Sustainable housing

Sustainable housing is concerned with the design and use of a house such that it is environmentally neutral. That is, it provides its own energy requirements, deals with its own waste products[?] without environmental damage, and provides most of the food, water, heating[?] and energy requirements of its occupants.

In some respects it is similar to self sufficiency[?].

In the modern developed world, people have become accustomed to a certain standard of living that they are unwilling to give up. Thus one of the aims of sustainable housing in a modern context is to provide a comfortable living environment without having to give up a modern way of life, yet which is much less environmentally harmful than typical modern lifestyles.

Sustainable housing is achieved using the following technologies and methods:

• solar power
• solar heating
• insulation
• thermal efficiency[?]
• growing your own food[?]
• composting
• composting waste systems[?]
• rainwater collection[?]
• sustainable construction materials[?]
• sustainable fuels[?]