There is a lot of emphasis these days about building green and thinking green when it comes to our environment and our homes. Here are ten things that homeowners should be aware of when it comes to building or remodeling green.
1. Better quality homes are built when incorporating many of the new green building practices by the home builders. When building a home or remodeling one, the results demonstrate a better quality home and can lead to some serious savings in the utilities, maintenance costs and lower heath risks.
For example, keeping the vents properly sealed in your home can prevent air from escaping in the heating and cooling of your home decreasing the amount of energy it takes. Buying products made of wood and not of fiberboard can help minimize the amount formaldehyde ( a know human carcinogen) from being brought into the home. Many building products use formaldehyde in the adhesives of the particle board often found in the making of kitchen and bath cabinets,in the carpet manufacturing, etc. Avoiding these products can also help reduce some of the health risks associated with manufacturing chemicals.
2. Energy efficient appliances can save enough energy over just a few years to actually offset a major portion of their original purchase price.
3. Replacing incandescent light bulbs with the newer comapct fluorescent bulbs CFL's , can save as much as 65% of the energy costs to light you home. These bulbs are available to replace all types of lighting be it table lamps, recessed lighting, strip lighting. The reduced amount of heat from the fluorescent bulbs can also save in cooling costs.
4. By installing a recyclable water system you can recycle used water for use on landscaping and dramatically cut the amount of water used and help with conservation of one of our most precious or resources, water.
5. Learning about the longer lasting materials and incorporating them in your construction or remodel plans can save valuable resources and provides for the recapture what would be going into the land fills in the form of builders waste.
An example of this is the new recycled plastic and wood fibers used in outdoor decking. By not using new wood from cutting down more trees, but using the recycled wood and plastics that might otherwise end up in landfills, you are rewarded with a product that reduces pest infestation, is more weather resistant and requires little or no maintenance. Using these engineered products from waste makes good green sense.
Solar panels may be incorporated as part a roof design providing new ways of incorporating sources for renewable energy. In addition there are new roofing materials with a 50 year life span as opposed to many products that do not last even 25 years that could save a lot when the costs are amortized over the longer life span of the roof. There is also a cost savings in that they reflect heat and the cold extremes better, last longer and save on energy in the heating and cooling costs.
6. Building or remodeling green can save in maintenance costs. Because some of the materials are engineered from recyclables they actually can last longer. Many of the engineered products require little effort or expense in maintaining them.
7. Another part of building green is making for a weather tight construction outside on the shell of the home. But that also will also require better ventilation inside. Proper ventilation of Kitchen and baths, storage areas etc, which can trap mold spores and allergens in the home need good ventilation built in to assure their release. Creating a balanced or slightly ‘positive’ ventilation system will improve the air quality and be more a comfortable home to live in
8. Things that last longer hold there value longer. With lower maintenance built homes or remodeled ones, these homes could hold their resale value better than the more conventionally constructed home. Being more energy efficient and with savings on the operating costs may also increase their value. If not in actual dollars at least in the desirability factor.
9. Homes that are built using the green standards may also be eligible for tax savings and credits. There are lenders in the market place that encourage these standards and there are also programs that may allow a buyer when purchasing a qualified green home to qualify for a better mortgage through a program called (EEM) Energy Efficient Mortgage.
10. Homes that are built or remodeled with the green standards may also qualify for some actual outright cash savings when purchasing the energy efficient products. This may require a bit searching around but these cash savings are reportedly out there. There have also been numerous grants made to energy providers that establish programs where consumers utilizing energy conservations methods throughout the home can save on their energy bills.
11. Bonus: After building or remodeling green, check out the landscaping plan and use materials that require less water. Planting trees to shield the house from the heat of the sun during the summer months can cut utility bills measurably and in the winter months when the leaves are off, allows the sun to warm the house. More and more nurseries are not only providing the plant material that requires less water and also have information with suggestions on how and where to plant the material for maximum energy benefit.
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Courtesy of William
Johnson GRI CRS e-PRO author of The
Real Estate Text Book and The Voice of San Diego Real Estate
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Thanks for all the useful info William, I appreciate it.
Travis