Designing Your Sustainable Home: 10 Things Every Eco-Home Should Have

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These simple guiding principles can help make your home green, energy efficient and comfortable.

1. Plenty of Daylight 

South-facing windows provide natural daylight, and the sun's rays help keep rooms warmer in winter. If you want more light, add insulated windows to the home's south side-unless you live in the desert or an extremely hot climate, where more windows could present heat problems. Shading windows in summer protects against overheating.

2. Air Circulation

Indoor air quality is an essential component of any healthy home. To keep your air clean, choose cleaning products without toxic chemicals and paints and wood finishes that are natural and contain few or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Use a whole-house, integrated air-filtration system with a HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filter. Use only low-toxic adhesives and plastic-free grout when installing tile. Make sure the kitchen range hood vents outside (not into attics or eaves).

3. Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs

Light bulbs get a big workout. If you can do just one thing to be more energy efficient, replace old incandescents with compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs). Installing one CFL saves $15 annually, according to the Rocky Mountain Institute, a nonprofit energy research group. Multiply that by the number of lamps and fixtures in your home, and watch the savings add up. Some people also prefer light emitting diodes (LEDs), which can be more expensive but use very little energy.

4. Energy-Conserving Building Envelope

Most houses leak air. Holes and gaps in the wall, roof, foundation, doors and windows allow air loss, which results in winter heat loss and summer heat gain. Tight construction, good insulation and high-performance windows are key. "Weather stripping and caulking in existing homes can reduce your energy bill 10 to 25 percent," says David Johnston, president of What's Working, a green building consultancy. "Energy prices will escalate over the next few years, and insulation is the least expensive insurance policy you can buy."

5. Indoor-Outdoor Connection

Doors that open onto an inviting patio can extend your living space to the outdoors. During summer, create shade with a retractable awning, an umbrella or trees. "Look at the gifts and challenges that nature gives you in your own microclimate," architect and Natural Home columnist Carol Venolia says. "Working with nature is simple, but we lost touch with that ability when we became dependent on fossil fuel to heat and cool our homes."