Eco-friendly literally means earth-friendly or not harmful to the environment. An educator by the name Harrison Yuin Elder, once said, “We are all custodians of the land and we all share the responsibility of keeping her alive.” Bearing this in mind, over the recent years there has been an increase in the creative and innovative practice engaged in transforming and creating living spaces and places to enhance life quality and a sense of connection to the environment and the community.

In a bid to stand out in a sagging real estate market, there has been an increasing development of energy efficient homes by several successful moms because finding an eco-friendly home can be next to impossible and probably the best way to realize this dream moms have to set the pace by designing their green homes from scratch.

When considering building an eco-friendly, EagleWood Homes advises moms in construction that the first consideration is the location which is very paramount. Not only because it must fit your needs for proximity to work, schools and shopping but also it may provide space for privacy, gardens, solar access and all those intangible qualities that create a sense of place.

An eco-sensitive house should be able to utilize passive solar energy for space heating. A good passive solar design will incorporate ways to insulate most of the glass at night. Either through solid panels that are moved into place or thick insulating curtains that can be rolled or drawn across the glazing to collect all that heat from the sun, and to keep you warm when it is not shining. You can incorporate lots of thermal mass into your design.

Moms constructing these houses can use heavy masonry materials such as rock, brick, tile, and Adobe to make some parts of homes interior especially those parts that will be batched in sunlight such as, the floor near the windows. To enhance the ability of this mass to do its job, you should choose dark colors that will absorb more heat and plan to keep that area relatively free of furniture and rugs. During the summer, this same mass will help keep your home cool, moderating and fluctuating temperature.

To avoid unwanted sunlight, during the summer months when the sun angle is high, you should have architectural features that do this automatically for you. The most common way is to have leaves that overhang the southern window area.

Both solar water heating panels and photovoltaic panels for electricity require year-round solar exposure. This sort of renewable energy is very effective and can save greatly on our planet from pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. There is also the real sense of security in knowing that you are not reliant on the grid or gas company to provide all your energy needs.