Efficient Green Home Design

Efficient was the concentrate of the home My Bigger Half and I created and had built seven years ago. It's a green house in most ways. But, as efficient as we made it, we did not feel of going with movable walls.

Before I share the movable wall concept, let me digress and talk about other eco-friendly houses and dwelling design. The Solar Decathlon competition. According to the web-site "The U.S. Department of Power Solar Decathlon challenges 20 collegiate teams to style, create, and operate solar-powered houses that are very affordable, energy-efficient, and appealing. The winner of the competition is the team that most beneficial blends expense-effectiveness, consumer appeal, and style excellence with optimal power production and maximum efficiency." There also is to be enough power generated by the house to fuel an electric car. Student teams come from around the world to participate in this annual event in Washington, DC.

I was thrilled to see the Solar Decathlon competition on the Mall in Washington, DC, October 2009, due to the fact that meant I got to tour it. I'd noticed and enjoyed two entries prior to that -- CU-Boulder and Montreal -- and had enjoyed their innovations. So when I discovered myself on the Mall with all of the entries I knew I was in for a very good time.

I saw a delightful array of houses. Beach and mountain, urban and country, as properly as contemporary and futuristic. 1 home I saw had solar panels comprising the exterior of the developing -- all 4 sides and the roof. Solar panels had been of course a normal element of all of the entry homes. Lots of light was a typical element of the houses, and shading too. Some incorporated gardens, others patios. Innovative, fun and exciting sum it up for me.

One home utilised modular walls and sliding wall panels to create flexible space. It did not hit me how valuable that idea was until I saw the 344 square foot Hong Kong condo in this video. The architect and owner calls it his Domestic Transformer.

The Murphy bed was the precursor of this concept. My Bigger Half and I do have a Murphy bed in our Television room, producing the room much more utilitarian and effective than having two rooms. We don't watch that much Television, and we don't have that countless home guests. One room does the duty of two. It's not a transformer in the sense of Gary Chang's, but it's not far off.

I don't know if the domestic transformer notion will take off, or be beneficial in your life. But it is an interesting way to walk lightly on the planet. It's an intriguing believed for how we can get greener.