Myth Busting: Sustainable Homes Means Sacrificing Comfort and Beauty
Last Updated: Feb 11, 2025If you have spent any amount of time on the internet looking at sustainable home ideas, you have probably come across a few homes that look like they were a relic from the past century. While you might care about the state of the world and the environment and want to do your part to protect the planet that sustains us, few of us are going to be willing to forego some of the modern-day comforts and conveniences that make up the homes we live in. Similarly, with the amount of sleek, modern architectural designs on the market today, opting for an unsophisticated, four-walled home that, while super energy efficient, is probably pretty ugly as well, is perhaps not high on your agenda.
Unfortunately, despite the technological advances in the sustainable building industry, there remains a pretty wide-held assumption that sustainable homes are equivalent to a yurt in the woods without electricity or running water. We tend to think that doing our part to help the planet through embracing sustainable home design means giving up our yearning creature comforts, modern tech devices, and voguish home interiors.
Nothing could be further from the truth. As the sustainable building industry continues to grow and develop, virtually every aspect, comfort, and convenience of the modern homes we have come to expect are being transformed into energy-efficient, healthy, beautiful, and low-carbon alternatives. Below, we look at a few ways in which sustainable homes are increasingly comfortable and beautiful.
The Solar Panel Roof
Let's start with the big one. Many homeowners across the country understand that solar panels are a great way to generate clean, renewable electricity that doesn't emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, not everyone enjoys the "aesthetics" of a roof covered in silicon PV panels. Several homeowners associations (HOA) have routinely made it difficult for individual homeowners to put up a solar panel system.
Table of Contents
- Thinking Outside (and Beyond) the Box
- Increased Energy Efficiency = More Comfort
- Less Water Usage with Higher End Products
- Smaller Homes with Intelligent Design
- Bottom Line
While the sustainable residential home design might open up large windows in strategic areas for passive solar heating or prioritize box-shaped architectural design to maximize wall space for high-performance insulation, this is a question of preference. Homeowners should be vocal with their architects and contractors and let them know their design preferences. There is no reason why sustainable homes can´t have a multi-pitched roof, curved walls, or virtually any other design idea that you want for your home. This 100-year-old Victorian home, for example, is net-zero energy, and LEED Platinum home has maintained its original charm. Or, check out this farmhouse—you’d never know it was a passive house from the looks of it.
Increased Energy Efficiency = More Comfort
Some of us might have friends who, to keep their heating bills down and their carbon footprints lower, will keep their homes at a “not-so-comfortable” 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15.5 degrees Celsius) during the wintertime. The 1970s-era tip was to “put on a sweater.” That means sacrificing comfort. For a more sustainable home, though, the opposite is true.
One of the main aspects of sustainable homes is a focus on energy efficiency. Passive houses, for example, are built so airtight and with such high-performance insulation that often requires no extra heating or cooling is required. Homes that focus on weatherizing strategies can radically reduce the amount of energy needed to keep a home at a specific temperature. Well-insulated airtight homes also decrease, or even eliminate, draftiness—those cold breezes or cold air pockets make a home uncomfortable.
So, suppose you like your home to be 72 degrees during the wintertime. In that case, sustainable home-building practices can ensure that you enjoy those temperatures without increasing your heating bill and the carbon emissions that follow. Smart home technologies such as smart thermostats can simultaneously boost the livability and comfort of your home while lowering your carbon footprint and utility bills.
Less Water Usage with Higher End Products
Sustainable homes are also designed to limit water usage in the house. However, that doesn’t mean that you will have to settle for water faucets that are ugly and impractical or low-flow showerheads that will make it hard for you actually to get the shampoo out of your hair. Instead, several of the low-flow water products on the market today are designed to significantly limit the water you use while improving the performance and aesthetics.
Tobias Roberts
Tobias runs an agroecology farm and a natural building collective in the mountains of El Salvador. He specializes in earthen construction methods and uses permaculture design methods to integrate structures into the sustainability of the landscape.
