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what are some ways to make your house greener?

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Question by : what are some ways to make your house greener?
I am writing a paper on how to make your house greener as in a better place for the earth and save money. What are some sujestions you have. Right now i have three subtitles; saving electricity, saving water, and recycling. What are some good things to put under these.

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Answer by †X€NØNN†
saving electricity:
using low consumption light bulbs.
using alternative energy sources to supplement the others , like solar power (can also be used for heating tough), wind power, hydroelectric power etc..

saving water, have a rain water collector (reservoir) and use a water filter/purifier, thus you save water.
we have one of those setups in our house, its simple and works very well.

recycling, well water used in the sink and such can be recycled to use to flush the toilet for example.

also we have a furnace used for heating , used the wood form 2 trees that needed to be chopped down cause they long since died and could have been dangerous.
with that wood we saved about 3500$ of heating, even if the wood is bought then you can still save up (at least here where gas-heating is very expensive)

besides that just don’t waste anything, and use biodegradable materials.

for refference I participated (and still am) in an extensive design of a house ( purely academic I doubt we will ever have it built, whereas i can’t send you the design..
i can give you a few details
for one
it had a beautiful garden with a waterfall was actually a part of the water filtration dispersion and sewage recycling system ( meaning it also watered the plants in the decorative garden and the lower lying vegetable garden)

the waterfall also provided a little energy by using a hydroelectric motor. which mostly powered the outdoor lights
also the house had quite large solar panels on the roof.
a natural water filtration system for the pool, and a water reservoir neatly built into the house,

large windows, and skylights offered natural light throughout the day, and an economic design of the house allowed more areas to be optimally light with just one light.

double layered isolation, and windows that can be simply set to let infrared light kept it warm during winter . and can be made totally opaque for privacy, or set to not allow some gamme of light through to keep the place from warming up in summer

it had an interior well equipped gym, and the machines where actually tied to dynamos to produce electricity when used. ( this is kinda prototyped as of now)
the electricity gained from it is substantial, but since its a pretty erratic source storage and use becomes a headache.

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Q&A: What are some thing to keep in mind if you are making a green living house?

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Question by : What are some thing to keep in mind if you are making a green living house?
By green I mean earth friendly. I want to know how to make a really well design house, maybe a beach house

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Answer by Marcia
Placement on the site, placement of the windows or natural light sources, and the surrounding landscaping are critical. There is a good argument for summer and winter energy reduction through the use of roof over-hangs/porches of 18″ or more. We seem to be returning to “zones” throughout the house for both heating and cooling. Window coverings seem to passively mitigate winter and summer extremes pretty well too; in hot/high sun areas this includes exterior shutter arrangements. Essentially, the best way to reduce energy use is to reduce the need to use it in the first place. It makes the operational costs cheaper too.

I have three general concerns about many of the “efficient” houses I see. The first is that there is something “wrong” in my view when one must run one or more fans for hours on end because the house is sealed so tight that the air must be exchanged with outside air using an energy source. Back in the day, and the days before that day, when you wanted fresh air in a place you opened a window. While you may not want to need to open a window when the snow is blowing sideways at 50mph, I think that simply the ability to periodically open windows for fresh air and to circulate air within the house makes things more comfortable with less energy use; for those hot summer days, being able to passively draw cool air from off the beach’s water while pushing interior hot air outside would be nice. The second is that I’m not fully convinced that many of the “green” houses are particularly survivable should there be a house fire. My concern is not so much the sporead of the fire but, the fumes generated. The third is that it seems as if a number of the “green” house designs are not built with repairs in mind. Some are built with cement encased radiant heating and cooling systems and other features designed to last 20 years, or even 50 years. In the world of modular houses, 20 years is a long time; although I’ve seen some 40 year old plus trailers in pretty darned great condition with proper maintenance. In the world of stick houses, it is not. Even 50 years is not that long in the world of better built and better maintained stick houses. It would seem that repair, repair access, and replacement capabilities would be more “green” than building a shorter lived structure.

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