Going Green? 4 Ways to Improve Your Home Exterior
You can contribute to environmental conservation through the upgrades you install in your home. Eco-friendly installations can also save you a lot of money even though initial costs may be high in some cases. Here are some tips for going green in your home exterior.
Install Solar PanelsWith solar panels, you can generate enough energy to use at home, and in some cases, even surplus to sell to the grid. Initial installation is high because it takes a few kilowatts before it can generate significant power levels.
Solar panels would be economical to install if you are living in your permanent residence. It takes ages for them to show significant returns. Solar option is probably the greenest and safest you can ever go in energy consumption.
- Adopt Green Roofing Technology
The idea here is to have a roof that optimizes sunlight, depending on the climate of your location and climate. In hot places, you can adopt a roofing system that reflects away sunlight and cools faster when there is no sunlight. Installing this technology is costly, but it will help you save so much in terms of energy costs, especially with the air conditioning system.
Materials for Green Roofing:
- White tiles
- Using metals as roofing materials
- A living roof, which uses plants that grow on the roof to help in saving water
- Consider Using a Natural Fence
Do not use lumber in fencing when you can have a line of live trees around your homestead. This live fence can act as a home for fauna and will add to the fresh air supply in your home. It is also less costly than constructing a wall.
Besides, you can decide to be more creative and use deciduous trees that shed during winter and flourish in summer. These trees have broad leaves that can act as a shield against sunlight during summer, hence providing a green cooling system. Examples of deciduous trees:
- Oak
- Hickory
- Maple
- Adopt Drip Irrigation
Drip irrigation is better than sprinklers since water goes into the soil directly. If you use it together with mulching, you achieve a high water-retention rate as opposed to using sprinklers where most of the water goes to waste.
There are many other ways of getting a green exterior in your home. The bottom line is that all of them are a futuristic and prudent saving option. Also, contact home improvement experts for more solutions.