For many people, living green goes further than driving a hybrid car and recycling bottles. Green living is becoming an architectural fashion statement. From rammed earth to yurts to eclectic tree houses, creating a living space that doesn\u2019t increase your carbon fingerprint is both eco-friendly and chic. Look at some of the innovative designs in housing that are setting the tone for green buildings.<\/p>\n
Building a Fort<\/strong><\/p>\n As a kid, you may have dreamed about making that perfect fort in the trees that would be your personal space. Treehouse living is no longer something you only see in old Tarzan flicks. Cabins in the sky have become modern day palaces existing on stilts or embedded in the foliage. By using reclaimed wood, builders are blending the childhood dream with the need to recycle materials and step away from fossil fuel.<\/p>\n Treehouse structures go beyond living spaces, however. One community in Fall City, Washington has an educational facility in the trees that teaches about communing with nature. The Northeast Treehouse School<\/a> main lodge is a learning center that holds up to 40 people at once for classes. The community also offers a number of guest lodges and staff living quarters \u2013 all treehouses.<\/p>\n A Bigger Recycle Project<\/strong><\/p>\n The world is full of buildings just sitting around empty. Part of green living is making use of items in an unconventional fashion. Turning everything from missile silos to storage containers into homes helps reduce pollutants and saves natural resources. One architectural firm in Belgium took a barn and converted it to comply with their client\u2019s orders to respect the landscape by using existing structures.<\/p>\n If you think of the design elements found in a church, it\u2019s not hard to visualize it as a home. Cathedral ceilings, stain glass windows and hardwood floors are all fixtures people pay thousands of dollars to own. Architects all over the world are taking abandoned churches and turning them into family living spaces and commercial businesses.<\/p>\n Some of the more impressive renovations don\u2019t involve buildings at all. Old airplanes are trending right now as potential green living structures. In 1994, JoAnn Ussery<\/a> lost her home during a natural disaster. For $2,000, Ussery bought a Continental Airlines 727 as a salvage item and created a new home. Other structures that are popping up as residential or commercial properties include shipping containers, old boats and sheds.<\/p>\n What is a Yurt?<\/strong><\/p>\n The original yurts were structures for nomads living in Central Asia. A yurt is a round building made with a crown roof that features wheel spokes pressing down to attach to expanding lattice walls. A yurt has a felt lining the works as insulation. The frame is held together with ropes, but it is the compression of all the different elements against the lattice grid that keep it standing. Yurts are a practical option for someone looking for a home that is portable, lightweight and easy on the wallet. Many yurts come in kits that anyone can put up. Higher line structures look like a house, just circular. The fabric lining defines them as yurts \u2013 efficient and environmentally friendly housing solutions.<\/p>\n Back to Basics<\/strong><\/p>\n Rammed earth structures come from a time before humanity knew anything about global warming and dwindling natural resources. As people look to return to simpler constructions that include sustainable building products, rammed earth homes start to make sense.<\/p>\n These earthen structures use a compressed mixture of earth, sand, gravel and clay to build the walls. The technique is not that different from adobe or cob. Walls are around one foot think to stabilize the unit and work as insulation. Using earthen products to create a building gives it a natural thermal mass. In other words, structures are self-cooling and warming to develop an environment that maintains a constant temperature.<\/p>\n Earthships?<\/strong><\/p>\n It is not what you think. Earthships are environmentally friendly homes<\/a> that have an unusual design meant to harnesses solar power and make use of recycled material. The Earthship is a passively solar home. This means everything in the building collects and distributes solar energy. There are no panels sitting in the yard or on the roof, the entire house is a solar panel. Construction uses waste material such as old tires or cans to create a honeycomb lattice structure. Inside, materials like high quality valves<\/a> help to add longevity and durability to the home.<\/p>\n Building from the Inside Out<\/strong><\/p>\n Sometimes the material inside the house is what makes it green. Richlite builds elements such as countertops and tables out of paper-based material. You wouldn\u2019t know by feel that the countertops are made of paper. They have the same firm texture and durability like the granite countertops<\/a>, they come from an environmentally sustainable resource.<\/p>\n It is a simple fact that the earth will at some point run out of resources. Adaptation is part of the evolutionary process. Today, people are realizing that depending on things like fossil fuel is folly. Smart living takes the gifts Mother Nature provides and items that already exist to create homes and buildings. Finding innovative and practical ways to make the most of sustainable resources keeps life green.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For many people, living green goes further than driving a hybrid car and recycling bottles. Green living is becoming an architectural fashion statement. From rammed earth to yurts to eclectic tree houses, creating a living space that doesn\u2019t increase your carbon fingerprint is both eco-friendly and chic. 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