With the growing concern of global warming, environment-friendly homes or green buildings are on the rise. No doubt such buildings or homes are good for today’s lifestyle, but they are considered to be expensive as compared to regular homes. And on the same lines, there are many myths that exist in the mind of home buyers.
So, let’s compare green homes and discuss the factors that the buyers need to keep in mind while looking for green homes.
Green homes do not only refer to the green environment rather green homes refers to the effective use of environmental resources such as water, power, use of solar-based or power-based resources, encouraging rainwater harvesting techniques, use of garbage for composting and minimizing pollution.
Cost Factor
Now let’s understand the cost factor. The price of property generally depends on factors like construction cost, location and as per the experts, there is no additional cost involved in building a green home.
The total cost of owning a green home can be equal or cheaper than regular homes. However, the green home might come as a bit expensive at the initial stage because of the investments like solar panels, disposable systems among other but in the long run, these investment become cost-effective as these require little maintenance, decrease the utility bills which help in cutting down in regular expenses.
Further, there are alternative materials to build green homes that fit one’s budget.
Most of the time, it has been seen that the cost of a green home comes equally to that of a standard home. And green homes come with several benefits also apart from offering a healthy environment.
Healthy home
As green homes are generally made using toxin-free building materials, they offer a healthier environment as well as helps in fighting indoor pollution also.
Impact on the environment
By adopting the concept of green homes, one is actually going closer to the environment by conserving the ecosystem and biodiversity, improving water and air quality, generating less waste and preserving natural resources.
Economical
In the long run, green homes are economical because using renewable sources like hydropower, wind power, solar power one can actually cut on utility bills.
LEED Rating
Moreover, one needs to remember a few things while buying a green home such as the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating, which is a globally-recognized system for certifying green buildings.
But if one has a regular house then also later it can be modified into an eco-friendly home because the common factors that work in both the cases include energy efficiency, water conservation, preservation of natural resources, generating less waste and maintaining a healthy neighborhood.