The Green Home Remodel - Things To Consider
When it comes to our homes, “going green” or making our houses sustainable is much easier if we’re doing a complete build than it is if we are looking to adapt an existing dwelling. There is less scope in doing say a green kitchen remodel or green bathroom remodel, than there is in designing and building a green home from scratch. Still, there are measures that any of us can take to reduce our carbon footprint and contribute to the long term health of the planet. This page will look at the things we call do to complete a green home remodel. The first thing that you should consider when doing a green remodel is that any materials you use are durable, sustainable and non-toxic. Durability is one of the key tenets of green building as the less often we need to replace something then the less often we’re dipping into the stock of the planet’s natural resources – not to mention the energy that gets expended every time something has to be re-built. Using materials that have been sustainably harvested (thereby ensuring that what we use can easily be replaced) will also add to the project’s greenness. Using durable and sustainable materials will be redundant however if we’re finishing off and decorating these materials with toxic products. There are a range of non-toxic paints and finishes that can now be purchased which will ensure that you’re not adding to the internal pollution of your home. The second area that we can all look at when doing a green remodel is in conserving our energy usage. In most climates, air conditioning and/or heating costs are the largest energy expenditures in a household. If you have old inefficient equipment then you’ll want to replace it as part of a green remodel. The annual energy savings could pay for the new equipment in a few years. If however, you do not want to invest in new equipment, you can still save energy by doing things such as: using a programmable thermostat to optimize your energy usage; insulating and sealing old windows, attics, doors and walls; changing and cleaning your furnace and air conditioner filters regularly; and insulating your water heater. Water conservation is also something that needs to be considered as part of a green remodel. Simple measures such as using water conservation showerheads and aerators in sink faucets can have an enormous effect. One aerator in a sink faucet would probably use a quarter of the water that a standard faucet does. The highest efficiency clothes washer costs around $1,300 but will use on average $11 of energy per year for five loads per week and 10 gallons of water. Older machines use 40 gallons of water per cycle and cost about $70-$90 per annum to run – so you can see that in 5 years you’ve easily made back your money.
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