<ul><li>Sustainably resourced and reclaimed materials</li><li>Low-flow sinks and toilets</li><li>Energy-efficient appliances</li><li>Smart home systems, especially thermostats</li><li>Air-tight insulation in order to reduce energy leaks</li><li>Dater filtration systems</li><li>Double-pan windows and doors</li><li>Solar panels</li><li>Non-toxic paint, carpeting, and furniture with low levels of VOC or volatile organic compounds</li></ul>

Eco-Friendly Features of A Green Home

Green homes are buildings or houses that actively choose to participate in reducing their exposure to pollutants, decrease their environmental footprint, all while offering a non-toxic, energy-efficient, small-carbon-footprint place they can call their home.Many experts agree that investing in a green home is the panacea of environmentally friendly healthy living. It creates a living space with clean air and lower energy bills. Most importantly it supports companies and products that cause the least harm to our planet.

Green Homes

<ul><li>Switch to LED lightbulbs</li><li>Installing a tankless water heater</li><li>Installing smart technology to reduce unnecessary energy usage&nbsp;</li><li>Using smart lawn irrigation systems</li></ul>

Simple but Impactful Green Upgrades

The size of a home will have an impact on the eco-footprint but it doesn't mean that green homes have to be tiny.As home technologies evolve, these can simply save us more money and time on the daily while also lessening our footprints.Investing in energy efficient technology such as residential solar panels will allow us to reduce our carbon emission and the amount of energy our home needs in the first place.

On Tiny Green Homes

The idea of minimalism has inserted its way into the mainstream where it was made popular by Marie Kondo and that science has evidence to back its arguments.Minimalistic living is good for the mind, body, and soul. When we consume less, we're also lowering our footprint on the planet. By buying less of clothing, gadget, or products we help in reducing the amount of resources and emissions that come with the manufacturing of every new product.

Minimalism in the mainstream

Creating a sustainable abode isn't just about using energy-efficient appliances or installing solar paneling. 

Stashed ideas

What Exactly Is A Green Home?

It takes many forms, from the tiny particles that are emitted when we cook or clean, to the spores released by mold when it’s damp, and the chemicals that are embedded in our furniture.Small particles that are inhaled can travel to the lungs and cause problems. Studies suggest that indoor air pollution is linked with an increased risk of certain respiratory problems, such as asthma and bronchitis.

Indoor air pollution is widespread

<ul><li>Cooking releases particulates into the air, and that levels can remain elevated long after cooking is finished.&nbsp;</li><li>Open a window when you cook and use the extractor fan if you have one.&nbsp;</li><li>Put the pot on the back burner, where it will ventilate to the fan more efficiently.&nbsp;</li><li>Keep the fan on for at least 10 minutes after cooking ends.</li><li>Cook with electricity, if you can. It’s more environmentally friendly and less polluting than gas, because gas appliances generate carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide.</li></ul>

Use the back burner

Open fires and older wood-burning stoves emit a mixture of gases and tiny particles. Burning wet wood is worse than dry, seasoned wood.&nbsp;The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) recommends burning wood that has a moisture content of less than 20 per cent, along with certain stoves that are less polluting.

Use your log burner sparingly

Candles and incense can also impact air quality.&nbsp;One study in Danish homes found that candles were the main source of indoor pollution.

Don’t go overboard with candles

Cleaning products and indoor fragrances produce various volatile organic compounds which can be suspended in the air or settle in dust and on surfaces.&nbsp;Spray cleaning products close to the surface, then wipe with a dry cloth, then wipe again with a cloth that’s been dampened in water.

Clean with care

Fabrics and certain furnishings are treated with flame retardants, and formaldehyde can be found in some furniture, floorings, and building materials.&nbsp;Although we can’t yet confidently identify the extent of any health effects that are caused, we need to establish set emission standards and a clear labeling system for these items.

Furniture as a source of indoor pollution

Outdoor studies hint that plants can help provide a barrier against some forms of pollution, but the evidence from indoor studies is still lacking.&nbsp;It is not yet knows if specific plants can reduce air pollutants in the home, but they certainly look good and are great for our wellbeing.

Indoor plants

Help to prevent damp by cleaning away condensation and mold, and ventilating rooms as thoroughly as possible.&nbsp;If your windows have trickle vents, keep them open.

Be aware of damp

Cleaning products… candles… cookers… How much does indoor air pollution really affect us, and what can we do about it? Respiratory specialist Dr Jonathan Grigg explains all.

A scientist's guide to life: How to protect yourself from indoor air pollution

<ul>
<li>In the form of heat and light, solar energy can cover all our energy needs in a clean, versatile manner.</li>
<li>Photovoltaics, or Solar panels with silicon cells, convert light into electricity as the photon rays of the sun charge up the cells.</li>
<li>Solar-thermal power plants use the heat of the sun along with lenses to focus the sunlight in a concentrated place, to heat water or other substances. This can be used for the hot water needs of households, or to drive a turbine for generating electricity.</li>
</ul>

Sunlight And Solar Energy

Self Improvement

How are the Sun’s rays converted into power? Shine a light on the topic with our simple guide to solar thermal and solar cells.

How does solar energy actually work?

The one story we tell ourselves about homeownership is it is a path to a more stable, equitable future. The idea is that it is a responsible decision that requires commitment and hope. It is centered around bright futures, long lives, children, grandchildren, and hard-earned success.The second story is about the horror of being trapped, especially for the members of the cash-poor, dream-rich millennial generation.

The two tales about houses

Money & Investments

The idea of owning a suburban home was fed to Americans by people in power: Suburbia has always been suitable for industry.Big houses = big appliances. This fed the coal, steel, and automaking industries. With it came cars and oil that made the postwar American suburb possible. It is all as much a creature of government as of the market.

Owning a suburban home

The climate crisis and carbon dependency make potential homeowners reconsider the effects of suburban sprawl.The September 11, 2001, terrorist attack and the market crash of 2008 sowed a sense of instability and propagated fears.

Reconsidering the suburban house 

There is a widespread shift in how people view their first real estate purchase. They buy because it makes sense and because they don’t want to be “mortgage poor.” It is no longer seen as a home, but merely as a place for comfortable living without paying rent. It is a way of accumulating wealth without having to do much else.

A house no longer a home

Deep dives on cities, architecture, design, real estate, and urban planning. The story starts with a gothic mansion, all stone turrets and peaked windows, a fortress-like structure. The camera descends from a dark swirling sky to a full moon to finally frame the mansion.

Money

The homeownership obsession

We often see efficiency as good and inefficiency as wasteful. Economists teach us that increased efficiency improves our standard of living and make our lives better. 
However, too much of a good thing has the opposite effect. Some motivation produces excellent performance while too much produce choking. Some choice creates good outcomes but too much leads to paralysis and bad decisions. The challenge we face is in finding the right balance.

We worship efficiency

Some inefficiency can be seen as an insurance policy. 
Year after year, if you don&#39;t get into a car accident, you may think that you have &#39;wasted&#39; money on insurance. But insurance enables us to be resilient against problems that could overtake us. To be prepared, we need to learn to live less efficiently.

Inefficiency creates a buffer

In the face of radical uncertainty, instead of asking which option will give the best results, we should be asking which option will provide us with good-enough results under the broadest range of future states.
Instead of maximizing return on investments, we should be setting a financial goal. Then we should choose investments that will allow us to achieve that goal under the widest set of future financial circumstances.
It&#39;s perhaps time to rekindle social norms that serve to slow us down in an uncertain world.

Analyzing our options in uncertain times

The urge to do everything faster and better is risky. Far wiser to do what’s good enough for the range of possible futures

greenhomes

Eco-Friendly Features of A Green Home

What Exactly Is A Green Home?

Indoor air pollution is widespread

A scientist's guide to life: How to protect yourself from indoor air pollution