What does a home builder mean when they say that they build "green" homes? The term green is being used a lot to describe a wide range of products and it is unclear exactly what is meant. It can mean that the product is made from recycled materials, or perhaps has a longer life then competitors, or maybe uses less energy or any other number of ways that a product might be considered green or environmentally friendly. This problem also exists in green building, where the term can be applied to a home or building for any number of reasons. As consumers it is important to know what to look for when looking at green homes to make sure the house really is environmentally friendly.
The list of things that can make a home or building green is very long. Homes that use low flow toilets and have energy efficient heating and cooling systems in them might be considered green by some builders. However, not everyone would think this is a green home. Other people focus more on building materials when considering whether or not a home is green. Were environmentally friendly materials like recycled wood, bamboo, or other recycled products like stone and metal used in construction? This could make a home green as well. In addition some people look at location and home size, focusing on questions like access to public transportation, environmental impact on the sight and efficient use of space. A home that was built near local mass transit, within walking distance of nearby stores, built on refill of an old train depot and also built to maximize usable space without having huge square footage would be considered green by these standards; and these are just a few examples of what different people can mean when they say a home is green.
Further complicating the issue of green building, some builders will try to use the term green just to attract attention to their properties. Green is becoming a term that home buyers are looking for more and more. Whether it is because they are concerned for the environment or they are looking for a home that is going to be energy efficient, builders are realizing that by advertising their homes and buildings as green they can get increased interest and a higher selling price for the property. So it is important as a consumer to know what a builder means when they advertise a building as green.
There are several things you can do to ensure you are truly getting an environmentally friendly home not just a home that a builder put a little extra insulation and a low flow toilet in to say it is green. First off you can look for LEED certified builders and buildings. LEED is a group in the United States that sets standards for green building and rates buildings based on their environmental impact or greenness. However, not all builders will be LEED certified and that doesn't mean they aren't making environmentally friendly homes, they may just not have gotten the certification. Other things you can look for are NAHBGreen certification, a green building program administered by the national association of homebuilders, or energy star ratings for energy efficiency.
Assuming you are interested in a home that does not have a LEED or other green building certification but that is claiming to be green, there are still ways to determine whether or not it really is an environmentally friendly house. The main part of this is to become an educated consumer, look for building materials that are recycled or made from rapidly renewable sources like bamboo. Also consider the orientation of the home and its windows. If the house was truly built to be environmentally friendly it will be built in such a way as to maximize the benefit it can get from the environment. This usually means lots of south and east facing windows and very phew west facing windows. This helps warm the house with sunlight in the morning and through the winter months, while keeping out the intense west sun that can lead to high cooling costs in the summer. The builder will also typically have preserved large shade trees to help keep the house cool if they are truly building an environmentally friendly home. You can also ask the builder about things like construction waste and what steps were taken to minimize it during the building of the home to find out if the home was built to be environmentally friendly or is just being sold as green to get a higher price. By making sure you take these steps when considering a green home we can insure that builders aren't getting away with labeling homes green คอนโด กรุงเทพ that aren't really environmentally friendly.
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