise it in our homes. The ecological home is based upon nature's ecosystem, but what does this mean? Basically an ecosystem is a simply a group of living organisms that live alongside nonliving components in their home environment. So these nonliving components are those such as air, water and soil. All of these elements interact as one unit and as one ecological 'system'. They are linked together via energy flows and a highly sufficient nutrient system. It is also important to note that the energy that is created and flows throughout the system is mainly that of the sun.

== Using nature's ecosystem for the ecological house ==

We need to replicate nature's ecosystem in the home. One great way to do so is by saving your food scraps and then creating a new ecological garden from them. The food scraps can be used as nutrient rich plant food in order to grow herbs and vegetables to feed your family.<br />
<br />
Reusing water is also another wonderful example that you can use in your ecological home. By saving and using shower water or 'grey water' on the fruit bushes in the garden, you are helping to save precious water and feeding your plants the natural way without any chlorine. Having water butts in the garden is also a good way in which to water the garden from the natural elements.<br />
<br />
The ecological home very much needs to be based upon nature's ecosystem. In doing so you will be increasing the energy life cycle of your home, that will help to power your home and feed your family, while at the same time being kinder to the environment.

[[Category:Projects_and_case_studies]] [[Category:Research_/_Innovation]] [[Category:Theory]] [[Category:Sustainability]]

Designing Buildings - User contributions [en]

Ecological Friendly House