Making Your Home More Sustainable

Unless you've recently returned from twenty years living in the Outback isolated from any contact with the rest of the world, you know environmental consciousness is at an all time high all across the globe.  In the industrialised countries demand for water and energy continues to increase as the supply diminishes.  Emerging market countries are ramping up their resource utilization as well, exacerbating the problem.  As a result, the world is going green.

Sustainability is the watchword of the day.  While you may think your own energy and resource consumption is too small to make a difference, realising you are one of millions of consumers contributing to the problem should make you aware each of us as individuals must be involved in seeking solutions.

It is possible to reduce the amount of natural resources we consume by making our homes more sustainable.  For existing homes this requires retrofitting, or making changes to your home in its present state.  The changes that will yield the biggest impact in increasing sustainability focus on water saving and heating and cooling improvements.

Although this might seem obvious to some, checking your home for unseen water leaks is a simple yet potentially impactful place to start.  Garden hose fittings can have slow leaks that remain unseen for years.  Check all the water connections in and outside your home for leaks.  Slow dripping faucets in the basement are easy to ignore, but those drips add up to significant water loss quicker than you might think.

Today you have a variety of water saving devices and appliances available for purchase.  Water saving shower heads and faucets help reduce water consumption as does low volume flush toilets.  

Replacing traditional grass lawn with groundcovers or newer grasses that require less water during dry spells can have a substantial impact on your home’s water consumption.  Finally, consider adding a water tank to collect rainwater from your roof, which can be used for irrigation purposes and even piped into your home for use in your toilets.

Weatherproofing your home against air leaks is a first step in improving the efficiency of both your heating and cooling systems.  Energy saving programmable thermostats allow you to regulate the temperature within your home when no one is there, leading to substantial savings in energy cost.  Adding an attic fan coupled with cross ventilating open windows throughout your home can reduce your need for air conditioning significantly.  Paddle ceiling fans throughout are another way to use less air conditioning.

When replacing appliances make sure they are rated energy efficient.  In addition, replace traditional light bulbs with more energy efficient ones.  Finally, although it will take some time to recoup your initial investment, solar heating is a great way to make your home more sustainable.

Solar hot water systems can replace your traditional hot water heater.  Both passive and active solar roofing panels that will reduce your reliance on your home’s heating system are becoming more and more available, attractive, and cost effective. Many state governments offer financial incentives for certain sustainability projects, like adding a solar hot water system.  These savings not only make your home more sustainable immediately, they reduce the amount of time it takes till you start seeing a return on your investment in terms of lower utility bills.  Not only will you help yourself save money; you will also help save Mother Earth!