‘Go green’, if you are swearing by this mantra of late, there is a possibility that this is what you would like to follow while building your next green abode. Before you start all that planning for a tempting ‘green’ interior, think twice about the construction material that you are using. An entirely environment friendly home is the one that has great indoor air quality. The more vinyl flooring or chemically formulated paints you use, the more it affects indoor air quality. So the first rule to adhere to is the selection of eco friendly construction material. There are many parameters to this selection. The easiest way out is to buy reliable products from reliable sources. Make one rule, whatever you choose, should be reusable or recyclable.
Start from the roof
Thankfully, a few companies have taken correct initiatives and you can purchase pre fabricated green roof systems. These are made using recycled plastics and are sustainable; they last long and are to a great extent energy efficient too. If you wish to look around for some other choices, judge the roofing options on a few parameters. You should pay attention to the material, color and installation process. Ideally, an eco friendly roof system is the one that can be reused, does not use synthetic materials, supports ventilation etc. Metal, wood etc. are considered good and hassle free options. Prefer selecting a light color for the exterior of the roof, as dark colors absorb heat thus increasing outdoor temperature. While doing this, do make a budget so that the construction cost does not go overboard. If your budget permits you may go for expensive options, or you can go for comparatively reasonable options like aluminium, copper, steel etc.
Use ecofriendly paints
Chemically formulated paints affect the indoor air quality, their larger impact is on our environment, which get affected by their constituents specially when they are disposed off. Luckily, there are a number of eco friendly paint options out there. These paints have zero Volatile Organic Compound, which reduces their harmful effect on environment. If you do not know what kind of paint to look for, try and search the paints that use ‘natural material’ like mineral fillers, essential oils, seed oils etc. Check out their ingredient list and do not buy it if it mentions any chemical compound or some fancy sounding chemical formulation. It is the easiest way to identify ecofriendly paints.
Use recyclable flooring
There are lots of flooring choices available now a days. The best one among these are bamboo, wood, cork, concrete, recycled glass tiles are a few of the many ecofriendly options available. You may have to check on the transportation cost and installation process as well. Do not use synthetic glues. Use grout and be careful with installation of the tiles so that they do not get cracked easily. Use natural finishes so that indoor air does not get polluted. The eco friendly floorings are available in many varieties, from mosaic to single unit flooring and small tiles.
Use ‘green’ wood finishes
Besides paint, one of the hazardous construction material are the wood finishes that are used to a large extent on wooden furniture and other wood work. The normal finishes may give a shiny coat to your wooden stuff, there is no denying the fact that they are harmsful to the environment. Instead of these, use natural wood finishes. These are not very tough to find. If you do not know much about these, go searching for linseed oil or silk oil based finishes. These have faint odour and are not that difficult to endure when freshly applied. They also last long. Also, it would be wise not to ignore other finishes that you are using, select the ones that have a natural substance as its base.
Make energy efficient choices
Now this is one factor that may make a lot of difference to your entire effort. Whatever you choose for your house, from electrical appliances to flooring, roof, window designs, wall designs etc. make sure that you are making energy efficient choices. For example: cork tiles are good insulators and they reduce the requirement of electronic heating appliances thus helping you save on energy. Ditto with roofs. An important thing is to select energy saving appliances. One wise decision would be to go for a design that makes optimum use of natural resources that are available to us for free. Large windows, solar system installations etc help you make optimum use of natural resources.
