It will be a more efficient use of energy for a home to be tall and narrow than to be spread out. The house can also be oriented to increase sunlight in the winter and decrease excessive heat in the summer.
Pratt Institute undergraduate architecture students explored ways in which form and energy performance can work together toward self-sustaining housing. Graduate studios were dedicated to the development of solar design protocols and formal models for resilient workforce-housing models.
Energy Efficiency
Lots of architect nowadays are trying to use green technologies to reduce the impact of building on the environment. Reusing recycled material and using solar system with homes are one of the methods to cut down carbon emission and reduce carbon footprint. Saving electricity through energy-saving appliances and lighting, or choosing an environmental-friendly orientation with more natural sunlight and airflow in order to reduce heating and cooling costs can make a big difference in a house. However, many builders pre-emptively refuse to take energy efficiency steps that increase home costs and thereby price working families out of a neighbourhood, says Orafice. MIT has been piloting a programme that could lend some help. The software looks at energy use across entire neighbourhoods or cities – taking into account not just the building style but also the way it sits next to its neighbours and how many trees surround it.
Water Conservation
Sustainable houses go for building materials that are biodegradable and won’t tarnish the beauty of the environment. They use solar power and takes advantage of water conservation by building sacks and aquifers that reduces waste and help in keeping the landscape design friendly and beautiful. With urban development , sustainability is even more important to the urban citizens and the city in general. Sustainability aims at cutting carbon emission while creating a better air quality and protecting the natural resources. It is very important that all city residents have to co-operate in making their cities more sustainable. Just by this cooperation, the volume of the landfill trash and the cost of energy usage will decrease. Such small actions could be using recyclable bags for shopping – rather than using plastic bag – and buying products from the bulk-section and avoiding plastic utensils. Other possible measures could be recycling, composting and avoiding use of chemicals. By providing walking/biking paths, this will make people to get out of their cars, and providing green space will help people to stay fit physically as well as mentally. So to conclude, all city residents have co-operate and employ these measures to make their city more sustainable.
Recycling
(Recycle is a real key to live in a sustainable city. Use wood and ceramic tile again reduce the production. Using plastics not wurming living organism are the future of our city live sustainably) Saving energy can be achieved through the use of natural light and heat via solar panels, and intelligent design of roofs. An eco-friendly interior can also be created through the use of materials that contain lower levels of toxic Volatile Organic Compounds or VOCs (all materials give off unsafe vapours to some extent in their first days of use). Sustainability design often involves a greywater system that cleans and pumps rainwater through to voes for landscaping or other non-potable uses. This both minimises the environmental impact of an area and can save its residents money in the long run.
Healthy Environment
Sustainable living advocates creation of a green home environment and chiefly, healthy green homes incorporate in their design only eco-friendly building materials and practices to lower volatile organic compounds, air and water pollution, and electromagnetics. Cities occupy just 3 per cent of the land surface of the planet but use 80 per cent of the energy and produce 70 per cent of carbon emissions, and themselves are vulnerable to climate change while threatening the natural world. Residents of urban centres need green places where they can see themselves as being part of nature and not just as long-term visitors to it, seeking not just immediate benefits of food, leisure or employment but as being part of the whole. Green and blue spaces that promote outdoor activity also strengthen residents’ physical and mental health. Urban farming, combined with green space and reduced use of pesticides and herbicides, also contribute to a healthier – and often healthier, protective – diet. Another strategy for building a strong economy is the repurposing of older buildings to establish educational, healthcare and civic uses.
Transportation
Supporting sustainable transportation systems is a sustainable city living as part of a sustainable city goal. This can be in the form of public transit like buses or trains, EV drivers, green bikeways, and accessories as part of these efforts. If you build an eco-home, you can stay in control of electricity and heating costs. Being eco-friendly does not mean spending more. If you decide to install solar panels and use alternative, renewable energy, such as wind power, you will use less fossil fuel, reduce your carbon emissions and, in the end, your carbon footprint. One way to reduce utility expenses is to build a smaller home with a layout that includes only what space and rooms you need, reducing construction material and labor cost, as well as heating and cooling expenditures. Make sure your south window orientation components in your small house plan have at least two windows in them, as the daylight coming into the home through these windows during winter time will help warm up the interior of the house.
