Sustainability
What does
‘sustainability’ mean?
Sustainability is the principle of the
utilization of resources in order to obtain the steadiness as well as the
capacity of natural regeneration of the respective system. Briefly worded,
sustainability is the capacity to endure.
In what ways can a
building be sustainable?
When it comes to sustainable housing,
there have been tremendous advances since the last century → Sustainable houses
are becoming the new ideal homes.
As far as the
building of such an ultra-low energy house is concerned, some facts have to be
considered at first: Will it really be sustainable or will it only be a
waste of money?
How much time has to pass before it
will pay off?
Are there any specific facts I have to
consider after having built … ?
In most cases sustainable houses consist of:
Domestic wind
turbines: The purpose of these
small-scaled wind turbines is to generate electricity by utilizing the energy
of the wind. The greatest advantage: Once you've paid for the initial
installation your electricity costs will be reduced since the wind is FREE ;)
Besides, wind energy is green and renewable and doesn't release any harmful
carbon dioxide or other pollutants. Disadvantage: When you live in a region with hardly and wind, it would be better to use solar panels instead.
solar panels: They capture the sun’s energy by using
photovoltaic cells. In order to work, they don’t need direct sunlight, but even
on a cloudy day can generate some electricity. The advantages are the same as
for the wind turbines.
Living walls: Who would actually mind living in a house with
plants on it. It doesn’t only look nice, but plants also absorb sunrays and
protect the concrete from getting hot. Besides, you could grow plants that can
be eaten. Solar panels, on the contrary, absorb the energy and the walls
get hot, but you can still use the gained energy for something else.
Biomass boilers: Instead of fossil fuels, it would be better to use
biomass in heating systems. It uses agricultural, forest, urban and industrial residues
and waste in order to produce heat and electricity with less effect on the
environment.
Sewage treatments
plants: As already mentioned
in the post about Earthships, there are plants that filter out the remaining
pollutants of sewage.
Heat pumps: They offer an energy-efficicent
alternative to air conditioners and furnaces. Like a refrigerator, during the
heating season the heat pumps move cool heat from the outdoors into your warm
house and vice versa during the cooling season. Furthermore, the pumps can
provide up to four times the amount of energy they consume.
Green paving/asphalt:
Green asphalt is
environmentally friendly as old asphalt pavements are reclaimed and their
component parts rejuvenated for use in new pavement. They conserve natural
resources and reduce the need to purchase raw materials.
Revolving doors: They are indeed more efficient than a
swing door system since they serve as airlock. So they prevent letting cold air
into warm buildings and vice versa.
Composting toilets: It
may sound strange for some people, but for those who even want a sustainable
toilet system, it is an excellent idea. Human excreta are turned into a
valuable soil amendment, constituting a natural process. Apart from that,
hardly any water is used for this process.
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