Eco-Travel: Jungle Bay, Dominica

Travelling is anti-ecological by nature as flying is a huge polluter, with around 2.4% of global carbon emissions coming from aviation. However, some countries are taking active steps to ensure the tourism industry is as sustainable as possible. Dominica is one of these places, funding numerous eco-friendly resorts with their Citizenship by Investment Programme. The Jungle Bay initiative, for instance, is probably the most notable example, boosting the rural economy while giving back to the local community.

Jungle Bay’s focus is “maximum community participation and contribution to biodiversity conservation with minimal environmental disturbance”. They achieve this by utilizing regional materials while helping preserve the local landscape, as well as running beach cleanups. The result is a reduction of their carbon footprint by 30%-40% compared to other resorts. Jungle Bay also manages waste in ecological ways through conscious monitoring and evaluation and actively contributes to biodiversity conservation. It’s really the epitome of what a sustainable resort should look like.

Energy Production: Sustainable CopenHill, Denmark

Energy production is arguably the most talked about issue when it comes to living sustainably. Located in Copenhagen, Denmark, CopenHill is the “epicentre for urban mountain sport”, acting as a sports facility and sustainable power plant. Labelled the “cleanest waste incinerator in the world,” it converts 440,000 tonnes of waste into clean energy every year. This is then used to deliver electricity and heating to 150,000 homes in the country, proving it to be a sustainable success.

CopenHill has been dubbed as “hedonistic sustainability” –– to the naked eye, it looks like a fun sporting resort, with a beautifully intricate design. However, the surprise lies beneath the surface, as it utilizes the land for energy production. And if you’ve not yet had enough of this magnificent place, you can always check out the world’s tallest climbing wall that CopenHill prides itself on.

Sustainable Living: Bosco Verticale, Italy

One of the most interesting concepts when it comes to architecture is imagining what future living might look like. Similarly, to how the brutalist style of the 1950s emerged to solve the post-war problem of lack of cheap housing. Today, architects are trying to find solutions to the issue of ecological disaster.

The beautiful Bosco Verticale (or “vertical forest” in English) replaces standard cladding with flora –– an entire hectare of it, in fact –– including 730 trees, 11,000 groundcover plants, and 5,000 shrubs. It puts greenery at the heart, transforming the building into a liveable forest for trees, but also for humans and wildlife such as birds. What’s more, it improves air quality for the residents and Milan as a whole, while allaying the urban heat island effect and reducing noise pollution. The vertical forest is an elegant amalgamation of aesthetics, practicality, and sustainability.

Future of Work: The Edge, Netherlands

We spend a huge portion of our lives –– a whopping 84,000 hours –– at work. This is why re-thinking our working environments is essential when it comes to designing eco-friendly offices and buildings. Amsterdam’s The Edge endeavours to create the perfect sustainable workspace –– it takes all the wants of the modern employee and combines them with the needs of the planet, all in the form of an ecological yet convenient office.

The entire building is webbed with ground-breaking technology at the heart of a digital ceiling that allows employees to completely control their surroundings. This makes it act almost like an autonomous creature that learns the preferences of the workers and amends the environment based on them. The Edge is powered by LEDs that are only on as necessary, which means merely 20% of the electricity normally used is actually employed. Meanwhile, the outside walls are solar panels that produce more power than the building uses. It’s no wonder that it was awarded the highest sustainability score in history of 98.4% — according to British rating agency, BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method).

Urban Nature: Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

The benefits of greenery are clear and the idea of adding green spaces to urban areas is one of the first priorities for city planners. A common method to approach this is with the concept of a “garden city” –– self-contained communities surrounded by green belts. Singapore, as a highly urbanized metropolis, has been working tirelessly towards becoming a garden city, with their Gardens by the Bay project as the jewel in the crown.

Led by ideas of eco-friendliness and preservation of nature, this public garden boasts an intricate system of waste reuse and water attenuation. There are over 1.5 million plants in its 270-acre mass-garden which is built fully with sustainability in mind. It features mechanical 50-metres tall “supertrees” that act as vertical gardens which generate solar power for the conservatories, provide air-venting, and collect rainwater, while housing numerous plants in the trunk.

The post Five Inspiring Eco-Developments from Around the World appeared first on Green Building Insider.

Unfortunately, many companies don’t know how to implement green construction practices. One of the most overlooked opportunities to “greenify” their properties is by using outdoor spaces in eco-friendlier ways.

Is your garden or outdoor space used as a place to store things that won’t fit in the house? If you have never been able to decide what to do for the best out the front or back, why not transform this space into somewhere that is environmentally friendly, which can ultimately contribute to the fight against climate change?

If you’re passionate about green living, there are so many things that you can be doing in order to live an eco-friendlier lifestyle. You can even use these practices to make commercial buildings eco-friendlier.

Create a suitable environment for wildlife to thrive

By planting native trees and shrubs, you will help to create habitats for wildlife. Rather than using lots of harsh chemicals to combat pests, you can instead employ natural methods: for slug control, invest in some copper slug rings, or for caterpillars, cover plants with garden fleece. There are a lot of eco-friendly gardening practices worth considering.

Make your own compost

Making homemade compost won’t cost you penny – in fact, it’ll save you money, as you won’t have to go out and buy bags of it from the garden center. Items that you can add to your compost include tea bags, leaves, lawn clippings, hedge trimmings, vegetable peelings and egg boxes.

Grow some of your own food to reduce your carbon footprint

Stocking up on organic produce every week can get very pricey, so why not consider growing your own food in your outdoor space? Companies such as Premier Polytunnels offer high quality polytunnels which are perfect for helping plants and crops to flourish – no matter what size space you have.

Recycle and reuse natural products

If you are looking to put down a patio, build a wall or create a path in your garden, you may be concerned about where the materials have come from. Instead of buying new items, a great way to go green is by picking up some recycled materials instead. Clay pipes, old scaffolding boards and buckets can all be found on the likes of eBay, and will all help to bring character and charm to your outdoor space.

Reduce your electricity use

The amount of electricity you use in your garden can often be quite shocking. If you have any lights or water features in your outdoor space, you can consider installing solar panels to power them, instead of using lots of energy through mains electricity. Another way to reduce electricity use in the garden is by investing in a modern lawnmower. While they are typically driven by electricity or petrol, newer models can be operated manually.

There are many ways to lead a more sustainable lifestyle. By turning your garden into a more eco-friendly space, you’ll no doubt achieve a great sense of satisfaction.

Your Outdoor Area Can Be Used to Help the Environment

There are a lot of steps that you can take to make your building more environmentally friendly. We usually focus on measures that can be taken within the confines of the building itself. However, it may be worth using your outdoor area to lower your carbon footprint as well.

The post Ingenious Outdoor Space Utilization Tips to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint appeared first on Green Building Insider.

Upgrade Your Windows

Cool air escaping through windows is one of the primary reasons many central AC units have to work so hard. With cool air constantly leaving your home, your air conditioner has to work overtime in order to maintain your desired temperature. This is where energy efficient windows enter the equation. As the name suggests, these windows are designed to prevent the escape of conditioned air. By the same token, these windows also prevent warm air from escaping during the winter months, thus helping you save on heating costs. Additionally, energy-efficient windows help prevent hot air from outside from finding its way into your home. While investing in these convenient windows will require you to spend money in the short term, they will quickly save you enough in heating and cooling costs to make up for this.

If you don’t have much experience when it comes to window installation, it may be in your best interest to entrust this task to trained professionals. Fortunately, finding qualified individuals in your areas can be a breeze with the help of online handyman directories. Homeowners asking themselves, “How can I locate window replacement experts near me?,” are urged to consult the aforementioned resources.

Invest in Shading Screens

As evidenced by the previous tip, windows can have a significant effect on a home’s temperature, particularly throughout the summer months. Unsurprisingly, the sun’s powerful UV rays can heat things up if they’re able to find their way inside. Luckily, keeping this problem at bay is much easier – and affordable – than many homeowners realize. Outfitting your windows with shading screens can dramatically reduce the amount of UV rays that are able to enter your home. Shading screens can be particularly effective in areas of your home that receive a lot of sunlight.

Adding to their appeal, most shading screens are affordable on even the most stringent budget. Since these screens are often made out of paper, they tend to be relatively cheap to produce. Most screens can be purchased for under $10 and can last years – provided, of course, proper care is taken. If you’re not keen on the idea of blocking sunlight from your home indefinitely, you should at least consider using shading screens during the sun’s peak hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

Take Proper Care of Your Air Conditioner

Depending on how hot temperatures get in your area, a functional air conditioner may be your best line of defense against extreme temperatures. While running your AC for long periods can be costly, it’s liable to be even costlier if the unit is not properly maintained. For example, air conditioners with dirty filters and/or worn-out parts need to expend more energy than well-maintained units, resulting in heightened cooling costs. With this in mind, make a point of regularly cleaning your air conditioner’s filter and having the device serviced by trained professionals at least once a year. These individuals will be able to administer a thorough cleaning and swap out any components that have fallen into disrepair, thereby helping your AC run more efficiently and reducing your energy bills.

A seasoned homeowner is no stranger to exorbitant cooling costs. If you live in an area that’s prone to swelteringly hot summertime temperatures, forking over a small fortune to keep your home cool every month may be par for the course. While many homeowners have essentially thrown in the towel and come to accept this as a fact of life, unreasonable cooling costs needn’t be the norm. As an added bonus, saving money, doing your part for the environment and keeping your home comfortably cool don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Whether you’re interested in cutting back on cooling costs or reducing your carbon footprint, the previously discussed pointers can get you where you need to go.

The post Environmentally Sound Ways to Cool Your Home All Summer Long appeared first on Green Building Insider.

LED Lights

Perhaps the most popular of all these technologies. LED bulbs have now been around for a while and are the easiest switch you can make to instantly save money and make your home greener.

Fluorescent bulbs use 8 watts per foot, are made of glass and on average last around 8,500 hours. Incandescent bulbs are even worse lasting only 1,000 hours. Whereas, LED lights use 2-4 watts per foot, are rubberised and last 25,000 hours on average. This makes LED lights much more energy efficient and durable than your traditional lighting solutions.

Solar Panels

Solar panel installation and the popularity of solar technology is on the rise. According to government statistics, in the UK renewable electricity generation from solar photovoltaics in 2016 was 10,420 GWh that rose to an estimated 12,500 GWh in 2017. To put this into context, 1GWh is enough energy to power 100 million LED bulbs or the equivalent amount of power to roughly 1.3 million horses.

The electricity you generate from solar energy is theoretically free and with overheads such as cost of installing solar panels being reduced all the time due to the increased popularity and cheaper parts, you can start saving energy money easier than ever. You receive your ROI in fewer years than you would if you had installed solar panels 5 years ago.

The electricity you generate that isn’t immediately utilized by your home does not go to waste. You can sell your surplus back to the electricity grid, or store excess power in a battery.

If installed on your home, solar panels are estimated to save around 1 ton of carbon dioxide per year, the emission equivalent of driving a car for 39 hours continuously.

Smart meters

Smart meters are the next generation meter for both electricity and gas. They work by automatically and wirelessly sending your actual energy usage to your supplier, meaning more accurate bills and the end of estimated billing. With your in-home display you can track your energy usage and costs in real-time, so you can see where you are using lots of energy and where you can uncover savings.

Smart meters are part of a national smart strategy to get the UK providing low-carbon, efficient and reliable, cost-effective and low carbon energy to Britain’s homes.

Smart Power Strips

Whilst statistics surrounding how high standby power consumption is in your average home, many experts argue it can be as high as 5-10% of your total energy consumption.

Your traditional power strips are hugely popular and are a great way to economically increase the number of electrical points in your home. However, it does mean your electronics – like your tv, laptop and speaker systems – are left plugged in at all times.

Smart power strips are a forward-thinking solution to the energy sucking traditional power strips. Smart strips sense that you have turned off your electronic device and automatically shuts it down, reducing the amount of idle power your devices are using.

No longer will you have to continually unplug your electronic devices to reduce your passive energy consumption. Smart power strips will do all the work for you.

Smart Glass

Smart glass represents a technology with huge potential to reduce energy demand and consumption. There are many different types of smart glass that work in different ways – most popular is electrochromic smart glass. This is glass that becomes transparent when electricity is passed through it.

This change in the glass’s properties means you can alter the amount of heat and light energy that can penetrate the glass. Whether you want to reduce the amount of heat energy leaving your home by keeping the glass opaque, or increase the amount of light energy that can enter by turning the glass transparent, smart glass puts you in control to help you reduce your energy consumption.

Final Thoughts

Making your home greener has never been easier nor has it been more pressing. With global warming’s presence felt more than ever, our responsibility to ensure the places that we live are environmentally friendly is an action we should all consider to be a priority. These examples demonstrate the type of technology you can install in your home, and give you a general idea of the choices you have and why it is important for you to invest in them.

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The post 5 Technologies You Can Purchase to Make Your Building Instantly Greener appeared first on Green Building Insider.