Saturday, August 1, 2009

GREEN LIVING: Green Home Checklist

By Flynna Sarah Molina

If you happen to be looking for a green home or eco-friendly dwellings, you might be confused on how to determine if it is truly green. What are the qualifiers for a green home? Here is a checklist that will guide you in determining the features of a green house and the benefits you can get when you live in it.

Area: Green houses and communities should not be on environmentally sensitive locations such as farmland, wetlands and endangered animals surroundings. The ideal sites are "in-fill" properties like previous parking lots, rail yard, shopping mall and factories. Choose a location wherein public transportation such as bus lines, light rail and subways systems are accessible. In this way, you can leave your car at home. It must also be near the park, school and stores. Everything must be reachable as possible so that you can just ride on your bicycle if you need something. It will not just save you from fuel; it is a healthy activity as well.

Dimension: Keep in mind that if the lot is big, it requires greater heating, air conditioning and lightning. And this is like spending double on your electricity bills. A smaller house will allow you to save more energy. Though it does not have to be very small, just enough to accommodate you and your family.

Infrastructure Design: Your house must be situated in an area that can take advantage of the natural daylight. In this way, you can minimize the use of lighting requirements and make use of the coolness of the air. Make use of the parts of your house to bring light inside. You must have shading devices like sunshades, canopies, green screens and trees to help you control the amount of sunlight that comes inside. Dual glaze windows lessen the heat during summer season and heat loss during winter. The roof must have eco-friendly features like light-colored, high reflector of heat or a green (landscaped) roof.

Eco-friendly construction materials: A green house should use healthy and non-toxic materials and furnishings. If you use wood in some areas, make sure they come from renewable sources like bamboo. It is recommended to use eco products since they are made of mostly organic and recycled components.

Energy Efficient Appliances: As much as possible use appliances and devices that have energy saving features, you start from your lights, heater, cooler and other necessary tools. Some of them might be costly, but it is a worthy investment.

Front Yard Landscape: Your landscape plays a big role in the external appearance of your house. You want to make it look very appealing. When you choose ornaments and plants, be sure to place it in such a way that it will help minimize heat islands. The plants you use must withstand the droughts.

Choosing a green house can have a lot of things that must be considered. But the advantages that you can get and the act of helping the environment are much more than price of the house.

You can check these sites for more real estate properties for sale Carefree AZ Homes for Sale and Cave Creek AZ Homes.

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