Woven shades part of eco-friendly trend

Grad students at Ball State University are helping save a house from destruction by making it environmentally friendly, the Ball State Daily News reports.

The five students joined architecture professor Jonathan Spodek, cofounder of ecoREHAB, in renovating the house. After refurbishing the infrastructure, the group moved on to other aspects, such as the windows. Rather than completely replacing the windows, Spodek chose simply to repair them.

"There's a huge myth about replacement windows that is put on by the replacement window industry, but by saving the windows and repairing them we save money and get comparable energy savings," Spodek said.

Spodek added that making a house energy efficient is also a matter of choosing correct habits such as turning off lights and water.

Although not everyone can make a house as eco-friendly as Spodek, hanging organic window treatments like woven shades is becoming a design trend that is both aestheically pleasing one that can benefit the environment.

According to HGTV.com, woven shades are making a comeback as a design material with bamboo, birch and maple being the top choices.