sustainability

May 23, 2017

Renewable energy is energy that can be gathered from naturally replenished resources. Renewable resources include sunlight, waves, tides, rain and wind, and energy harvested from these resources is important in many areas, including electricity generation, transportation and air and water heating or cooling.

Nowadays, many companies have switched to using renewable energy, mostly solar, to power their businesses. This change has proven to be successful and green building has spread all the way to our homes. Many homeowners are finding new ways of using the same renewable energy in their homes for many reasons. One of the biggest reasons is to save some money on bills, but going green and using mainly solar power to run your home has many other benefits as well.

Rooftop solar panels

If you are looking for ways to incorporate solar power into your home, solar panels are probably the most obvious method. They are typically installed on your roof, but you can also set them up in your yard. They harvest the sunlight and its energy and further transfer it in the form of electricity throughout your home, satisfying all of your daily needs. Generated watts per square foot will vary, depending on the orientation of the panels and your latitude, but they can generate 10 or more watts per square foot, which is more than enough. Another way to harvest the sunlight through your roof is by installing solar shingles. You can set them up if your current roof needs replacing. Solar shingles are actually solar panels that are mounted on your roof and serve as your roof tiles.

Unfortunately, solar power has a weakness–it works only when the sun is up. However, in order to power your home when the sun is down, you can pay for grid electricity or invest in another type of renewable energy. Nevertheless, solar panels will greatly contribute to decreasing your utility bills and saving energy.

Solar water heating

Besides generating electricity, solar power can also heat your home. Many homeowners opt for solar water heaters, which use the sun’s energy to heat the reserve of water. Water heated in such a way is then pumped through your radiators and pipes all the way to your faucets or showerheads. This system is easy to install and it can save you plenty of money and energy since it is cheaper to heat your water this way than with electricity or gas. However, there are many types of solar water heaters and each of them has their advantages and disadvantages, so make sure to conduct a thorough research before you make a decision.

Solar AC

It might sound odd that you can use the sun to cool your home, but it is possible. Solar air conditioning works similarly to solar water heating, but it uses the hot water in AC systems. If summers in your area are too hot to bear, you are bound to spend plenty of energy and money on air conditioning, which only increases the utility bills. However, if you switch to solar AC, you can cut down those bills significantly. By using hot water to actually cool down your home, you will both save money and help the environment. What is more, the hot water that is produced in AC systems can also be used for other purposes. For example, you can harvest that hot water and use it for solar water heating as well, depending on the setup you have.

Climate is drastically changing and that can cause plenty of troubles for the environment and residential building. Due to environmental awareness and higher utility bills, more and more people are choosing to go green and use the renewable energy. Solar power is one of those sources and it can drastically change the functioning of your home as well as bring many benefits to you and to our environment.

Rotterdam: A City that Thrives on Water

February 10, 2017

Lillian Connors

0 Comments

When artist Jorge Bakker came up with an idea to fill an aquarium with floats containing model trees, little did he expect his installation to turn into reality. Trying to raise questions regarding the relationship between nature and people living in cities, Bakker surely couldn’t imagine that his concept would be recognized as something that should actually be given an opportunity to thrive in real life through groundbreaking architectural concepts.

Naturally, such recognition could only have come from people who understand, love and respect nature and who had to learn so much about it before making the most of what it gave them. So, if you find yourself in Rotterdam and see floating trees rooted in buoys next to the Floating Pavilion, another landmark in this Dutch city, it doesn’t mean your mind is playing tricks on you. On the contrary, you’ll be treated with one of the most eye-catching and original installations in this part of the world.

Water Square

Moving towards the modern city center, you might come across a square tucked in between a 19^th-century church and a long linear block containing houses, offices, a theater and two schools. This unused and dull space often used to be flooded, since it rains quite a lot in Rotterdam.

Most other places would have solved this problem differently, but not the local city council. A significant investment was made to convert this square into one of the most interesting and vibrant places in Rotterdam. Namely, three pools were created which fill up with water when it rains, and are then used as sports playgrounds and dancefloors. The Water Square is now one of the most popular attractions among both the locals and tourists.

Floating park, hotel,…

Another fascinating idea related to water and its preservation is the emerging Recycled Park, whose purpose is to use recycled plastic to create litter traps for marine litter, thus preventing it from entering the North Sea. The more plastic is retrieved, the bigger the Park will grow. However, the most important impact is, by all means, the protection of water.

And it is more than obvious that Rotterdam is not going to stop there. The list of projects being currently developed includes a floating subdivision of houses, a floating dairy farm and a floating hotel, deep down in the harbor, at the Innovation Dock.

Water management

Now, you might wonder how come the citizens of Rotterdam are so keen to manage water so carefully. The answer is pretty simple, actually. With almost two-thirds of their country below the sea level and their own town situated around six meters below the sea level, it’s clear that local authorities have to make the most of the advantages that water provides.

As we have seen, they often have to come up with innovative solutions, such as those for emergency storage during heavy downpours and systems for a delayed discharge of rainwater, which ensures that the city has enough high-quality water even during the driest spells.

That’s why the water storage is omnipresent in Rotterdam, with green roofs doing their part in creating a healthy, sustainable environment. They absorb rainwater, lower the runoff, which in turn leads to less pressure on the sewage system.

For almost a decade now, the City of Rotterdam has been running a subsidy scheme for supporting the installation of green roofs on private residential buildings, so more and more people are using this opportunity to improve their living conditions, help the environment and lower the installation costs.

It’s pretty obvious that Rotterdam has not only turned its potentially most dangerous enemy as a means of improving the quality of life of its citizens but has also made it a tourist attraction. It’s widely accepted that Rotterdam’s example is one of the best in terms of collaboration among key stakeholders and experts. Many have been calling it the “water city of the future” for quite some time now, and rightfully so. The way this city uses water should also help us all in our struggle to deal with the climate changes and the consequences they bring.

Interior Décor

Transform your house into a green utopia

May 12, 2015

Lana Hawkins

2 Comments

Green architecture has many versatile advantages. Green buildings consume less power, last longer and it is healthier to live in them rather than conventional houses. Their construction requires less material and they are usually self-sustainable. Of course, they also have a smaller negative impact on the environment.

The investment in green home is investment in your health. How productive are you when you have a headache or you are under stress? You can get a headache or be stressed because of harmful vapours from low quality materials used for construction of your home, poor lighting, constant noise, etc. Less energy is consumed when we have good natural light and quality insulation. When you live in a green house you have more money to spend on things you like, because you have lower costs for doctors, repairs, heating and cooling, maintenance, etc. You can make your home greener by installing green walls and roof.

How to make a green wall?

Green wall, or an indoor vertical garden, consists of fixed or movable supporting structure, space to accommodate the plants and irrigation system (pump, tank for nutrition and water, a timer and a dropper).

Plants for the green wall are grown in containers with special fibres that concentrate the root in one place and they are usually in regular geometric shape (cube or rectangle). Attach metal construction that will carry your new vertical garden on the wall and along the construction conduct watering system. Make sure that every plant gets access to the water. You will also need a waterproof layer that will insulate your regular wall from moisture. After that, stack the plants next to each other and make a plant mosaic.

Plants that are recommended for green walls are creeping philodendron, dracaena, ivy, scindapsus, ferns, Spathiphyllum, aglaonema and plants with small root system.

How to make a green roof?

The construction of the green roof and its layers depend on the purpose of the roof. All green roofs have one thing in common and that is that they must contain certain layers so their ecosystem could live.

The layers of the green roof are:

Supporting structure – its purpose is to withstand the roof load and it represents the support for the other layers.
Waterproof layer – which is intended to retain the rain water and its channelling towards the sewer or to a system for storing the rain water.
Layer which prevents the penetration of roots in the supporting layer – this layer prevents the roots penetration in depth. The most commonly used material for this layer is geotextile.
Drainage layer – this layer that is intended to retain the water that plants can use for nutrition during drought periods.
Layer for filtration – which prevents the penetration of higher layers and roots in the drainage layer but allows the water come through.
Sand or small rocks – are used to help drain the soil, they are porous so they provide an excellent basis for application of the soil.
Soil – or any other substrate that enables plants to grow.

There are other layers that you can use for green roof construction but these are the most commonly applied. If you want to grow something other than grass and small plants on your roof you have to apply thicker layer of soil and stronger supporting construction so the plants can grow undisturbed.

By building green you invest in your health, reduce the impact of construction on the environment, improve the quality of your living space and reduce the costs associated with the using of the building. There are more and more people on our planet and less and less resources. We have to be more responsible when we build so the next generations don’t end up left without necessary resources.

Garden

What Is Sustainable Garden Exactly?

December 18, 2014

Lillian Connors

0 Comments

Our planet has reached its boiling point because of our lack of care and concern for it. The situation is so bad that today we even have to think twice about how we are going grow plants, and that is why sustainable gardening has become so popular lately.

By taking such interest in your garden you are not only keeping you and your family healthier, but your planet in general, by conserving its resources.

You will also know exactly how it was cultivated and what you eat, as only then are you completely sure that it is chemical free.

What Does It Really Mean?

As sustainable is most commonly directly associated with eco-friendly, it implies gardening without causing harm to the Earth. As people started using too much pesticides, there was a necessity for a practice like this one.

However, that does not mean that they are not used at all, just in lesser quantities that are easier to keep under control.

What You Can Do

It might sound difficult to go green when this practice is in question, but sustainable gardening is actually quite manageable.

First rule is, do not use bulldogger if you can do it with your bare hands. It might be more difficult, and your hands will get dirty, but remember every time why you are doing it and who you are doing it for.

Secondly, use rainwater whenever you can, especially for watering your plants. You can collect it by setting up barrels in your yard, or even installing some more complex rainwater conservation systems. Also, be sure to use ground covers so that the water would not evaporate so quickly and you would not have to water it too often.

Another preferable technique is to compost, which is actually a way of recycling. By simply collecting leaves that have fallen this autumn in your garden and placing them in compost bins you are using more natural and organic material for your soil.

That way you do not have to spend money on fertilizers in specialized stores, that are not only expensive, but toxic for the soil too, if used in greater amounts.

Finally, think carefully about the plants that you want to grow. Do your homework, find out what fruit and vegetables you can actually grow in your area, because it is not just about planting what you wish to eat.

You need to know if there are appropriate conditions so that you would not have to use any unnecessary additives. Another thing you should definitely look up is which plant grows in which season, for the same reason that was previously mentioned. Also, check this cheatsheet for dummies, you dummy :)

Design

When you decide to have a sustainable garden, there are many other things to think about. You will need paths like aisles to approach those plants without stomping and destroying the soil around it.

Garden Path — image credit: wardslandscape.com

Those paths can be made out of old pieces of concrete that are leftover from some construction works you did on your house, and never knew where to throw them away.

Another thing is that no matter which part of the world you live in, there will always be natural elements like rain, snow or hail that will get in your way from time to time and that is why you will need to build some kind of protective construction. True sustainable gardener will always use recycled material for walls, windows and decks too.

For some vegetables you will need wooden trellis, but do not cut perfectly healthy three to make it, better collect branches that fall on their own. You know that there are always a lot of them just lying around, so do not let them annoy you, use them for good.

So no more trips to the farmer’s market – simply make some room in your garden, buy necessary seeds and start digging.

Help yourself, your family, country and planet by living green and properly caring about your plants, and at the same time your environment.

The Benefits of Renewable Energy in Your Home