OHLALA Homes

If you are planning to re-design or build your home from scratch, there are many alternatives to embrace in this exciting process. With much research and technology being used to develop innovative materials and construction styles, building a house or renovating it with an ecological perspective has become more accessible.

You can begin reducing the impact on the environment by making it energy efficient. Installing high-quality windows with adequate insulation is a good starting point. Air conditioners blasting 24 hours a day for most of the year is a reality in this part of the world, and well-sealed windows keep the cool air inside, saving electricity.

Another idea that needs a bit more investment but would work wonders here is solar-powered homes. The solar panels are usually placed on the roof of a house, and the heat absorbed is used to generate electricity and heat water. Sun is something we don’t lack here, and using this renewable energy is a great way to reduce our carbon footprint (the total amount of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, generated by our actions). Moving onto something more advanced, we have the Passive Houses. They follow a set of design principles using rigorous standards for energy efficiency to reduce the building’s ecological footprint. They are built with an airtight construction style, superior insulation and triple-glazed windows. They also use efficient façades with innovative systems to cool down the building in summer and keep it warm during winter, such as the water-filled glass (WFG) system. The WFG window contains a thin layer of water between glass panels that absorbs heat from sunlight. When the sun’s rays penetrate the glass, the windows keep the buildings cool as the water absorbs external and internal heat. This warm water is then pumped through sealed pipes to a storage tank. When the outdoor temperature drops, the stored warm water can be brought back to the walls to reheat the building using a monitoring system similar to central heating.