Best House Floor Plans

This time of year, many homeowners find themselves exploring new home floor plans and making considerations for an aesthetic renovation. Prior to embarking upon any beautification project, green building architects emphasize the importance of updating the water system, electricity, home’s heat and air conditioning system. Since building green saves money over the life of a home, it makes for an astute investment.

Although it’s true that new home floor plans have a way of breathing new life into a home’s architecture, many heating and cooling contractors advise that homeowners start with an energy efficiency update, as in the whole-house system’s approach.

The whole-house systems approach affords a bevy of advantages. Primarily, these energy efficiency components are devised precisely to curtail both maintenance and utility costs. Even more appealing are the health, safety, home floor plan durability and comfortable living characteristics that the whole-house systems approach affords. In other words, these element play an critical role in building green.

Green building evaluates everything from how the occupants interact in the space, the climate to other  other home floor plan components, including:

• Insulation and air sealing
• Entrances, Doors, skylights, and windows, doors
• Water heating
• Natural light and lighting
• Space heating and cooling
• Energy efficient appliances and home electronics

As a result, the efficacy of using the whole house system’s approach to determine the design strategy for the new house floor plan is vital.  Consider the following green building elements to help select the right home floor plan:

• Earth-sheltered
• Energy Homes
• Log Homes
• Manufactured Homes
• Solar House Plans
• Straw Bale Homes

Be sure to bookmark Best House Floor Plans and More as we will be reviewing the aforementioned floor plans upcoming weeks.

Heating your home in the winter can be costly and environmentally unfriendly no matter what type of home or house plan you have. Taking steps to winterize your home and carefully considering your heating options can save you money while helping to make your home green. If you are considering geothermal heating this winter, a recent post on the Hoffmann Brothers St. Louis heating and cooling blog mentioned the following recent regulations regarding geothermal heating and the energy tax credit:

“On December 1st 2009 The Environmental Protection Agency announced revised regulations for residential geothermal heat pumps (GHPs). The new requirements approve water-to-water geothermal pumps to qualify for the Energy Star label. In the past, the geothermal standards were conventional pumps, only. This means that homeowners are entitled to a 30 percent tax credit with the installation of any geothermal heating pump.”

For a more efficient form of heating this winter consider geothermal heating and its value to your home and the environment.

Related Articles:

10-Things to Know About Geothermal Heating and the Energy Tax Credit

 Simple Green Home Energy Tips

Many homebuilders are moving towards eco-friendly home designs. “Green” homes are one of the latest building trends, centered around energy efficiency and biodegradable building materials. Eco-friendly house plans encompass energy efficient designs, with attributes such as solar panels for natural heating sources. These homes are not only good for the environment, but they can also help save you money. Eco-friendly home plans can be found at houseplansandmore.com, dreamgreenhomes.com, and plan-your-greenhouse.com.

The Rundown

Newsday discusses eco-friendly homes as a lifestyle.

WebWire featured an article on how Greenthislife.com offers a one-stop destination for environmentally conscious consumers to find home decor, gardening, and other resources.

OpEdNews.com discusses an “Extreme Makeover, Home Edition” issue featured information about building eco-friendly homes and energy_saving.