Ideas for a Basement in a Green Home

Daylight Basement

• A daylight basement, also called a look-out basement, requires no artificial lighting. The basement works because it is an above-ground foundation with windows. Depending on the location of your green home, and the angle of light and the height of your home's foundation, a daylight basement can save you hundreds on electric bills. While this means you will not have any lights on in the basement at night, you can single out the basement as a laundry area or storage space. This type of basement often has outside access from a sliding glass door or a flight of stairs leading up to the main house.

Cellar

• A regular cellar, or wine cellar, makes an ideal green home basement option. A cellar is a basement with an underground foundation, rather than a stilted or above-ground foundation. The cellar makes for an ideal green home basement option because the cellar stays naturally cool and dry. If you live in a hot or humid climate, a cellar can act as a naturally air-conditioned room, minus all the cooling expenses. You can either access the cellar from a set of stairs within the home or by descending steps from outside leading into the cellar. If you and your spouse or partner are wine drinkers, a wine cellar can also serve a functional purpose for your green home. You can choose to build the cellar with a normal ceiling height of 9 feet or lower. Constructing the cellar with earthen walls and a floor is conscientious and resourceful, though you can also finish it with green materials, like faux-wood flooring.

Hardwood Bamboo Flooring

• By covering your floor in natural bamboo hardwood, you can save money on cleaning, repairs and replacement. As a grass, bamboo is not actually a "hardwood" flooring option, meaning you save trees and natural resources by choosing bamboo instead of pine, oak or cedar flooring. Bamboo makes an ideal alternative to tree wood because bamboo-type wood grows faster than any tree. As a super environmentally-friendly product for flooring, a basement with bamboo flooring will bring sustainability, toughness, simpler installation and a hardwood look. Bamboo is especially ideal for recreational or playroom basements because the wood can withstand a lot of wear and tear.

Storage Pantry

• An ideal place to create a food storage space in a home is in the basement. If you clear a corner or larger portion of your basement, you can place shelves there and create a walk-in pantry where you can store canned, dried or other nonperishable foods for a whole winter or summer. Ideally, build the pantry if you have an underground foundation. Constructing the pantry unit against the underground foundation will keep the products at a steady temperature because the outside soil can withstand changes in the weather. By making your basement a food storage space, you and your family will save energy by not driving back and forth to the grocery store once or more per week.