Atrium Houses (Caitlin McClafferty)

I visited an Atrium community a couple months ago and it was so interesting and educational to see the way that people are able to live in homes without needing to sacrifice anything like comfort. My assumption for the atrium homes was that the homeowners would need to sacrifice comfort or need to be inconvenienced in order to be sustainable, but the house was built so they did not need to do that. When the builders were making the house, they had to think of little details like where the sun would be shining through the windows in order for the house to be heated and cooled off sustainably, along with a community garden, and also a source of water. We learned that the atrium houses are not only sustainable, but the way that the community is built also makes it good if you want to be surrounded by other people who make it feel like a safe and inclusive community. The builders had thought of all of the walking pads, so you will cross paths with your neighbors on a daily basis, along with being surrounded by nature. It was very interesting to learn about and very inspiring. The more I learned about the homes and community the more I realized that this is more feasible than most people think, as you do not have the same electricity, water…etc bills that a regular home would have due to the self-sustaining systems. I would definitely live in an atrium home in the future and I think if more people learned about them and how they work, they would be more popular throughout the world.

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