Niseko, Toya-Usu and Shiraoi are three Hokkaido destinations for travellers who want to feel close to the communities they’re visiting.
How to build an eco house
Building eco homes improves our lives and reduces our impact on the environment.
An eco house is by definition one designed, built and furnished using recycled materials, smart technology and renewable energy sources that reduce its carbon footprint and lower its energy needs. A house where comfort goes hand in hand with practicality.
The construction industry today accounts for half of European energy consumption.
Eco houses reduce consumption
To reduce waste and make our homes more comfortable there are materials, technological devices and innovative solutions that can help us cut down on energy bills and live better. If you want to build new houses or modernise existing ones you should follow these tips.
The choice of materials
You can opt for natural materials including FSC or PEFC certified wood that should be produced by qualified companies. To insulate your home you can choose natural materials such as rockwool, cork or mineral wool. Ancient materials including hemp, lime and clay are making their comeback because they’re natural and perform well.
Renewables and material accumulation
This is a fundamental choice. Today the price of photovoltaic plants is much lower than a few years ago, as a result of larger supply and higher efficiency. Combining photovoltaic panels with solar thermal technology would be the best solution to heat water for domestic use. Solar cells have evolved: they now collect more energy since their batteries can stock the energy they produce and release it when necessary. This is useful to reduce energy consumption and have it available even when there’s no sunlight.
Heating and air conditioning
For heating and air conditioning you have multiple choices. If your home is still being designed you’d better opt for an underfloor heating system that can reduce convective heat transfers and consumption for heating in winter. For cooling in summer it’s recommendable to choose air/air or air/water heat pumps that can be powered by photovoltaic panels. Consider also that frames, doors and windows contribute to insulating your house from temperature leaps. Exterior and interior house painting can also help cut consumption and increase energy efficiency thanks to nanotechnologies and molecules including silicon and titanium oxides.
Domotics
Smart metres, energy management, cloud technology. Thanks to domotics, you can measure effective consumption and intervene when necessary. The services available today smartly cooperate to let the users save energy and cut water consumption.
Renovation of existing homes
The future of the construction industry is also built on the renovation of existing buildings, starting from single apartments, to apartment buildings and entire districts. Architects, engineers, companies and building contractors have come together to spread this concept. The technological opportunities and offers are out there, you just need to take advantage of them.
Siamo anche su WhatsApp. Segui il canale ufficiale LifeGate per restare aggiornata, aggiornato sulle ultime notizie e sulle nostre attività.
Quest'opera è distribuita con Licenza Creative Commons Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Non opere derivate 4.0 Internazionale.
We talked to World Happiness Summit organiser Karen Guggenheim about the connection between the planet’s health and our happiness.
The new generation of high-performance wood materials offers unexpected hi-tech possibilities to the worlds of design and architecture.
A group of experts in Tokyo suggested pouring radioactive water from Fukushima into the open sea. A marine biochemist explains the consequences of this absurd decision.
By recovering clothes discarded in the West, Togolese designer Amah Ayiv gives them new life through his high fashion creations.
All catwalks in July will be broadcast online: after Paris, it’s Milan Digital Fashion Week’s turn. And the biggest beneficiary is the environment.
Disabled travellers need not fear Japan. Accessible Japan founder Josh Grisdale tells us about his commitment to opening the country’s doors to everyone.
Kalongo Hospital in Uganda is on high alert. Medics are facing the pandemic amid an already precarious healthcare situation, in a country with only 55 intensive care beds.
Indigenous peoples in the isolated region are suffering from poor access to health, with several cities becoming hotspots of coronavirus in the Amazon. Indigenous leaders, health experts and NGOs are calling for international help.