Water is a basic necessity. Without it, there would be no life in earth. Because of its importance, people need to have unlimited supply of water. But since there is an increasing population, fresh water supply can be depleted concurrently as there will be high rate of use. And as you use water being supplied from your water company, the cost of usage has dramatically increased because of inflation. As a result, more and more people are finding alternatives to augment their fresh water needs at home or for irrigation purposes. Others would have to find methods to conserve water.

One of the methods people have thought about is the use of rainwater. This method isn’t something new. Rainwater Harvesting is one of the many practices that helped people in ancient times meet their water needs. In this method, people collect rain water into jars or big containers and store them for future use. In fact the simplest method of collection would simply involve the use of banana leaf and collection of water is on the coconut husk. But the latter example does not have the capacity to endure bigger volumes of water.

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Although people have been talking about sustainable building methods since the 1970s, it was only in the recent years when internationally recognized eco-friendly house certification systems started to function properly. It was understandable that he builders around the world would need an assessment system to guide them into the best practices and green building materials.

The first such system was introduced in Great Britain in 1990 – BREEAM or the Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method. It gained international recognition almost instantly due to the stern assessment criteria and the rather transparent evaluation method.

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The term green home is being used more and more often in the residential building industry, but what does it really mean. According to the Green Building Council of Australia a green house is “a high performing home that is energy and water efficient, has good indoor air quality, uses environmentally sustainable materials and also uses the building site in a sustainable manner”.

A green home also requires a holistic approach, beginning at the design stage and continuing on through the construction process and the eventual day-to-day running of the home. The main goal of these characteristics is to reduce the environmental impact a home will have over the course of its lifetime. (more…)

The plans indicate that the home would be set into the ground and seamlessly fit into the surrounding moorland. The house which has been 3 years in the planning will be built in the grounds of Gary’s current mansion and is thought to be his dream home.

Whilst many footballers have a reputation for garish design choices it seems Gary and his family are taking the issues of going green very seriously demonstrated by being prepared to spend a speculated £6 million on the proposed development. At 8000 square feet the eco home will have a huge kitchen at the centre from which other living spaces will spider off. Architect have analogised the proposals to that of a modern day Stone Age settlement. Rather cruelly some have also likened it to the home of the Teletubbies! (more…)

There has been an explosion of interest in going green. Everything from cars to light bulbs are being pushed to new levels of efficiency. New industries are cropping up, it seems, on a daily basis.

But what about buildings; office buildings and schools in particular. These are the places that we spend most of our waking hours, and where we consume most of the energy. (more…)

Many companies claim that their products and services are “the future”. But no one has more of a right to this claim than companies in the green building industry. As we all know, the industrial practices of the 20th century have significantly compromised the environment in more ways than one, necessitating a change in the way that we regard the environment on both a personal and public level.

On a personal level, many of us choose to support the environment by participating in recycling and buying non-toxic products. But on a public level, we often choose to stick with old, unsafe building practices because a changing of the guard would require more time and money than we care to invest. (more…)