What would you put in an eco house ?

Eco homes are designed to be as energy efficient as possible. 

Homes in the UK and other temperate climates use more energy for heating than any other purpose. Eco-homes, therefore have much more insulation than normal to reduce their heating requirements. Maximum insulation is a key requirement for an eco home. 

Your are right that renewable energy such as solar panels and a wind turbine are often included in an eco-home - other renewable energies that you may wish to consider are either ground-source or bio-mass heating. 

Rainwater harvesting and grey water re-cycling are also excellent features to have, as are the main windows facing south to capture the heat from the sun (unless the house is in a tropical area where you may wish to keep heat away). Capturing good natural light reduces the need for artificial lighting. 

Eco-homes usually consider the environmental impacts of the materials used for building the property. Some people use lambs-wool based insulation instead of manufactured alternatives because it is so natural. The woodwork should be from sustainable sources. Plastic would be kept to a minimum. Some even use natural paint products instead of acrylic ones. 

It is possible to build the walls from rammed earth or even straw baless - concrete products are kept to a minimum. Sometimes the roof can be grass-covered, and it should be very well insulated indeed. 

Appliances would be chosen to keep energy and water use to a minimum.

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My energy-efficient house is going to be below grade (built into a hillside), with the only windows facing south, acting as solar collectors (there are many possibilities for passive solar heating or geo-cooling). The air heated in the window compartment will be vented to a room filled with rocks that will act as thermal mass. The rocks can be heated during cold season or the heat vented outside and the rocks cooled in the night during warm season for indoor cooling as needed. Living space will be well insulated and as air-tight as possible. Entries will have an "airlock" vestibule. Air that is vented to the outside will be channeled through a heat exchanger to capture heating or cooling while allowing fresh air to be exchanged for moist air from bathrooms, or exhaust from appliances or auxiliary heating unit. Auxiliary heating will be in a high-efficiency combustion furnace that burns bio-fuel (pellets made from straw, paper, sawdust, etc).

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# 9 step Create an Eco Friendly house

1. Go online and read eco-friendlyhouses.blogspot.com

2. Find an energy calculator to assess your current energy usage

3. Insulate Your Home

4. Use low wattage light bulbs

5. Consider using motion sensor light bulbs for both indoors and outdoors

6. Update Appliances

7. Choose low flow toilet mechanisms

8. Install skylights in your roof

9. Install solar panels