In times, when catastrophic results of humans’ predatory activity regarding our planet becomes a well known topic, architects and architecture users are beginning to take into consideration how buildings affect environment. It applies both to small range of single buildings, as well as the large scale of thousands of structures of the same kind built around the world.

Ideas of architects concerning economy and environment-friendliness are slightly peculiar – a house heated with human body temperature, hairdryer or cooking – on plans it looks good but in reality both costs of putting into practice and comfort of living are precluding from using them. Luckily, we can also take the less drastic elements into consideration, to make our home more ecological.

• Heating is one of the most expensive parts of house-exploitation and very burdensome for nature. But its negative effects can be significantly decreased – various environment-friendly technologies as well as renewable energy sources acting as fuel can be used. The easiest and most popular in usage are wood fireplaces in which burning the biomasses creates heat able to warm an average house. Different systems allow the hot air or water heated in a special collar to circulate around the house, warming all rooms. A popular way of heating water are sun collectors and huge, flat reservoirs built into the sunny wall of the building. In some regions of the world you can even use the internal globe heat – superficial geothermal sources are perfect for heating, plus, absolutely free.

• Garbage recycling is an absolutely basic question, a habit easy to learn and practice, no matter if you live in a house or a flat. The most important part of house garbage are natural wastes and secondary materials (mainly plastic, glass, paper, scrap metal). Generally about 80 – 90% of the garbage we produce belongs to one of these categories, so aside from good mood it can also induce saving money, as many companies collect the recycled ones with low costs or for free. Overtime, the natural wastes can transform – thanks to composting – into a very fertile soil, perfect for gardening.

• When it comes to recycling, it is also good to pay attention to used batteries, medicine and household equipment, which are very harmful for the environment. Concerning first two types, it is good to learn about location of containers for the sole purpose of collecting it, so in the end meds and batteries are utilized in a safe, environment-friendly way. When it comes to household equipment, the European Union imposes the duty of utilization upon producers and sellers.

Another easy way of reducing garbage production is giving away or selling redundant items.So, share what you have!

Tags: eco house, eco tips, Energy, Environment, Geothermal power, Home and Garden, recycling, Renewable, Renewable energy

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 at 1:24 pm and is filed under Eco, Home, Interesting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.