How To Make Any Building More Eco-Efficient

Whether you are thinking about your own home, or you are working for a client and trying to make their building better, eco efficiency is one of those things that a lot of people are trying to get now with their buildings. The truth is that it is possible to make any building a lot more eco-efficient, and that this is something that can add value to the property, make it more liveable, bring down associated bills and costs, and more. So it’s definitely something that is worthwhile to try and achieve.

But how is it actually done? In this post, we are going to take a look at some of the real nuts and bolts of how to make any building more eco-efficient. Even if it is an older building that you’re working with, there are things you can do, steps you can take, to ensure that it is much more environmentally sound. So let’s take a look now at how you might achieve that.

Insulate It Better

Hopefully, any building you are working with will already have insulation of some kind or another. Of course, if it doesn’t, then your first step is probably to insulate it at all. But when there is insulation there, you simply want to make sure that you are making it as good as possible, because the better the insulation is, the more eco efficiency it will have. If you’re keen to ensure this, then there are some things that you should be aware of in order to make the most of it.

For instance, you need to consider the various materials that are available, so that you can be aware of which are likely to be best for your particular circumstance. You can opt for something that is always going to be worthwhile in any building, such as PIR insulation boards. Or you can go for a spray foam insulation if you are looking for something cheap and cheerful. In any case, make sure that you are comparing the different materials, because they really do make a difference.

It’s not only the material choice that matters, however. You should also be aware of where in the building you are seeking to insulate. Usually that will be the walls and the roof, but it might be that you only need to replace part of that – again, you need to check and see what is the case for the specific building you are working on. And it could be that the insulation you have there is already sufficient completely.

In any case, good insulation is definitely one of the main things that you can do if you want to make sure that any particular building is more eco-efficient, and it’s important that you do all you can to keep on top of this. It will really make a huge difference all in all.

Install Double Glazing

It’s not only that kind of insulation that matters or makes a difference, however. It’s also the windows, and here you should make sure that you are doing everything you can to keep them as eco efficient as possible. Usually that just means ensuring that they are double glazed at least, and this is something that should be fairly standard. Chances are, if you are working with a building that is already lived in or which has been built fairly recently, it’s going to have decent double glazing anyway. But if not or you are unsure, it’s something you will want to check out as soon as possible.

Double glazing is important because it helps to keep the heat trapped wherever it is. That means that in summer, the heat stays outside, and in the winter it stays inside, keeping the home warm. That requires less energy to heat the home, and it means that the building is a lot more energy efficient as a result.

So you should install double glazing where necessary, and if you are going to do this on a building you are working on, it’s a really good idea to make sure you are doing it right. That means that you need to consider the overall costs, the number of windows you need to do, and what kind of timescale you might need. For an office building, that will of course be considerably higher on all counts than a home, for instance, but it’s all something that needs thinking about.

With good double glazing in place, the building is going to be so much more eco efficient afterwards, to the benefit of everyone involved.

Make Use Of Renewable Energy

A good way to make a home more eco-efficient is to make use of renewable energy. For your purposes, that will mean that you need to try and find a way for such energy sources to be utilized in a particular building. That sometimes means that you need to change something in the building’s infrastructure in order for that to be the case, so that’s something that you might need to be aware of here. And it’s certainly the kind of thing that you will find yourself recommending to your clients if you want to make this a reality.

One of the best kinds of renewable energy is solar. The technology behind solar is incredible these days, and only improving all the time. If you are keen to install this on a building, it’s a relatively simple job that is nonetheless going to make a huge difference to the building and to everyone who works or lives in it. So it’s important that this is being considered at least.

Usually that will be a case of identifying where the panels can go – hopefully on the roof, and ideally but not necessarily facing south or south east. There also needs to be a means of storage, which is usually in the form of batteries. And there should be an inverter, so that the AC current of the panels can be converted into DC. With all this, there is a fair bit of work involved that might need to be considered, but it’s absolutely worthwhile.

Of course, solar isn’t the only option either. There are also ground source heat pumps, and these can be the kind of undertaking that contractors are actually really happy to be involved in – partly because they are going to be a good project that costs well. In all essence, these pumps end up being a really ecological and economical thing for a building to have, so they are definitely something to think about – and the building is going to be so much better off as a result of having these in place.

However you approach it, including some renewable energy in the home or office is a really good idea, and something that can help to create some more work as well for you and your team. So it’s a vital part of making a building more eco-efficient, and that is important to bear in mind here.

Those are some of the things that you can focus on if you want to make any building more eco-efficient. If even just some of these are considered, it is going to make a huge difference to the way in which the building operates, so it’s something to consider for sure.