Eco friendly houses

So are eco friendly houses a blot on the landscape? Will they make you cringe as you drive past them regardless of how energy efficent and self sufficent they may be? Or could they be individually designed properties that look stunning and save you money on your energy bills?

I have had a quick search on the internet to see what I could find on eco friendly houses and what they look like and have been amazed at the results I have found. There are some incredibly stunning properties that make me green with envy simply because of the design of the building and that was before I got to see how energy efficent these properties were.

One of the most breath taking properties has been built at Playa Carate, Peninsula de Osa, Costa Rica, created by Robles Arquitectos and is 100% self-sufficient. The house uses water from the forest, which also serves as a power source thanks to two low-impact hydroelectric turbines that generate 800kWh. Photovoltaic Solar panels on the roof provide up to 10,800kWh of electricity, whilst additional solar thermal panels heat up the water. The house is so isolated from civilization that it has no access to public power cables, sanitation, or water.Everything in the house has been designed to be energy efficient and easy to maintain, and all the building materials were tested in order to gauge their impact on the environment.

There was a fascinating photo of a house built of glass bottles in Nevada, the air in the bottles acts as insulation and that was constructed in the 1920s!

Going straight from the 1920s' into the present day would take us to the fabulous village currently under construction in Dubai -  "Dubai's Vertical Village", consisting of residential, hotel and entertainment facilities, is covered in an impressive array of solar panels. The construction is expected to earn an impressive LEED Gold certification when it is completed. Each building is positioned to reduce the heat from sun exposure—whilst the massive bed of solar collectors on the south side of the building automatically adjust orientation to the sun's position for maximum efficiency. The village also features a solar roof that helps to transport energy and break the solar field up into more manageable segments.

A lovely website, http://www.livingvillage.com/Home.html, is all about The Wintles in Shropshire which was set up to research eco building and sustainable communities. Its a very good website and shows it is possible to practise what you preach!

Have actually found a website dedicated to the sale of eco friendly properties:- http://www.greenmoves.com/ and then there is this website:- http://www.thelittlehousecompany.co.uk/eco-friendly-homes.htm which goes on to explain how to stay green when buying and selling a home and has a page full of advice on how to do it.

So it is possible to build properties that are "eco friendly" and that don't scare the neighbours, I for one am looking forward to seeing more of them.