It’s clear that today people are becoming more aware of their own carbon footprint. Due to this, everyone is searching for ways to reduce their personal environmental impact and live a more sustainable life.
To help out the environment, many people are simplifying their lifestyle to reduce their personal consumption and wastage levels. Tiny house living has grown in popularity over the years, with many people reducing their real estate size to help the earth.
While on its own a tiny house will have a smaller environmental impact, there are ways to enhance your home’s sustainability. Here are the top 5 eco-friendly tiny house design trends for this year.
1. Natural Lighting
A popular trend seen in small modern minimalist house designs is to really embrace natural lighting sources. After all, nothing says environmentally friendly like a house that primarily relies on our earth’s most natural lighting source: the sun.
Many tiny houses are being built with large scale windows to brighten their rooms with as much natural daylight as possible. Skylights are also a popular choice, which allow tiny homes to better harness the sun. These two design choices pave the way for big energy savings, as lightbulbs are only necessary at night time.
2. Recycled Materials
The main intention behind the tiny house movement is to reduce our overall consumption as a society. As such, many environmentalists prefer to build their small compact house designs using recycled materials.
In 2018, 600 million tons of construction and demolition debris was produced in the United States. However, a lot of this waste can easily be repurposed and used when building a tiny home. Materials such as wood pallets and other building scraps can be incorporated into a new build instead of being thrown away into landfill.
There is really no limit to what items can be used for your new tiny home. Some small house designs that are really outside the box include old school buses, horse trailers and shipping containers, just to name a few.
3. Roof Top Solar Hot Water Systems
Solar energy is a huge trend for tiny homes in 2021. Renewable resources are vital to reducing our universal carbon footprint, and so many tiny home owners are utilizing solar energy to power their houses.
In particular, solar hot water roof panels are becoming very prominent in tiny houses. Solar hot water systems are a great way to ensure that your carbon footprint is even minimised through your water usage. A qualified plumber can install solar panels on your roof, leaving you to enjoy sustainable hot showers in no time.
Of course, as solar power is harnessed from the sun, it is important that your tiny house is located in a sunny climate. This will keep your system working efficiently and help to reduce your environmental impact whilst also keeping your running costs low.
4. Composting Toilets
Composting toilets are a fantastic eco-friendly option for a tiny home. These toilets don’t require any water to flush, making them the perfect bathroom choice for sustainable living. In fact, composting toilets can save over 9,000 gallons of water per year for a regular sized home.
If you’re looking to go completely off-grid with your tiny house, a composting toilet is the way to go. As they do not require any pipework to run through your property, you won’t need to worry about installation or ongoing plumbing maintenance costs.
Tiny house design for 2021 has also seen composting toilets rise in popularity due to their compact nature. These toilets can be installed anywhere in your tiny house and are great space savers. They are also designed without a cistern, and so are ideal for tiny homes with minimum space to work with.
5. Communities of Tiny Houses
As minimal living grows more and more popular, tiny house communities have become a prominent trend for 2021. In fact, there are several neighborhoods across the world just made up of tiny houses.
Life in a tiny house community is not like living in a regular sized neighborhood. As these homes are practically on top of each other, your neighbors are difficult to avoid. If you love the company of others and want to be an active part of a close community, then living in a tiny house cluster might just be the perfect choice for you.
Tiny home neighbourhoods have become a trend as many people are wanting to test-run the minimal living lifestyle for themselves. Some communities even have tiny home rentals on offer. This way, people can trial minimalist living to see if it suits them before they commit to owning their own tiny house.
