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Implementing sustainable practices at home will save you money. Do it right, and your home will become more comfortable… so, how do you do it right?
Well, it is all about good planning. Anyone, and any house can do it.
Some people may feel they need an expensive, innovative, sustainable home to be successful. That is not true. Imagine if everyone builds a new house just for a sustainable building.. the building work will use fuel and building material, defeating the purpose.
Another sustainably strategy
This strategy is to pack together the important function and maximize the use of the warm, comfortable space in your home.
All the other spaces will be used for less important functions such as storage. Or for the teenage kids as their secret hideout, who doesn't care if the space is a bit cold or a bit warm.
To implement the strategy, follow these three simple steps.
Step 1: Sum up space and activities
A: Identify all the comfortable spaces in the home. Generally, these spaces tend to be north-facing rooms that have plenty of natural daylight.
Note that if you have a special hobby, you may have a unique space to do it in. For example, if you love photography, you may want to block out all natural light and select the south-facing side of your home as your hobby room.
B: List out the key activities each member does.
List out the key activities that the member spends more than 15 minutes continuously on. Keep that to 4 or 5 key activities per person.
Step 2 – Planning and reassignment
Reassign everyone's activity in the comfortable spaces. The goal is to maximize the utilization of the comfortable spaces for the important activities for everyone in the family.
Design as many activities as possible into as little space as possible. Be mindful that you don't allocate activities that require high concentration in a space at a time when others are watching Netflix, for example.
Step 3 – Focused upgrades
The last step is customise and improve on the well-utilised, comfortable spaces.
Feel free to invest in heating, cooling, and/or any other systems to improve the comfort of your well-utilized spaces. For example, if you heat your living room for your whole family of five, each person would use only 20% of the energy they would use if they are all staying in their own room.
Some improvement ideas for the well-utilised spaces:
Double or triple-paned windows. Improving thermal performance in the room.
Double-layered curtains. Improve thermal performance and allow full block-out of daylight if required.
Draught stopper for doors. These are low-cost upgrades that keep the heating and cooling inside the house.
Dimmable light bulbs. These won't save you significant electricity costs. The function is the 'control'. This makes the room operate better when used for different functions. For example, you may want the space bright when you work and dim when you watch Netflix.
Trolleys and storage solutions. You'll be sharing the comfortable spaces with other family members. Trolleys and storage boxes will help everyone stay organised or wheel away unused items into the south-facing rooms.
Divide large spaces into smaller ones using curtains or shoji panels.
If you live in hot climates, add some high windows or a mechanical fan for cross ventilation and to cool the room.
Replace frequently-used appliances and equipment with more sustainable ones. For example, a high star rating refrigerator.
Install a high-sustainable-rating air condition system in well-utilised spaces.
Sustainability does not mean making yourself uncomfortable by staying in a cold room (or hot room if you are in Darwin). If you do that, you will give up quickly and feel disappointed.
Instead, sustainability is about planning, improving utilization, changing habits, and staying comfortable. Do it right and you'll get long-lasting, eco-friendly improvements that will save you thousands of dollars in utility bills over many years in the future.
Call or ask us a question if you want to learn more about your project.
Disclaimer: We assume no responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions. The information is for general purposes only with no guarantees of completeness, accuracy, usefulness, or timeliness. You must engage a suitable consultant for your specific situation.
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