Useful Tips to Build an Eco-friendly House

When it's necessary and when we have the possibility to build a house of our own, we wish to do everything in full agreement with our mentality: to be an eco friendly house, healthy, clean, economical, benefiting from solar energy in a natural way.

Above all, when you take such a decision, it's good to attend all family members who will live in the future house, and each should express his opinion regarding their benefits, even if it's about small and insignificant details; in the end, there must reached a consensus among all family members. This action that involves all family members and the respect for them is a very good exercise of family communication and it can develop harmoniously their life.

This work should be applied both to build a case for one family and for another for 3 or more families; they all have to agree to build enclosed houses or a collective one.

Apart from building your house just as an extra product for sale, it must be a space of harmony, peace and inner warmth. In the Book of Athens, an urban event of the 50's, realized by the creators of modern architecture, the house was defined as a space that can provide 'essential joys', like air, sunshine, open spaces, vegetation, silence, privacy and the other human needs.

If you're not satisfied anymore about the conditions of the house where you live and you wish to rent or sell it, this decision must be taken by all the family members, by establishing a new agreement with the new owners or tenants.

Now, let's discuss clear and brief about the necessary steps to create an eco friendly dream house.

You must first choose the land, doing an exclusive analysis of the area. This analyze will be made by an architect with the help of the persons who will design the house; the professional relation between them must be based on trust, in order that both take the right decision regarding the house construction. If the architect is also the land expert, it is even better, because he will accomplish certain conditions and will understand better the global issues.

It's not easy to find a perfect a perfect land that meets all the conditions, but even if the one we have is disastrous and wrong oriented, you mustn't be afraid to sell it and look for a better one.

The objectives we must consider when building a green house are:

1. The dimensions of the land must be in accordance with the project needs.

2. The area where you build the house mustn't present: power lines, transformers, railways. You must also consider the wind direction at that time in order not to be wrong.

3. It's necessary to ensure a good orientation, the possibility of observing the light and solar potential barriers, looking for an area without very high buildings. This examination is very useful, especially if we know exactly the latitude of the land.

4. The land's examination and the analysis of the land's type. Regarding the type of soil and land, we must keep in mind that the land's movements should be in accordance with the type of cement required, otherwise, the following changes could be expensive. This statistic is available only for a certain type of soil, but there are cases when, due to the composition of the soil, the house requires a special foundation.

5. A pleasant area: a good view, landscapes and appropriated vegetation.

6. We must be informed about the specific climate of the area.

7. The land expert must verify:

a) If there are rivers near by;

b) Landslides

c) If there were electric, chemical and magnetic contamination.

d) If there are signs of harmful substances such as gas or negatively ionized air.

8. We must request a qualified expertise of the land and this mustn't contain restrictions that could endanger the project development or any other reason that can affect the construction.

9. We must find more about the signature and the title of propriety, in case it could be debated for a succession. If it is, in these circumstances and even if the problem is about to be solved, we should consider a mortgage to build, if the financial situation would require it until everything is in accordance with the law.

10. The price must be fair and adequate when compared with the house which will be built. It's never too late to make a comparison of the prices with other lands from the area.

11. You must consider the fastest ways to get to downtown without the need for a car.

12. All the family members should live for a while in the area where the new green house will be build and they should spend there some time, in order to check if everybody feels good in that place.

Choosing an architect and a construction team

Choosing the right architect when we desire to have a green house is not quite simple. Most of them still do not know or were not concerned about what represents the ecological architecture.

The best way to know how to make this choice is to ensure that the architect shares with us the same philosophy. The best way to find him is by looking for him throw several environmental associations. It's not required to be a perfect harmony between the client and architect and it's not too daring to ask him to show us some houses he projected and tell us about the construction materials used, the reasons.

Choosing the architect may encourage you to hire a construction team that can be also a member of such environmental associations.

Sources: www.eco-house.ro, www.ecolinks.org/ecohouse.html, www.ecofriendlyhouse.co.uk, www.cometonc.com/category/going-green-ecofriendly