Over the last decade, Australia’s growing demand for green homes has gained impressive momentum. Statistics indicate that 59,500 residents live in real estate homes with the Green Star rating. This is an international certification that shows the quality of sustainable building designs. There are many ways to incorporate eco-friendly elements when building a home, and it is good for your pocket and the environment. Below is a list of some considerations to make when making this decision.  

Choose sustainable building materials

With the growing interest in Green Star residential buildings, you may want to reconsider your options for building materials. There are countless construction materials to fall on, but not all can be considered sustainable. This is why sites like archiblox.com.au provide a long list of sustainable building materials easily accessible in Australia. For example, timber, rammed earth, mud brick, straw bale, and natural stone are highly sought after in the country. Because these materials can be utilised for flooring, walls, and even for some structural features, they are multipurpose eco-friendly elements.

Apart from the organic materials mentioned earlier, you can focus on reclaimed wood and recycled insulation. These two are also classified under sustainable building materials. Over the last decade, there has been debate about the high cost of sustainable building materials. However, non-eco options are more expensive. The general perception that eco-friendly building materials are always more costly is a myth.

Acquire eco-friendly options to decorate the interiors

Homebuyers often spend 10% of the total cost of building or purchasing a house on interior decorating. However, in decorating, try to look at workable alternatives that project sustainability in the home. Materials like recycled metal, cork, bio-glass, and jute fibres are great for this. For your window coverings, you can buy plantation shutters. They are made from sustainable materials and are excellent for home insulation.

Install water-saving systems

A report by the nationalgeographic.com site mentioned Australia as a notable country with excellent water-saving systems. Even more impressive is that households adopt water-saving methods for domestic activities. The report further indicated that 177 billion litres of rainwater are harvested and reused for residential purposes. Considering that precedence has already been set, it won’t be that complicated to adopt this initiative. 

The best way to incorporate that into your home design is to ensure that structures are built or provided to collect rainwater for later use. You can also focus on installing low-flow plumbing fixtures in the home. These installations are designed to use less water. Reports indicate that even with Australia’s gains in harvesting rainwater, more is wasted through plumbing fixtures in the home.

Very few households in the country use low-flow plumbing fixtures. And there are reports that 26.7% of residential water consumption is from flushing the toilet. Hopefully, with a heightened awareness of water-saving systems, more people will join the movement of incorporating them into their homes.

As the world moves towards a greener environment, you can take proactive measures to join the movement to a more sustainable environment.

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