A zero impact home is a house that does not pollute the environment. One of the bi-products of a regular home isfossil fuels and they are bad for the earth and they are the cause of the continuation of the cycle of the green house effect which plays a major role in the creation of global warming. This happens when the green house gasses prevent the heat that was once rays from the sun from leaving the earth's atmosphere. This makes the temperature increase and this causes the seasons that are usually cold and makes them hot. If you are able to avoid creating this bi-product you are helping the earth's environment stay clean and healthy.
Using too much water is bad for the environment because if you live in an area that does not have a lot water, and you use a lot of it, there will be no water left for plants and animals to drink. Because we decided to build our home in an area that does not get a lot of rain, we are not going to use water as a power source.The design and plan for our zero impact house are important because we can use the sun to heat our home but you would want it to warm the home in the winter and make it cooler in the summer. We can use this information to design our home so it can be the most efficient home as possible.
Site Considerations:
The average temp for Salah Algeria is 70 degrees fahrenheit and the yearly temp. range is from 45 degrees fahrenheit to 110 degrees fahrenheit. During the year, the hottest month is July (45 degrees celsius or 113 degrees fahrenheit) & the coldest months are January and December which is 10 degrees celsius or 41 degrees fahrenheit.
The average rainfall is 0.6centimeters and the rainiest month is December just over half a centimeter of rain, and the driest months are June and July which gets little to no rain at all. Salah gets most of its yearly amount of rain fall in the month of December.
Clima-graph for Salah, Algeria:
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west and its highest point of the day it would be in the south during the summer, north during the winter, north west during the spring and north east during the fall and the suns angle is, AT NOON: during the Summer the sun is between 70-80 degrees in the sky, during the Winter the sun is between 30-45 degrees in the sky, during the Fall the sun is between 55-65 degrees in the sky, during the spring the sun is between 55-65 degrees in the sky. A benefit of building our house in a climate like this is that we do not need to worry about flooding because the minimal rain fall that it gets.
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Design Features:
This is an overhang to prevent the home from getting too hot during the summer but letting the sun heat our home during the winter. These are solar panels that will use the suns energy and heat to create and generate power and electricity to heat our house and give it power. We are located in a low latitude city so the solar panels are located on the south side of our roof facing south and at a 10 degree angle to make them the most efficient as possible.
Below are pictures of our homes floor plan: First Floor:
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On the first floor the bedroom is located in the east side of the house so it gets naturally lit by sunlight more than other rooms during the day. Second Floor:
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The bedrooms on the second floor are located on the east side of the house so they can be naturally lit by the sun during the day.
Why build "Zero" Impact Homes?:
A zero impact home is a house that does not pollute the environment. One of the bi-products of a regular home is fossil fuels and they are bad for the earth and they are the cause of the continuation of the cycle of the green house effect which plays a major role in the creation of global warming. This happens when the green house gasses prevent the heat that was once rays from the sun from leaving the earth's atmosphere. This makes the temperature increase and this causes the seasons that are usually cold and makes them hot.If you are able to avoid creating this bi-product you are helping the earth's environment stay clean and healthy.
Using too much water is bad for the environment because if you live in an area that does not have a lot water, and you use a lot of it, there will be no water left for plants and animals to drink. Because we decided to build our home in an area that does not get a lot of rain, we are not going to use water as a power source.The design and plan for our zero impact house are important because we can use the sun to heat our home but you would want it to warm the home in the winter and make it cooler in the summer. We can use this information to design our home so it can be the most efficient home as possible.
Site Considerations:
The average temp for Salah Algeria is 70 degrees fahrenheit and the yearly temp. range is from 45 degrees fahrenheit to 110 degrees fahrenheit. During the year, the hottest month is July (45 degrees celsius or 113 degrees fahrenheit) & the coldest months are January and December which is 10 degrees celsius or 41 degrees fahrenheit.
The average rainfall is 0.6 centimeters and the rainiest month is December just over half a centimeter of rain, and the driest months are June and July which gets little to no rain at all. Salah gets most of its yearly amount of rain fall in the month of December.
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west and its highest point of the day it would be in the south during the summer, north during the winter, north west during the spring and north east during the fall and the suns angle is, AT NOON: during the Summer the sun is between 70-80 degrees in the sky, during the Winter the sun is between 30-45 degrees in the sky, during the Fall the sun is between 55-65 degrees in the sky, during the spring the sun is between 55-65 degrees in the sky. A benefit of building our house in a climate like this is that we do not need to worry about flooding because the minimal rain fall that it gets.
Design Features:
This is an overhang to prevent the home from getting too hot during the summer but letting the sun heat our home during the winter.
Below are pictures of our homes floor plan:
First Floor:
On the first floor the bedroom is located in the east side of the house so it gets naturally lit by sunlight more than other rooms during the day.
Second Floor:
Below is a birds eye view of our house:
DID NOT NEED TO BUILD THE MODLE!