TWEED COAST DESIGN and DRAFTING
Houses and Residential Units
Green Design
Green or Sustainable Design covers a broad range of topics.
Green or sustainable design has to be integrated into the design right from the very beginning to make it totally successful. Existing houses and buildings can be modified to incorporate green or sustainable technology, but generally not as successfully as a new building. This should not deter owners of existing houses to do this.
The same principals apply to hot and cold climates, its just whether you concentrate on heating or cooling the building.
Starting with the site, the building has to be orientated to sun and prevailing winds to maximise the natural heating and cooling available from these sources.
The building then has to be designed with the living areas orientated the right way, overhangs and awnings have to shade the windows or allow sun in, depending on climate and the time of year. There is also a idea that small to medium houses are more sustainable because they use less materials. This is open to debate.
Building materials have to be selected to retain heat, reflect heat, allow cooling or allow heating. The materials should be made from renewable or recycled resources. Built in heating and cooling systems have to be incorporated into the structure.
Then we can look at the extras like rainwater tanks, recycled use of grey water, energy efficient appliances and lights, wind, sun and organic powered generators, and protective landscaping.
We can use some or all of these things, along with anything else you can think off.
We need to think and act locally and globally and consider the triple bottom line (people, planet and profit).
Other things to think about:
* Eco-innovation
* Green building
* Life cycle assessment
* Green transport
* Passive solar design
* Energy and Environmental Design
* Renewable heat
* Renewable resource
* Social design
* Source reduction
* Sustainability
* Sustainable development
* Waste management
* Appropriate technology
Green or sustainable design has to be integrated into the design right from the very beginning to make it totally successful. Existing houses and buildings can be modified to incorporate green or sustainable technology, but generally not as successfully as a new building. This should not deter owners of existing houses to do this.
The same principals apply to hot and cold climates, its just whether you concentrate on heating or cooling the building.
Starting with the site, the building has to be orientated to sun and prevailing winds to maximise the natural heating and cooling available from these sources.
The building then has to be designed with the living areas orientated the right way, overhangs and awnings have to shade the windows or allow sun in, depending on climate and the time of year. There is also a idea that small to medium houses are more sustainable because they use less materials. This is open to debate.
Building materials have to be selected to retain heat, reflect heat, allow cooling or allow heating. The materials should be made from renewable or recycled resources. Built in heating and cooling systems have to be incorporated into the structure.
Then we can look at the extras like rainwater tanks, recycled use of grey water, energy efficient appliances and lights, wind, sun and organic powered generators, and protective landscaping.
We can use some or all of these things, along with anything else you can think off.
We need to think and act locally and globally and consider the triple bottom line (people, planet and profit).
Other things to think about:
* Eco-innovation
* Green building
* Life cycle assessment
* Green transport
* Passive solar design
* Energy and Environmental Design
* Renewable heat
* Renewable resource
* Social design
* Source reduction
* Sustainability
* Sustainable development
* Waste management
* Appropriate technology