Eco-friendly homes have a lower carbon footprint as they go beyond simply reusing and recycling Sujata Chitalwala, Designers Group

Designers Group - Making of an Eco-Friendly Home

With the rising significance of fostering a more sustainable lifestyle, homeowners are resorting to numerous little ways to make their lifestyle choices and spaces more eco-friendly. From buying an electric car, going paperless, recycling products, to saving water, and growing one’s own produce, they are making efforts to contribute towards conserving the environment and our natural resources.

Building or refurbishing homes by incorporating materials like recycled steel, aluminum, reclaimed wood, and bamboo, reduces their carbon footprint. Recycled metals are sturdy, durable, and they cut down on the cost of refining, forging, and producing brand new steel and aluminum. Bamboo is an evergreen material that has high tensile strength and durability, and requires minimum maintenance, plus, it can be reforested much faster than most other wood species. In the Jagtap Residence designed by us, we have used reclaimed wood; and even the walls have been fabricated with wooden louvres.
Sujata Chitalwala, Designers Group
Initiatives like opting for prefabricated homes and using solar roofing systems will reduce the home’s carbon footprint substantially

Various studies have shown that modular or prefabricated homes have 30-38% lower carbon emission rates as compared to traditional house-building techniques. The carbon emissions are reduced even further when the factory responsible for the prefabs is closer to the home site due to reduced transportation needs.

To minimize the amount of land one uses and to lessen their horizontal carbon footprint, one can fabricate the built forms vertically. Spiral staircases take up the least amount of space. A floating staircase can be used to prevent disturbing the light coming through windows.

Initiatives like installing a rainwater harvesting tank and using solar-powered roof shingles or tiles for renewable energy, increase the sustainability of a house. In landslide-prone areas, rainwater harvesting also decreases the chances of soil erosion, and thereby landslides.