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How to incorporate sustainable design in ADUs?

Sustainable-Adu-Design-Project

Sustainability has become a huge trend that many house owners wish to implement in their accessory dwelling units. From time to time, builders cooperate with customers who are really demanding to carry out sustainable layouts into ADUs.

One of the most important sustainable design practices that customers are looking forward to fulfilling is the greywater technique. This type of project enables eco-friendly water recycling for certain purposes. While establishing a greywater project can be time-consuming and quite pricey, many customers incorporate such a design according to their own budget.

Sustainable ADU design project: how to?

Sustainable-Adu-Design

Obviously, an eco-friendly project consists of a solid list of certain requirements. Here are some of the most important factors of a sustainable layout project that should be kept in mind while designing accessory dwelling units:

Choosing a proper space for an ADU project – even if it is just a small building – is a very important factor that customers have to pay special attention to. Each construction design project requires its own evaluations and scenarios, for instance, the exact location of your ADU and your neighborhood. If the area is spacey and large, there is a greater possibility for energy-efficient layouts. Surely, the location has a huge influence on whether the ADU will be efficient in terms of its power resources.

Cutting down your energy use in an ADU is crucial for multiple reasons except for evident benefits, such as eco-friendliness. First of all, it allows you to save on utilities. This practice is especially useful for those customers who rent out ADU and receive additional income from it. Moreover, ADU, which are built according to energy-saving rules, is more convenient to live in. In such construction projects, it is way easier to control the temperature and light, which has a positive impact on your quality of life.

Eco-friendly qualities of materials used for building can be estimated by an optimal standard named “LEED certification.” It allows professional construction teams to work according to certain recommendations for designing energy-efficient buildings. Projects can vary by design, efficiency, and price range.

The water supply process directly depends on the complexity of construction work and your budget. Work primarily includes wastewater treatment, installation of rainwater tanks, and bio-treatment systems.

Often, customers neglect the quality of interior decoration and forget that there should be high-quality ventilation in the house. With the help of ventilation, you can control the temperature in the house, especially if we are talking about efficient devices. Be also careful while choosing paints for the floor and walls. Give preference to hypoallergenic and eco-friendly dyes. It is also very important to purchase energy-saving lamps and high-quality bamboo and cork floor coverings for an eco-friendly home.

Usually, in such ADUs, there are additional areas for wheelchair access and special handrails for ease of movement. In particular, it is very important to comply with all the requirements that will help to save space and organize it by taking all the nuances into account.

The construction of fully autonomous ADUs is one of the main trends in the building industry nowadays, especially when it comes to functioning on solar energy. The main advantages are that customers do not depend on central heating and water supply and can manage everything independently. Perhaps the only problem is that such a lifestyle implies appropriate incomes, and homeowners are also forced to depend on unpredictable natural conditions.

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Requirements of an eco-friendly ADU design

Sustainable-Adu-Design

There are specific requirements that must be taken care of while constructing an accessory dwelling unit in a sustainable way. Without a doubt, before starting the construction process, necessary risks must be assessed, and all the details need to be taken into account, without which it is impossible to achieve a comfortable standard of living in accordance with your ideas about a perfect house.

Here is the list of rules that allow make the ADU design more eco-friendly:

  1. Thicker walls with a high level of noise insulation
  2. Additional insulation in the cold season (tile/concrete/stone are the most commonly used ones for heat preservation)
  3. Special roof design to reflect sunlight
  4. Lighting and plumbing
  5. Photovoltaic panels
  6. Cross-ventilation, which is oriented in the wind direction
  7. Green walls/rooms to lower the accumulation of solar heat in summer and the transmission of sunlight in winter

Generally speaking, despite the time consumption and high costs, the sustainable design of ADU is a great way to contribute to the prosperity of mankind and the environment. Professional constructors implement high-quality ADU design services and find an individual approach to each customer. Book a consultation and build your dream ADU!

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