Eco houses, short for Ecological houses, are the homes of the future given the concern over the environment and government incentives to build more efficient housing. Not only are they sustainable but they are designed to raise the bar of current living conditions in traditional suburban homes.  Eco houses are created in such a manner that it lessens both environmental and health impact, everything from its design through to the construction phase to the final product, an eco house continues to be sustainable throughout its entire lifetime.

Despite misconceptions, eco homes are evolving to look like better, more energy efficient versions of their traditional counterparts where the only thing really distinguishing an eco friendly house from standard housing are the materials it was constructed from and its increased efficiency.  This is the dream for architects and builders to create future homes with all of the benefits of sustainability without sacrificing modern aesthetics or creature comforts and the hope that one day, all homes will be built with an eco purpose in mind.

Eco houses have their own set of criteria, here are just a few of them:

Fully integrated alternative energy system is what makes eco houses truly sustainable.  They usually have their own array of solar panels, solar shingles, wind generators or geothermal systems that are either partially or completely independent from the main power grid.  These forms of alternative energy allow eco houses to minimize their environmental impact lessening their need for dwindling fossil reserves and their reduction of carbon emission output.

Eco houses also take advantage of sustainable materials including ethically harvested wood from non endangered rainforest land and locally made building materials including bricks that contain less energy content and less of a carbon footprint associated with its creation.  The angle eco houses take is that everything both living and non living has an energy fingerprint tied to its creation or to its energy using activity.  When it comes to construction materials, the aim for eco houses is for this energy fingerprint to be as minute as possible.

Another important energy saving eco house feature are its windows.  Approximately one third of a home’s energy is lost through its windows, any home older than 14 years of age will more than likely have heat leaking inefficient windows, luckily modern day homes built from a sustainable stand point understands that homes with efficient windows will generally decrease an average heating bill by up 25%.  For a window to be energy efficient it should be leak proof and double or triple glazed.

Another feature of eco houses are their quietness.  From their design and construction to their double glazed windows eco houses have the ability to reduce the amount of noise pollution which positively impacts on health and standard of living.

Sustainable homes also require less energy usage by using more natural light.  Well positioned windows can lessen the need for artificial light keeping energy expenses to a minimum.

Eco houses also take advantage of the natural landscape and work with the contours of the land requiring minimum excavation and earth moving reducing the amount of soil disturbance and pollution.

Health and living standards will continue to increase as eco house building becomes a permanent fixture of the construction industry. Eco homes may appear unusual and even more expensive than their traditional counterparts but this will soon change and more environmentally friendly housing will become an everyday part of the residential housing market.