Before you start construction of a new home, you must keep in mind that planning to have an energy efficient home has to be done in the beginning. It cannot be implemented later or as it will not give the best performance.

It needs careful evaluation of the building site and also the climatic condition of that particular area to get best results and the design has to be made accordingly. There are many software programs available which are energy related and can assist you a lot.

The main points of consideration are the latitude of the Sun which has direct effect on the heating or cooling requirement of your home. The placement of windows will determine the maximum solar gain in the winter months and reduce the heat in the summer months.

You may have to take into consideration about the outdoor which may have effect on the direct sunlight. The wind direction is another aspect which has to be taken into the consideration, as winds have direct effect on cooling as well as heating during the different seasons.

If the wind comes from the direction where there is good snowfall, you will get cold winter winds or receive cool summer breeze. You will have to see the natural drainage pattern and include a design which will fit the natural drainage. This will ensure maximum water supply and also prevent future water damage.

A well designed and well-constructed energy efficient home reduces the use of natural resources which will have direct effect on the future operational costs and also the construction material required to build the home.

Other points which require your consideration are location of rooms and spaces with low HVAC. You can also consider limiting the number of windows on the north side of the home and also in the service rooms. You must have operable windows to provide cross ventilation in the warmer summer months. You must also see that maximum daylight is available in all the rooms which will significantly reduce the use of electricity for lighting the rooms.

Since energy efficient homes have very little cooling or heating requirements, you can accurately design the mechanical system. Oversized mechanical systems are more expensive to install and operate and also require very high maintenance.

HVAC systems should be located centrally to reduce the ductwork as this will save you of unnecessary expenses. The construction of home needs lot of planning and hard work, any small mistake can cost you lot of money as it will be very difficult to alter the design after the construction is over.

The wall-sealed thermal envelope which retains the heat in the cold months and cool thermal mass in the summer. The most acceptable and popular technique is ICF also known as Insulated Form Construction. This technique has been very popular because it reduces the heating and cooling costs considerably, it also reduces moisture levels, maximizes structural strength against the hurricane and tornado winds, this has also fourfold security against fire.

There has been tremendous publicity during the past five years about going ‘green’ and though everyone would like to contribute his or her bit to safeguard our earth, it is generally very tough or absolutely impossible for them to justify the prohibitively high costs involved in maintaining ‘green’ or environmentally friendly living.

In the last few years, there has been some change in perceptions in the building industry about the concept of ‘going green’. Going green is not merely building a home using eco-friendly building materials. These materials used to be manufactured in limited quantities making them very expensive.

Going green concept should, in fact to be viewed in larger and practical context. Although some companies in the construction industry had earlier tried to adopt eco-friendly green technologies, they were found to be very difficult to implement and there is no conventional market for these types of environmentally friendly products and in due course, they just vanished.

For majority of companies, ‘going green’ was merely a marketing gimmick In most of the instances, companies merely went on an advertising spree declaring the policies they had initiated only to create a positive impression in the minds of those who have been leading go green movement.

However, these companies hesitated to take aggressive steps needed to support eco-friendly system as it was not a feasible option for them in view of high costs involved and producing eco-friendly products mean drastic cut in their profit margins.

Nevertheless, as the green movement picked up, there was an awareness among people and industries about pollution free environment and they changed their mindset towards conserving natural resources.

Eventually the proper solutions have started coming up on conservation of natural resources as well as potential cost savings. One area of energy conservation relates to generation and consumption of electricity. More than 70% of the electricity generated in the United States is from power plants run on fossil fuel, particularly coal.

In order to decrease the requirement for fossil fuels and emissions of gases arising from burning these fuels, one should find methods of cutting down on the consumption of electricity. This also contributes to lowering of power costs.

The simplest and most useful method of reducing costs of heating is through proper insulation of the home. An effective insulation keeps hot air inside the home during winter and protects the home preventing hot air from entering inside the home in summer. Most of the houses over five years old are generally not properly insulated.

Sometimes even new homes are not properly insulated. The insulation needs will change depending upon the area of the country in which one lives. There is a suggested ‘R-value’ for each geographical location of the country and it varies with the type of climate of the area. For example, R-value of the insulation required goes up if the weather in the area is colder.

R-Value indicates the amount of heat transfer. The higher is its value; the lower is the heat transfer. It is better to begin checking insulation from attic. There will be a spectacular effect on heating and cooling bills, if attic is properly insulated. It is not costly to get a contractor to check whether the home is properly insulated and conforms to the ‘code’.

In many cases, ‘blown in insulation’ is the simplest and most efficient method of insulating the attic. It can be done as a DIY job by hiring the required equipment to blow in insulation without engaging the services of a contractor. Home warehouse stores like Lowes and Home Depot rent blowers and sell the blown in insulation.

Covering hot water heater with insulation material is another method to cut down on power bills. These are some of the aspects one can take care to convert one’s home into ‘green’ and also save money . These measures are most effective to facilitate conservation of our natural wealth for future generations.

Everyone of us wants to contribute something for the environment, but many people are struggling to live a greener lifestyle by doing more than just turning off the lights and recycling used products.

It may be owing to time constraint or an effort for some ideas, many reckon that managing an eco-friendly house is too taxing. Luckily, there is one uncomplicated way in which we can all make a positive contribution to climate-change.

Energy-saving gadgets that are wide array can now be used at the comfort of your home. Everyone is familiar about energy-saving light bulbs, but did you know that those things that have a greener alternative are those your most-used possessions? Or that some accessories can help minimize your bills and decrease the quantity of energy you utilize at the same time?

Well now is the time to get smart, as we go around the house and find out opportunities for eco-friendliness everywhere we look.

First stop, the kitchen.

Do you know that the kettle is the most used thing in your kitchen? It is utilized by as much as twenty times a day. And for the heavy coffee drinkers, did you ever ponder to consider how much energy you must have utilized through the years? Have you ever wondered if there is an economical, energy-saving substitute?

Well rejoice, because there is! ‘Eco-kettles’ function is that is only boils the amount of water you need, which means that you employ as much as 30% less energy every time you use it to make a cup of coffee or tea. This sums up to a significant decrease in otherwise wasted energy.

A greener home office.

Small changes can make a significant difference. A good example is changing your standard stapler for an ‘eco-stapler’ could have a striking impact in your effort to regulate the amount of waste you produce. The eco-stapler punches a hole which folds back on itself, holding sheets of paper together with no need for metal staples.

And if every office had one of these helpful devices, tonnes of metal will be saved every year. Going green is the direction of that we want. And one area that we all like to be green is the garden, don’t we?

We take for granted that this area do not have devices that are energy draining, but lo and behold, tools like bug zappers and common outdoor lighting are energy-sapping. But they also have green alternatives and require little or no household energy.

Solar powered bug zapper charged through the day and switch on automatically at night. Wind-up LED lanterns only use much energy as you need. These gadgets are completely renewable and they offer inexpensive and easy green solutions that nonetheless make a huge difference in the long run.

Finally, everywhere else.

Some energy devices which are very efficient can now be utilized in every room of the house. We have already said about light bulbs, but have you ever wondered how much heating you produce as waste in a year? With a ‘radiator booster’ you can improve the airflow to get more heat from less energy.

Just fitting one of these to every radiator in every house will have a substantial drop in your bills and a steep decline in your emissions. And once installed, you need not worry about it again. With that, we can easily say that every room in the house has an eco-friendly alternative device.