There are a lot of new breakthroughs in the architectural sector which have a typical purpose: being more sustainable towards the environment. Learn about a few of them in the post below.
When contemplating all the latest green home building ideas, you may stumble upon some that are quite literally the greenest: needless to say, we are talking about the incorporation of flora and plants in architecture. While more rural houses tend to have gardens, this type of space is not often accessible in cities, where housing is generally concentrated in apartment structures. Even so, this has not stopped garden designers, who have found innovative methods to implement green areas in situations where space is used vertically instead of horizontally. People like Andy Sturgeon are prominent in this characteristic sector, creating original rooftop gardens in some huge cities. This is not only a great chance to be in a green space and indulge in a nice view, but having plants on a rooftop also reduces the impact of direct sunlight, which means that the building will be cooler, and less power will be used for things like air con: this is why vertical gardening might be the key to sustainable apartment architecture.
If you are wondering how to incorporate sustainability in architecture, amongst the most renowned and widely used concepts is to make various areas of a building functional. An extremely typical example for this is using horizontal or sloped external surfaces as a platform for things like solar panels: being in a position to generate power will be a good way to not only save on utility bills, but likewise reduce the total carbon footprint of the house, contemplating that it will be applying a renewable resource to obtain the power which will then be used – instead of fossil fuels. Developers like Frank Zweegers are fascinated in the latest sustainable housing ideas, and we can anticipate to observe these solutions implemented in more and more urban settings, as the younger generations – who are becoming renters and potential home buyers – are quite conscious about environmental challenges.
There are numerous types of sustainable architecture, but one of the main concepts that they all follow is efficiency: this is generally with regards to the range of power that the house will require to consume to function, and sourcing solutions to make that amount diminish as much as possible. Insulation sometimes plays a significant role below: if the house naturally maintains warmth in winter and stays cool in the summertime, there will be less need for artificial heating or cooling systems. This is commonly achieved by having a good wall structure and double glazed windows. Another vital factor when contemplating the sustainable architecture characteristics is natural light: homes that are south facing and have big transparent surfaces will not need artificial lighting for most of the day, something well appreciated by important figures in the industry like Monique Lombardelli.