As a custom home builder in Tampa, it is good to see that home buyers are becoming increasingly concerned with helping the environment. There are many ways that home construction can provide lasting benefits for the environment with simple home building changes. Customers have asked for a wide variety of eco-friendly features to be added to their custom home builds. Here is a deeper look at three of the most popular eco-friendly features requested in custom homes.

Enhanced Environmental Designs

One of the most common changes to custom homes is made to the environmental designs. More specifically the way that homes are heated and cooled, as well as methods to minimize energy usage. This often means installing smart thermostats in multiple parts of the home, and improving features like insulation to minimize the amount of energy used to control the temperature. Insulated windows, doors that prevent air transfer, and other features to minimize temperature changes are common in custom builds. Every change that can reduce energy consumption helps reduce the need for energy production, which is a major contributor to environmental damage and pollution.

Solar Panels

Continuing with the theme of minimizing energy consumption, many custom homes have solar panels in order to reduce their reliance on energy companies. Solar panels are dropping in price and increasing in efficiency, making it more practical for houses to have more solar panels to supplement their energy usage. Many smaller homes are able to rely exclusively on solar panel usage, significantly reducing energy consumption and costs.

Environment Design Outside the Homed

Custom home builds are taking advantage of the surrounding environment to reduce their impact. In previous generations, large areas of wooded areas would be cleared to make space for houses. Instead, new houses are built with trees and other foliage in mind. These trees can provide shade, which makes it easier to cool houses in the summer.

Likewise, orienting the house to take advantage of the sun or wind can be helpful as well. Windows are placed on sides facing the sun in the morning to take advantage of the heating effect in the winter, and fewer windows face the setting sun so that the house can cool naturally while still getting plenty of sunlight and avoiding the use of electric lighting. When done well, properly orienting a house accounting for the environment is one of the most successful changes that a developer or designer can make.

Eco-friendly design has become an important part of building custom homes in Tampa. There are many ways to make a new home project more eco-friendly, and a skilled home builder can help you find the ways that work best for your new home. If you want to know more about eco-friendly custom home design, contact Alvarez Homes.

We invite you to explore our creations – and your possibilities – throughout our website and please contact us with any questions or comments.