Building a Better Green Home

How to have a green, net-zero home.

In a time when both climate changes and difficult economic adversity are the daily headlines, building a better green home makes common sense. A better green home with the increase in energy efficiency is something that many of us can do to help both issues of climate and economics.

Many homeowners have begun to do the simple things already, such as replace old incandescent light bulbs with the more energy efficient compact fluorescent lights. However, many people are looking to do more. They are striving to create a net-zero energy home. A net-zero green home is one that produces as much energy in a year at it uses. Here are a few ideas at what it takes to make your green home one that is a net-zero energy one:

What a Green, Net-Zero Home Needs
As we have said, a green, net-zero home is one that finds the balance between energy usage and energy production. To do that a net-zero green home will need to have some sort of renewable energy system setup. Currently there are three common ways to produce renewable home energy. The first and most common are photovoltaic solar panels that convert sunlight into electricity. The second is solar hot water, which can take a lot of roof space to work efficiently, and the third is wind technology, which needs lots of land to work well.

Designing the Green, Net-Zero Home
When considering the design of your green, net-zero home you need to take into consideration land use and positioning. For wind turbines and solar panels to work efficiently, you need to make sure that your home is positioned to take advantage of sun and wind effectively. In your green, net-zero home design, the homeowner needs to look for ways to minimize the energy load in heating, cooling and lighting. If you have an existing home you can do the basics of sealing air leaks and replacing windows and doors for better insulation.

When designing or updating your existing green, net-zero home, take into consideration of what lifestyles changes you are willing to make. The cost of making a green, net-zero home through basic efficiency can be a lot cheaper than the purchase of new solar panels or wind turbines for your home. However, putting up those solar panels and wind turbines can be a lot less disruptive to a family lifestyle than a basic remodel for green, net-zero efficiency.

Having a Green, Net-Zero Home is Also a Lifestyle Change
To achieve a green, net-zero home takes more than just updating or building the perfect energy efficient house. There is a requirement of both technology and lifestyle behavior. The technology is continuing to get better and be more efficient, however now matter how many solar panels you install, there is no replacement for shutting the lights off and taking shorter showers.