European Energy Conservation and American Green Building Design
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by: hugatree
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As new information comes in, the global community becomes more and more concerned about the environment and energy conservation. And while America is focusing more on the environment than it used to (with its newly popular green home building initiatives in particular), the U.S. is still behind the times when it comes to conservation. Many countries, especially European countries, have been the frontrunners in conserving energy and using green home building for decades.
Energy Conservation in Europe
Europe is at the forefront of the green movement, including green home design... and with good reason. In Europe, oil, natural gas, and electricity are more expensive than in the U.S., and have been for decades. And of course this makes Europe more aware of energy and power usage than the U.S.. This is seen in European culture in a lot of ways.
One of the main ways that Europeans save energy is through a tightly knit and efficient public transport system. Almost every major city in Europe has an efficient public transport system (with underground trains, overground trains, buses, trams, etc.) that is well patronized by residents. And even though there are plenty of individually owned vehicles in European countries, most cities in Europe boast a higher percentage of mass transit users (and bicycle riders) than the United States.
European energy consciousness is also visible in the way Europeans build their homes. In large European cities in particular, green home building concepts are widely used. Most city dwellers live in apartments with far less square footage than American homes. Most homes (and many businesses) in Europe do not have central air conditioning, and use basic green home building concepts for cooling. They use simple ideas, such as rolling black out screens, roll out terrace shades, double paned windows, etc., to cool or heat their homes.
The Green Home Building Trend in the U.S.
To sum it up: in Europe, the people have been conscious of the need to switch off the lights when they are not using them for decades... because they needed to save money. Americans, who are used to thinking of energy as a cheap and limitless commodity, are just starting to adjust to a "more European" mindset... including remembering to turn out the lights. This is easy to see when you consider how popular green home building and design has become in America during recent years.
Green home building and design uses concepts, such as smaller home size, basic insulation, and position to the sun to conserve energy, as well as alternative energy technology (such as solar power) to provide power to homes. More long term, in depth ideas are also used in green home building in America, such as using renewable materials and environmentally friendly building processes. America is a little behind, but with luck will start catching up to the standard set by Europe.
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