Building A New Home? Go Green!

With the rising cost of energy and the need to conserve the planet’s precious resources, a sustainable home is becoming a highly favorable and more economical option.

So, if you are planning on building a home, incorporate sustainable principles on your home designs and house plans. There are many reliable home builders in Melbourne who will be pleased to assist you in achieving that goal. One of the most recognized green Melbourne home builders in Australia is Urbanedge homes.

Urbanedge Homes features Green homes which are known to demonstrate improved energy, resource and water efficiency which in turn reduces your household running costs and greenhouse gas emissions into the environment.

These eco friendly homes are designed to minimize the use of heating and cooling. Through careful solar orientation on the site, the sun’s energy is maximized throughout the year and natural ventilation methods are used to circulate air in and around the home. Effective insulation is used to prevent heat loss and heat gain through walls, roofs, and floors, whilst heat loss through windows is reduced through high-performance glazing.

As for your house interior and exterior designs, Urbanedge home builders guarantee that you will love your home and will stand out in your neighborhood. Their team of professional architects and designers will create modern home designs and house plans that fit your neighborhood block, lifestyle and budget.

If you also have ideas or designs you want to include in your home, Urbanedge will be happy to guide you through the process and assist you with the many things that need to be taken into consideration. They will help you select the exterior bricks, render and roof colors; doors and windows; flooring and all internal and external features as well as your home’s finishing touches.

Building a house with sustainable designs will not only help you achieve an environmentally responsible home that is cleaner and healthier for your family to live in, you will also be able to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle with cheaper running costs.

Know more about Urbanedge green and affordable homes at http://www.urbanedgehomes.com.au/greensmart.aspx or visit Urbanedge display homes in Melbourne.

About the Author
Ace
A computer professional who works on the internet helping Urbanedgehomes increase its viewers through optimization. For world class Home builders visit us online at www.urbanedgehomes.com.au

Harvesting Ground Heat Through Geothermal Heating Technology

Just below our feet lies an energy source that can easily help us warm both our homes and hot water tanks. This energy source is known as thermal energy and can be harvested using specifically designed geothermal heating technology. This article will give you a better idea of how this natural energy source has come into existence and how geothermal heating systems actually harvest this energy.

But how does this energy under the earths surface occur? Thermal energy is caused by a number of contributors. For example, heat radiates out from the earths core and warms the ground. The earth also absorbs energy from the heat of the sun. The strength of this heat energy trapped beneath the surface of the ground will of course depend where you are in the world. It does not really matter where you are in the world though as geothermal heating technologies are able to extract heat from the ground however weak that heat is.

The concept of harvesting heat energy that is present beneath our feet is far from new. In the Roman Empire water heated naturally underground by geothermal energy was put to use to keep their spas hot. In effect this was the start of basic geothermal heating systems. This harvesting of naturally occurring geothermally heated hot water is still used today in some parts of the world. Iceland, for example, makes full use of this naturally occurring energy source using geothermal power plants.

Geothermal heating systems such as the Ground Source heat pump are now used across the world with much success. As the name suggests the Ground Source heat pump collects heat from the beneath the ground and literally pumps this heat around a home or property. Ground source heat pumps use a series of pipes that are laid underneath the surface of the ground. The loop of pipes are filled with a solution has properties to absorb geothermal heat energy directly from the ground. The solution is pumped through the loop of pipes, and gathers heat as it travels. The solution eventually passes through the heat pumps the heat exchanger part of the system where the heat is extracted and refined. This harvested heat is then used to directly warm living spaces and heat hot water tanks.

Geothermal heating systems are forecast to become even more popular with households across the globe. In general many people want to become more environmentally friendly and do their bit to help save the planet. Most people are also becoming increasingly frustrated at the incredibly high prices they are paying for fossil fuels such as gas and coal. Alternative ways to heat homes that are eco-friendly and cheaper to run, such as Ground Source heat pumps and other geothermal heating technology, are the ideal answer.

Would you like to discover more about geothermal heating technology and the benefits of investing in a heat pump system for your home? A good starting point is to visit one of the companies that specialized in geothermal heating and renewable heating systems. One reputable and well established company is called EcoVision. You can easily find their website. EcoVision specializes in all types of environmentally friendly technologies, including geothermal heating. The EcoVision website is probably the best next step for you to discover more information.

About the Author
Rich Stevens writes articles for EcoVision. Discover more information about Heat Pump technology and how Heat Pumps work on the EcoVision website.

Why Sustainable Windows Are Benefiting From The Latest Aircraft Designs

Aircraft designers have relied on aluminium for manufacturing aeroplanes for over 60 years, ever since this strong lightweight material was first discovered as a natural metal occurring in bauxite.

This was a huge improvement beyond the plywood, string and canvass that was used before and was essential for developing todays modern jets and the long flying distances we all enjoy today. This requires flying above 30,000 feet which needs a strong, light construction to withstand the pressure differences at such high altitudes.

For the past 30 years aluminium has also been used extensively in the design and manufacture of window frames in the UK Commercial market due, also, to its strength and lightness.

However, no matter how good and reliable any material or product is, there is always the possibility that one day, superior technology will move it aside and create something even better to come along and completely supersede it.

This is already happening, today. In the aircraft industry, Boeing's 787, so called 'Dream-liner' was the first to break tradition and turn towards innovative new technology that not only matches what aluminium can offer - but which goes some way beyond in terms of strength, durability, lightness and rigidity - and avoids the future possibility of metal fatigue.

'Fibre Reinforced Polymer' (FRP) is the generic term for high performance, light weight compounds which combine reinforcing fibres of glass or carbon into a tough and durable thermosetting resin, to generate composite materials of astonishing strength and capability.

Already used as the heat resisting nose cone on the NASA Space Shuttle, these FRPs are significantly stronger than steel, weight for weight and are often known by such names as GRP, fibreglass, carbon fibre and graphite. We are more familiar with them as the best material for producing golf clubs, tennis and squash racquets, fishing rods, motor cycle fairings, Formula 1 car bodies and disc brakes, Olympic vaulting poles - the list goes on.

According to Russell Maguire, Boeing's Technical Vice President, the new 787 will have 94% of its wings and fuselage made entirely from FRP composites, which will provide a lightweight one piece moulded body shell, thus no joints or rivets to deteriorate - and creating a lighter, more fuel efficient aircraft, generating lower carbon emissions and thus achieving a more environmentally friendly flying experience - helping Boeing to meet its corporate responsibility towards climate change.

Something similar is happening in the window industry. Climate change is heavily influencing the fate of aluminium in the UK Building Industry, too. Commercial windows in offices, schools, high-rise tower blocks, hospitals, care homes, etc, have predominantly used aluminium for 30 years, simply because no other material has been strong enough or suitable for these architecturally designed projects - until now.

As in the aircraft industry, FRP (pultruded GRP Fibreglass) has been found to be far better qualified than aluminium for window manufacture, due to its higher strength, durability and thermal insulation, which leaves aluminium floundering in its wake when chasing lower thermal U values and higher sustainability targets for some of our more challenging BREEAM projects. (BREEAM: UK Government inspired sustainable building standards to achieve higher environmental levels of construction - and lower carbon emissions when in use. Building Research Establishment, Environmental Assessment Model).

The advantages of GRP Fibreglass over aluminium don't stop there, either! The following list summarises some of the additional benefits:-

* Service life of 50 - 75 years is double that for aluminium * Thermal U values of 0.9 W/M2K are half aluminium's best (1.8) * GRP needs no surface protection, essential for aluminium to prevent corrosion in weather and coastal sea spray. * Both materials are supplied coated in any colour with a 25 year life * Aluminium can't be repaired/re-coated so poor appearance eventually demands replacement. Scratches and damage can hasten that end. * GRP can be repaired/re-coated any time, in any colour, providing another 25 years and requiring zero maintenance. * GRP cannot be bent or deformed like the soft metal of aluminium * GRP has negligible expansion even at high temperature. Aluminium is the opposite. * GRP carbonises in fire, protecting its structural integrity. Aluminium melts at 660C. * Despite the many benefits of GRP over aluminium - GRP gives better price and value.

So, no matter how good and reliable aluminium once was, there has come the day when superior technology is moving it aside, having created something even better to completely supersede it.

About the Author
Chris Dixon has spent 25 years pioneering GRP building products and is now a freelance Business Consultant working with Pultec Ltd, UK market leader of GRP Windows. Find out more about this new material, it's environmental credentials, and how it could improve the sustainability of your project, at => http://www.pultec.co.uk Chris can be contacted at ' cjd_home@hotmail.com