5 Tips for Green Home Remodeling

The easiest ways to turn an existing house into an eco-friendly green house are to increase energy efficiency and to use green materials when you remodel. Here are some ideas to think about while you’re in the planning stages.

First, replace your old appliances with Energy Star appliances. These are specifically manufactured to save energy and lower your utility bills. Your refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, microwave, and washer and dryer are all available in energy-efficient models. While some models may cost a little more up front, the yearly savings over the life of your new appliance can be well worth it.

Second, replace your old 30 or 40 gallon hot water heater with tankless hot water heaters. These are small water heaters mounted on the wall where you actually use the hot water. They heat the water as you need it, like an electric kettle, instead of keeping 30 or 40 gallons on simmer for 24 hours a day. These devices have been widely and successfully used in Europe for more than 40 years, but they are just now arriving to the United States.

Third, replace your counter tops, shelving, interior doors and wood laminate flooring with low VOC materials. This means that the new materials do not off gas toxic chemicals into the air that can irritate sensitive eyes and lungs. Your indoor air quality and your health will both be improved.

Fourth, landscape with local native plants that will grow with natural rainwater. Consider extending the native plants into you entire yard, and eliminating high-maintenance sod and lawns. This may seem drastic at first, but more and more people will be choosing this option as the cost of watering your lawn goes higher. Some neighborhoods in drought prone regions already enforce water restrictions. By choosing to xeriscape, which means using natural, native low-water plants, you won’t have to worry about watering your lawn.

Fifth, replace your flooring with natural, renewable materials like bamboo and cork. Not only are these materials trendy and attractive, you won’t be contributing to the clear-cutting of old growth forests. Instead of synthetic wall to wall carpeting that is not biodegradable, use natural fibers like sisal, jute or hemp for area rugs.

These are just a few ideas for using energy efficient and eco-friendly products in your home remodeling projects. The good news is that more and more consumers are requesting green building materials, so they’re now readily available at most local hardware stores. If not, it’s always easy to find these types of products online.

Green Real Estate: 5 Ways to “Green” Your Home

Most people are concerned about living in a healthy environment, and eco-friendly housing is becoming a popular topic these days.  Home Builders and Real Estate Agents are starting to talk about “green real estate”.  But what qualifies a house to be advertised as “green real estate”?  At least one national builder uses 5 criteria.  They are:

1. energy efficiency
2. indoor air quality
3. resource efficiency
4. water conservation
5. site management

Let’s take a look at what each one of these characteristics means.

Energy efficiency refers to the appliances in the home, as well as items like wall insulation, energy efficient heating and cooling systems, and insulated door and roofs.  Low-E windows block radiant heat from coming into the house.  They can keep a house several degrees cooler than regular windows, especially when they’re installed on the south and west sides. These are all items that can give homeowners real saving in the cost of their energy bills over the life of owning their home.

Indoor air quality is affected by the furnace and air conditioning system, as well as the materials used in carpeting, laminate flooring and compressed wood materials.  In the recent past, these items were typically made with materials that produced toxic gases like formaldehyde.  Even when there was no obvious odor, the off gassing from these materials could cause respiratory problems for people with allergies and chemical sensitivities.  Now low VOC (or low off gassing) carpeting and compressed wood items are commonly available, but you have to check their labels.

Resource efficiency refers to using solar, wind or geothermal resources.  Solar water heaters and solar swimming pool heaters are becoming much more available, even in tract home subdivisions. Consumers want to help clean up the environment and save on utility bills.  They’re letting the new home builders know what they want, and the builders are beginning to listen.

Water conservation can involve items like low-flow toilets and no-drip plumbing fixtures.  Shower heads which minimize water use also help the conservation effort.  Gray water (or drain water from sinks) can be recycled and used in exterior sprinkler systems.

Site management includes xeriscaping.  This is the practice of landscaping with plants that are native to the region.  They are specifically selected to grow and thrive with natural rainfall, and without additional watering.  Site management can also include strategically orienting the house on the building site.  This can maximize sun exposure in the winter to help heat the interior, and minimize sun exposure in the summer to keep the house cooler.  Trees and plants can be strategically placed to with similar effects, to help heat and cool the home according to the season.

These criteria are not national, world-wide or even industry-wide building standards.  But with the rising cost of energy, and the likelihood that energy costs will continue to increase, consumers are having a real impact on the building industry.  Builders are finally seeing that energy efficient eco-friendly homes sell faster than other homes.  So it looks like green real estate is here to stay.

Creating Curb Appeal for Your Home

Whether you’re selling your home or not, one way to make it more valuable in both monetary and emotional ways is to improve the curb appeal. And improving the curb appeal can easily be done in a variety of ways.

One way of course is to have a beautiful lawn, colorful flower garden beds, and meticulously manicured bushes. No yard starts out this way though, so let’s look at some of the basic first steps, and small things that can make a big difference.

1. Clean up the outside of your home. This may seem obvious, but not everyone immediately realizes when they have too much clutter or debris around their yard. So get rid of junk, put away the tools out of site, clean the gutters, and sweep off your walkways.
2. Repair problem areas. If your home has a broken window or loose window screens, fix these as soon as possible. If the outside light is just a bare bulb then put a nice new cover or light fixture over it. This doesn’t have to be anything expensive or fancy, it just needs to have a well kept appearance. Look closely at any porch railings, rain gutters, or shutters if you have them too. If anything is loose or broken, fix it.
3. Tidy up the yard. Take a good look all around your yard. Are there any weeds growing? If so, trim them down or pull them out. If you have unruly bushes, trim them neatly. Use a weedeater and trim the edge of your grass along any walkways or roads so that all looks neat and tidy. If you have dead or dying plants, remove those too.
4. Take a good look at the house itself. A quick touch up of paint on the trim can make a world of difference and it doesn’t take too long. Alternatively you may find that you can simply wash or rinse down the outside of your home and it will look as good as new.
5. Take stock of your outdoor accessories. If you have lawn furniture, is it in good shape? Maybe it needs a fresh coat of paint or maybe you can simply put new cushions on instead. How about the mailbox? Is it a bit old and worn? Can you revitalize it with some decorating flair or should you replace it instead?

   If you have a bird bath, garden gnomes, or little yard statues sitting around, look closely at those too. Chances are they could use a good scrubbing to look brand new again. While you’re at it, wash or replace your front doormat and hang some fresh flowers or a new wreath on the front door too.

6. If you have the budget, add something new. You can put some outdoor pathway lights along the walkway to your front door for instance, or sit some new flower pots on the front steps. You might also want to add new flowers to your flowerbeds, create a brand new flower bed, or simply plant some colorful annuals along the edge of your lawn.