Sustainable development using eco-friendly building methods means lessening the pressure on the Earth’s nonrenewable resources. The planet is now experiencing huge pressures on its resources due to the rate of population growth, economic development and an increasing demand for its natural assets. During and since the Industrial Revolution the advances in scientific understanding and industrial processes have benefited humans, but there has been a downside. They have also led to an increase in all kinds of pollution and a rapid acceleration of damage to the environment.
Green buildings come in all shapes and sizes from eco mansions, tiny cottages, transportable eco homes, offices or something in between. The ‘tiny house’ trend has quickly gained in popularity and is signaling the eco-friendly building message. Eco homes offer the healthiest living conditions even if they’re built in remote areas. This is because of their versatility, attractiveness, affordability, and some are built by Australian companies such as Fox Transportables from materials with energy ratings of 6-8 Stars. They come in designs with two or three bedrooms and either double-glazed windows and/or aluminium insulated panels. These eco homes are prefabricated and can be erected anywhere in Australia either permanently or temporarily.
What is eco-friendly construction?
This kind of construction involves using building materials and processes that are environmentally responsible, resource-efficient (using the Earth’s limited resources sustainably) and these continue throughout the building’s life cycle. Using resources efficiently allows for the creation of more by using less and delivering more value with less input. Although building green, eco-friendly homes has been dismissed in the past as too costly, its popularity has surged lately due to its many advantages over other methods of building – advantages ranging from social and economic to environmental.
The following 8 reasons show why you shouldn’t be reluctant to use eco-friendly construction companies on your home building project.
1. Low operation and maintenance costs
Green, eco-friendly buildings (even prefabricated or transportable homes or granny flats) include unique features in their construction that makes sure there is an efficient use of resources such as energy and water. For instance, by using task or focused lighting and lots of daylight, green buildings can immensely reduce the amount of power used. This allows users to save as much as a third of their electricity bills. Since the cost of home maintenance and operations can account for as much as 80 per cent of the lifetime expenses of a building, reducing these from the beginning increases the earnings of investors. Eco-friendly homes are much less expensive in the long term even though construction costs might be a little higher than non-green buildings at the start.
2. Efficient use of energy
Those who design green or eco-friendly homes and buildings reduce where possible the dependency on energy from nonrenewable resources such as coal. They include solar panels to make use of the sun’s energy for heating and they design windows that allow as much natural light as possible to shine into the building, reducing the use of artificial light. Energy efficiency helps the person using it and paying for it, and it also helps the whole world since the sources of nonrenewable energy not only pollute the environment, but are expensive.
3. Efficient use of water
The efficient use of water will save you money for a start, but will also benefit those who will rely on it in the future. It means that future generations can be sure to have available to them, a consistent supply of good quality, potable water which is vital to life on this planet. Green eco-friendly home building involves the use of rainwater which reduces the amount of water wasted and also the installation of water purification systems to allow for recycling.
4. Quality indoor environments
A healthy indoor home or office environment positively affects the people who live or work in it and it depends on conditions in a building including the ergonomics, thermal conditions, lighting, and air quality. Quality indoor environments reduce stress on the occupants and eco-friendly homes and buildings achieve this with different methods. For example, windows that allow as much sunlight as possible to shine indoors and a reduction in the use of unhealthy materials that emit elements that are harmful to people.
5. Better Health
Because of the use of safe and harmless materials in the construction of eco-friendly homes and buildings, those who occupy them enjoy some great health benefits. For example, green and eco-friendly construction companies don’t use plastic by-products that release toxic materials such as carcinogens (cancer-causing agents) which not only cause much difficulty in breathing but also increase the risk of cancer.
6. Efficient use of materials
For more efficient use of building materials, eco-friendly, green construction companies use long-lasting products; they also recycle and reuse whatever they can to minimise waste. They also design buildings that encourage the use of fewer raw and other materials; that use less water, and energy. This is called ‘material efficiency’ and it means processes are used in a way that allows for the use of fewer materials, without compromising on the quality of the home or building.
7. Help the environment
By reducing the use of energy resources that pollute the environment such as coal, eco-friendly homes and green buildings help the environment and add to the global movement to keep the Earth clean and able to renew itself. Also, by reducing the levels of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere, they help to reduce the alarming and accelerating pace of climate change.
8. Reduces demands on resources
As the world’s population grows, it increases the pressure on shared, local resources such as energy and water. Green and eco-friendly homes and buildings are already helping to reduce the strain by using the kind of technologies and construction processes that increase the efficient use of these valuable resources.
Call Fox Transportables on 08 6377 8335 or 0417 007 052 for a quote or to discuss your eco project.
