Homeowners have numerous climate-fighting tools at their disposal. Designing their homes with the planet in mind makes their future properties greener than traditional houses. Here’s how recycled homes improve energy efficiency, battle global warming and feature customizable options.
What Are Recycled Homes?
Recycled homes are any residential structures made with some amount of reused materials. No current national or international standard requires a specific percentage of recycled supplies to give this title to a residential property. However, that means anyone can join the recycled household movement, whether building a new structure or renovating one.
Benefits of Recycled Houses
Reimagining how construction teams and renovation contractors build on residential properties significantly helps the planet. These are the primary benefits homeowners and the Earth will enjoy as this type of construction becomes more widely implemented.
They Reduce a Home’s Carbon Footprint
People will always need places to live, so residential construction is a necessary part of life. The traditional methods of using limited natural resources to build houses aren’t good for the planet. Experts estimate that each homebuilding project creates 28.8 tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions before anyone starts living in the structure.
Swapping wood, stone and other materials with sustainable alternatives reduces that total. It would rely on existing supplies to make houses safe and architecturally appealing. Even if a project only substituted a fraction of its materials with recycled goods, the 28.8-ton estimate for its total emissions would decrease, saving harmful gases from adding to atmospheric pollution.
They Minimize Each Project’s Cost
Upcycling things like reclaimed lumber means construction crews don’t have to purchase new materials at higher prices. Reducing each residential project’s costs makes homeownership more affordable and keeps financial stressors on building companies low. Although the environment is the primary beneficiary of recycled houses, it’s crucial to note that more affordable sustainable resources make it easier for everyone to help the planet.
They Make Each Home Unique
Recycled housing materials encourage everyone to get more creative. Designers and homeowners might think of different ways to build or renovate residential living spaces with materials that require a new construction perspective. It’s a notable benefit as people in sustainable spaces try to brainstorm ways to make eco-friendly living more appealing to the general public.
Inspirational Real-World Recycled House Details
These are a few real-world examples of recycled homes. Construction methods for future properties expand as people become more aware that reused building materials are possibilities for their current or future homes.
Architects Cityförster’s Recycled Home
Some people might shy away from upcycled construction materials because they worry about their future home’s structural integrity. Properties like the recycled house made by Architects Cityförster in Germany prove that wrong.
The house utilizes fiber cement panels made in 2007 that were repainted to match the sleek gray and black exterior. Each has a service life of at least 50 years, so reusing similar concrete panels won’t compromise a household’s longevity for sustainably minded consumers.
Cement is easy to upcycle. Construction suppliers that source concrete from demolition projects and mold it into panels at high temperatures won’t need to use extra water or rocks to create new cement. This process can occur globally, making recycled construction materials like these more accessible to builders.
Quentin Irvine’s Beaufort Home
Australia is home to the Recyclable House in Beaufort. Quentin Irvine designed and completed it in 2015 after getting inspired by Australian steel sheds seen around the continent. The recycled steel walls and roofing passively moderate the household’s internal temperature. It’s a crucial benefit for anyone living in a hot region as global warming intensifies average temperatures.
Notably, all glues, sealants and paints in the house are biodegradable. They’ll last as long as the house stands before breaking down into organic materials that don’t harm the environment. This extra detail is vital, as minor construction supplies like glue go unnoticed when people try to swap more extensive materials like wood.
Wholistic Transformation’s Shipping Container Homes
America is also in the race for recycled houses. Some people dream even bigger than utilizing recycled materials for specific parts of their home construction. They want their residence to be a container with previous functionality, like a shipping container.
Arizona’s Wholistic Transformation saw the potential in shipping containers for housing those in need. The nonprofit organization turns them into individual homes for young people aging out of the foster care system. The houses don’t require as many brand-new materials due to their existing structure and use less energy because they’re smaller living spaces.
Shipping container homes last around 25 years each but can stand much longer with routine upkeep. Houses built with any materials would last longer with the same care.
UNESCO’s Bamboo Houses
Global warming has numerous toxic cycles where pollution and rising temperatures feed into each other. Electric plants create carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions when people use electricity to cool their homes, which warms the atmosphere. As global temperatures rise, people need air conditioning more often.
This well-known and harmful cycle may seem impossible to break out of, but recycled houses can help. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) builds bamboo houses for people in need in Pakistan. The cured bamboo is termite-proof and contains cool air so each home is comfortable without electricity.
Similar adjustments to global homes could improve the energy efficiency of international neighborhoods. Bamboo roofing, walls and doors would keep people cool without harming the environment. It grows back at a rate of 2.5 centimeters per hour, so people can more easily replace it than trees removed in traditional deforestation efforts.
Get Inspired by Recycled Homes
Recycled homes could be the solution many people need to achieve homeownership and help the planet. The materials insulate internal rooms, reduce the use of limited natural resources and make the construction industry more sustainable. Every effort makes a difference for the environment, especially since global warming is well underway
