CAJ 4

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.