While in Chicago in April, I had a chance to visit the museum of science & industry. The experience was great, and my friend and I thoroughly enjoyed the museum. We were both intrigued enough to pay the extra ~$25 or so to see the smart house. We were not disappointed, and left with some good ideas about things to re-use and things to purchase made from re-used items. Recently, I thought it would be a good idea to share the principles with the readers, and figure out how you can best take advantage of them. Today is the second one, focusing on Material Efficiency.
It looks like i’ve forgotten the Overview of the process, so ill give it to you here
- Monday was Smart Design
- Tuesday is Material Efficiency
- Wednesday will be Energy Efficiency
- Thursday will be Water Efficiency
- Friday will be Healthy Environment
Material efficiency is important when desiging (and even purchasing) a home, or just about anything that you buy. There’s no point in wasting materials, when building a home or otherwize. The smart home was created with pre-fab construction, reducing the time to build and the materials needed for the home. Saving material in the construction phase is important when constructing the house, as its typically the largest expense for the owner of the dwelling. Not having to pay for unnecessary or wasted materials can take a portion off of the total bill.
Another point of material efficiency is the materials used for construction. Taking this into consideration during the build and design phase can save you more money than you realize over the lifetime of the house. The main reason that these materials are not used is due to thier (traditionally) high up-front cost. Using a Solar Powered water heater is one of those things. The solar water heater is more expensive at the beginning, but if you add in the energy used by your traditional water heater, as well as possible replacement due to old age or (hopefully not) catastrophe, then the solar option becomes cheaper. I am fully aware what happens when you are building your home. You are concerned with the rising price tag, and start to think of the initial bill (or loan amount) as opposed to the lifecycle cost of the itme. If you come across this problem, ask yourslef this question: Why should I shortchange future financial and environmental benefits to save a small amount now? This home can be considered an investment, and any effort to lower operating costs will help you in the future. If you plan on being in the home 20+ years, then why go cheap now?
Just as important as using materials for greater financial efficiency and cost savings is taking into the inputs that have the lowest environmental impact. Over the last 2-3 years, there have been great strides in making recycled and other low impact items very decoratively tasteful. Here is a sample of offerings from Vetrazzo, whose countertops are made from recycled glass. Who knows, some of it could be your old pasta sauce jars, beer or wine bottles.
Image from www.trendir.com
If you decided to build a bookshelf, dresser or anything else, would you waste wood, nails, screws or any other input into your shelf? If the answer is no, then make sure that your builder or future home doesnt either.
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