<p>In today’s current home building and designing trends, sustainable and economic living are on the forefront of future homes. Home builders and interior designers are finding ways to make your home more economically efficient, renewable, and sustainable. Some of the trends you will find are solar panels, energy star rated appliances, sustainable flooring such as bamboo, rain water collection, and better efficient floor plans which allow for natural heating and cooling. When designing your hill country home, consider these tips and ideas to make your home a greener home.
<p>You have found the most ideal site for your home and are ready to begin designing. Building a home in the hill country allows you the ability to take advantage to the hills countries best resources: nature, fresh air, the warm sun, and rain.  Imagine how you would position your home on your property and ask yourself, how can I increase ventilation and air flow through my home and turn down the air conditioner? According to Rick Burleson, facing the front of your home north and the back south this will minimize solar exposure during the summer and protect your windows from direct sunlight. In the winter time, ideal window and door placement will allow the southern sun to warm the house. Additionally, if you consider wind direction, windows can be placed in locations which allow for natural ventilation allowing your home to stay cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.
<p>Do you ever feel like less is more? In home building, this can apply too with a creative and thoughtful floor plan. In designing a smaller, more economical floor plan you can easily eliminate a lot of heating and cooling costs. Should you decide to design a smaller floor plan consider bringing the outdoors in to maximize your living space. One idea would be to design a living room which opens up into an outdoor patio or courtyard helping to make a room feel larger.
<p>Another way to bring the outdoors in is to have a back up rainwater collection system. Rainwater collection in areas where rain falls abundantly is a feasible alternative to city water and wells. Rain water is clean and free and can function as a backup water source for your home and a water resource for your landscaping. Homes designed with tin roofs make collecting rain water a breeze as well as serving as an additional way to keep your house cool. Did you know that metal roofs will reflect the sun and help to minimize heat collecting in the attic? Another way to use sustainable resources in the construction and design of your home is to use limestone. Limestone is a natural resource and Texas has plenty of it. Limestone is a strong and durable resource and makes for a great looking exterior and interior fireplace. For the insulation of your home, consider spray foam insulation. Spray foam insulation for houses are becoming increasingly popular; the spray foam is made from recycled newspaper making it a renewable resource, easy to insulate with, and an excellent insulator for your home.
<p>Building a green home requires an efficient design, sustainable building materials, and the right construction techniques.  With a few simple changes your home can easily become an energy efficient, sustainable home saving you hundreds of dollars in energy costs. Go green and do something good for the earth

Deborah Allen is a sales counselor at Ranches of Brushy Top, a hill country acreage real estate community. They sell some of the most remarkable, rural, hill country Texas land located near Blanco, TX. For more information please visit http://www.brushytop.com.
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Is It Really Worth It To Live Greener?

As more and more people recognize the positive effect green living has on our ecosystem, it is becoming a more accepted way of living. However, due to misconceptions, there are still people that are uncertain on how this can be achieved without gravely compromising their quality of life.

Many people think that with green living, you have to go out and live in the wild and do without normal everyday amenities like running water. This, nevertheless, is not at all true. The truth is that you can hold on to the many of the comforts and even severala few of the luxuries that you currently enjoy while both saving money and doing your share for the environment. But what are some method in which this can be done? Can you genuinely be able to live green?

Decreasing pollution and saving electrical energy are the major focus of living green. Since a typical air conditioner uses a great amount of electrical energy, consider obtaining a cooling system that consumes less electricity. However, if you live in a very cold climate, you without doubt love using heated floors to keep warm. But you can really achieve a similar result by running heated water through pipes; plus, you’ll save on energy. Installing a new floor heating system takes time and money but, for several reasons, it is a great green living alternative. To start with, heating the floor helps to make your feet stay warm, and when your feet are warm the rest of your body tends to stay warm as well. In addition, as heat rises, you can actually use a low speed ceiling fan to keep the warmer air spreading and thus warming your place. The water that is utilized is cycled the same manner as it does in a car radiator so you are not throwing it in any way. Utilizing less energy to heat your floor will reduce your total carbon footprint as well as save money on your monthly electric bill.

Even little steps are important when it comes to helping the environment. You can lower how much electricity you use to heat water by wrapping your water heater with certified thermal covers. Switching off electric appliances and switching off lights will also save not only electricity but also your hard-earned cash. One final thing you can do is to turn down the temperature on your water heater to help cut down your electric bills.

You will be astonished at how many little things you can do daily to make your lifestyle more environmentally friendly. Begin your green living adventure with a couple simple steps and you will discover how great of a difference you can make in the long run.

Using Cordless lawn mowers is one way that should help eliminate the carbon footprint you are making any time you trim your grass. Fuel Lawn mowers are responsible for 5% of U.S. Air Pollution. To learn about the Best Cordless Lawn Mower click the above link and minimize your carbon footprint.
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