Why is it important to design a sustainable house?

Question

And what features a house needs to make it sustainable?

Thanks for answering :)

Answer 1

what do you think you ll build a new house every quarter???

if yes then there is no need for design of a sustainable, if not to live there for years you have to design properly...

Answer 2

Ignore the answer above, lol.  

Sustainability is the conservationistic idea that the only ideas that should be pursued are ones where power and resources can be maintained at a level that does not harm the planet.

Examples of sustainable power would be hydroelectricity, wind farms, etc because these are sources of energy that are renewable.  Other sustainability friendly resources are agricultural products, because like the aforementioned, farm products can be grown year after year.

Non sustainable sources would be gasoline, natural gas, nuclear power, eating endangered species, using wood from depleted forests.

It is important to build sustainable house because housing is a human necessity, and since every needs it, a system needs to be devises that ensures that all people have access to shelter that does not negatively and irreversibly affect the environment.  

Sustaibale features would include, using energy from a hydroelectric dam, Building it from wood that comes from logging companies that replant trees that are cut down, not using oil to heat your house, but relying on electricity (from a wind farm or hydroelectric dam), insulating your house to reduce the resource cost of heating/cooling having an efficent washer and dryer, being on a large aquifer that isn't being abused, etc

cheers,

josh

Answer 3

If you don't build a sustainable house it will fall apart after a few months or years, and

a) smash you flat inside it, and

b) cost somebody a lot of money to clean up your pieces and rebuild the house.

Basically, all support systems, walls and roof, need to be braced with cross supports that form triangular shapes with the vertical and horizontal frame pieces which are usually light weight lumber. The forming of triangles is the underlying principle for structural strength - so study your geometry.