Is It Possible To Have A Luxury And Sustainable Home?

Are you looking to climb the property ladder? Are you also conscious about the environment? The modern homeowner is faced with a dilemma. How do you have a stylish home with all of the latest luxuries without having a negative environmental impact? It may seem like a Catch 22, but sustainably doesn’t have to be a compromise. You can have an eco-friendly home that also offers the amenities that you always dreamed of. You may even be able to have a home that is close to zero carbon.

Here, we explore how you can strike a balance between the two.

Use recyclable or sustainable materials

Green design utilizes materials that have been recycled or that come from renewable sources. This means the material doesn’t harm the environment either in its production, use, or disposal. There are many simple ways in which interior designers now incorporate such materials into their designs.

Need some ideas? Rather than concrete, designers can create gorgeous interiors using reclaimed oak flooring and timber. A piece of teak can be turned into a chic coffee table or a slate of marble transformed into a countertop. There’s also recycled brick slips to build a homely fireplace, repurposed marble for a slick-looking bathroom, or old copper piping to create a rustic look for a dining room.

Rather than spending thousands on new materials, many of these used materials are available in salvage yards. Use your imagination. With a creative mind and moral determination, these items could become centre-pieces in your home and mean so much more than a self-assembled flatpack from IKEA.

Illuminate your home with energy efficient alternatives

Lighting is used in many modern homes to transform the entire vibe of an interior. Low level lighting can provide a subtle pathway of light in an evening, pendant lights can give the illusion of height, and spotlights can be used to draw attention to a particular focal point. Unfortunately, lighting is also one of the biggest contributors to a home’s energy use.

You don’t need to sacrifice your green ethos to bring transformative lighting to a home thanks to advances in LED technology. LEDs are more energy efficient than filament bulbs, meaning you can illuminate a house tastefully without dramatically increasing its carbon footprint. According to the Energy Saving Trust, replacing all the bulbs in your home with LED lights could reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by up to 65kg a year. This is equivalent to the carbon dioxide emitted by driving your car around 220 miles.

Incorporating such technologies into other luxury projects is also the best way of reducing their impact. For example, you can make a home lift more environmentally friendly by replacing its lights with an efficient alternative and incorporating a sleep mode. Meanwhile, submersible LEDs can be used in a variety of locations including pools, hot tubs, jacuzzis and ponds.

Offset emissions with renewable energy

Using the unlimited energy of the sun, solar panels are a long-term, cost-effective way to generate electricity that you can use in your home. You can get a lot of value from installing solar panels and other eco-friendly additions to help the planet at the same time.

A typical home solar energy system could save around 1.3 to 1.6 tonnes of carbon per year (depending where you are within the UK). From the luxury point of view, solar panels are now seen as an attractive addition that, when installed with taste and care, can actually add a modern slickness to a classic architectural style.

Similar to solar panels, geothermal heating utilises the forces of nature to provide optimal indoor temperatures throughout the year. Such a feature allows homeowners to keep their environmental footprint smaller. An efficient geothermal system can provide 20 years of reliable heating and cooling with minimal maintenance. Therefore, the benefits of installing one outweighs the upfront costs, especially if it’s for a newbuild.