Many people would like to live more sustainably at home but don’t know where to begin. Which home features should you consider to cut energy use, reduce your carbon footprint and help the environment? Design, building and landscape pros discuss the ways they’re creating comfortable, efficient and eco-friendly homes.

1. Laura Freeman, principal, Merits Design Group, Atlanta

Freeman uses tankless water heaters in her projects to reduce water consumption. They negate the need to let the faucet run until it gets hot, and the heaters maintain a certain water temperature so that the system doesn’t have to expend as much energy going from ice-cold water to hot for dishes or a shower.

Sustainable solutions she’s excited about: An uptick in vintage and repurposed furnishings. As a sustainable practice, it’s always better to upcycle a piece of furniture with new upholstery, hardware or paint than to throw it out and buy new. Choosing fabric with some recycled content and paint or stain with low volatile organic compounds — VOCs that off-gas — is ideal.

1. Jordan Goldman, engineering principal, ZeroEnergy Design, Boston

To reduce operational carbon, he emphasizes an exceptionally well-insulated envelope, efficient systems and renewable energy. To reduce embodied carbon, they try to avoid or minimize the use of materials like concrete, steel and foam, since they typically have an outsized contribution to the overall embodied carbon. To reduce both operational and embodied carbon, they avoid designing oversized houses and buildings.

Sustainable solutions he’s excited about: Over the last couple of years, they’ve shifted from using rigid foam [insulation] to products like wood fiberboard — made from compressed sawdust, diverting the material from the waste stream — and rigid cork — made from harvesting cork trees in a process that doesn’t harm the rest of the tree. Both products are considered to be carbon storers — that is, negative embodied carbon.

1. Lee Armillei, principal, Athyrium Design, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania

Using native plants and selecting the right plant for the right spot may have the farthest-reaching impact in her designs. It’s no secret that traditional landscapes are maintenance-heavy. By selecting plants that are suitable for the site — meaning planning for the mature size of the species, matching the plant’s water needs to the site’s conditions and thinking about sun and shade conditions both now and as the landscape matures — they are reducing the need for future inputs into the landscape.

Sustainable solutions she’s excited about: Actively collect and reuse rainwater through the RainXchange rainwater harvest system. They’ve always managed rainwater in the designs by infiltrating it back into the soil on-site, helping recharge the groundwater and keeping runoff and pollutants out of their local streams.

1. Ben Welty, sustainability manager, Feldman Architecture, San Francisco

Mitigating the use of natural gas, especially when used as a fuel source for HVAC and water-heating systems, and replacing it with electric heat pump technology has greatly reduced their projects’ average energy use intensity.

Sustainable solutions he’s excited about: Replacing concrete and steel, the materials that measure highest in embodied carbon, with sustainably sourced wood, a material that sequesters carbon, will have the greatest impact on reducing the overall carbon footprint of the projects.

1. Shawn Kemna, principal architect, Prentiss Balance Wickline Architects, Seattle

They find the best way to make an impact is to focus on the shell of the house, making it as airtight and insulated as possible. They try to add continuous insulation on the outside of the wall framing whenever possible to reduce the thermal bridging of a typical wall assembly.

Sustainable solutions he’s excited about: They’ve been using a lot of thermally modified woods such as Thermory for decking and siding that achieve the same durability of tropical hardwoods, with a much reduced environmental impact.

1. Rachael Shuler, construction division design and sales manager, Environmental Designs, Henderson, Colorado

Efficient irrigation is huge. Creating the most efficient systems is one of their best tools — rotary nozzles that have much better coverage and less evaporation and smart controllers that allow users to control their irrigation from anywhere and use the weather to predict watering. This is measured in water savings and healthy landscapes. they also love to reuse materials when they can — repurpose an old flagstone patio into a stepper path or make bed edging out of brick removed from the house during a remodel. This is measured in cost savings and less material being taken to the landfill.

Sustainable solutions she’s excited about: Loving alternative lawns right now. Kentucky bluegrass is beautiful, but keeping it green uses a ton of water. They have done several projects with thyme as the lawn very successfully.

1. Anthony Laney, founding partner, Laney LA, Hermosa Beach, California

As an alternative to traditional air conditioning, they prefer energy-recovery ventilator [ERV] systems, which dehumidify the air and pull fresh air from the coolest rooms in the home. Other high-impact energy-saving features the company uses in its projects include super-insulated roofs for unwanted heat gain, solar panels, hydronic floor heaters and geothermal technology.

Sustainable solutions he’s excited about: They are currently designing homes that deploy greywater systems — recycling shower and laundry water to be used to irrigate the gardens. They are also researching atmospheric water harvesting, to generate fresh water from the moist coastal night air.

1. Deborah Gliksman, principal, Urban Oasis Landscape Design, Los Angeles

She tries to capture water in every project that she can and also reduce or eliminate traditional grass lawns.

Sustainable solutions she’s excited about: Implementing the process known as hügelkultur. The technique, which originated in Europe, involves mounding logs, branches, leaves and other organic matter to form raised beds and topping them with compost and soil. As the materials break down, you’re left with nutrient- and moisture-rich soil. The practice is especially useful if trees are removed during construction, because you’re able to reuse the trees on site.