When most people think of building in a way that’s better for the environment, they think of a house that’s more expensive than the average home.
Solar panels and better insulation make for higher costs during building, even though they pay off in the long term. But if you want a house that’s truly green, there are ways to build even more cheaply than you would if you were building a traditional house.
Use Natural and Recycled Materials
For a truly green home, consider using natural, local or recycled materials as the main ingredient in your building. Earth and straw are building materials that have been used in homes for thousands of years. They are cheap and readily available locally almost anywhere. If you use earth as your construction material, it should be composed of approximately 70 percent sand and 30 percent clay; most of the dirt in most parts of the world is appropriate for building. There are many different methods of constructing with earth. Cob is a simple, labor-intensive method of building with earth: simply mix the earth with straw and water and then take handfuls of the mixture and pile them on top of each other by hand to create your structure. Building with adobe is similar; you mix the earth with water and then form it into bricks which you can stack to create a building. Rammed earth uses the s ame mixture of clay and water, but instead of piling or stacking, you compress or tamp the earth into place. In modern buildings, rammed earth is made with machines. All earth buildings are very durable; if constructed properly, they can last for thousands of years. They can also easily be built to be highly energy efficient since earth has such a high thermal mass.
Straw bale is another cheap natural material that can form the basic construction material for a natural, green home. In this method, bales of straw form the bulk of the walls inside a standard wood frame. This creates excellent insulation and is quick and easy to construct. However, the straw needs to be plastered over to prevent moisture or pests from getting into it, and because this is a specialized skill, it can be expensive to have a straw bale house finished.
You can also build a house out of recycled materials. Michael Reynolds of Earthship Biotecture invented the concept of “earthships,” which are houses built out of used tires and aluminum cans on wood frames.
When choosing materials for your green home construction, look for something that is locally available. This will make your cost of materials cheaper as well as more ecologically sustainable.
Do the Work Yourself
Many ecologically sustainable constructions are more labor-intensive than they are skill-intensive. Even for a house that requires special skills, such as a straw bale house, you can save money by doing much of the labor yourself. By acting as general contractor for your home, you can not only save money, you can also be truly involved in a hands-on way in the planning and design of your home. Traditional cob building, for example, involves mixing the earth and straw with bare feet and then piling the cobs by hand. This might sound like a tedious process, but when done together with a group of friends or family who all participate in the design of the home as well as its construction, it can be a fun and exciting project.
Build for Efficiency and Sustainability
As you are designing your green home, plan to save money in the long-term as well as in the immediate construction costs. With sufficient thermal mass and insulation, you can design for passive solar heating and cooling, which will mean that your home will stay the same temperature year-round without needing electricity or air conditioning. You can also save on utility costs by including features such as a root cellar for storing food without refrigeration and a gray water recycling system to reuse water for multiple purposes. Consider the long-term durability of your construction; by building with durable materials, you will save money on maintenance over time.
