There is no better time than now to build green. In this era of unpredictable fuel prices, you would be wise to buffer yourself against sharp increases with a green home. Your utility bills will remain low while others bear the brunt of political fuel wars. You will also increase the value of your home, reduce your carbon footprint and extend the life of our natural resources.
Other benefits of a green home
• Increased comfort
• Better indoor air quality
• Less chance of moisture problems
• Fewer chemicals and gassing out
• Durability
• Less maintenance
National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) green building considerations
• Lot development
• Resource Efficiency
• Energy Efficiency
• Water Efficiency
• Indoor air quality
US Green Building Council (USGBC) categories for green building
• Location
• Home size
• Building design
• Materials
• Insulation
• Windows and doors
• Energy efficiency
• Renewable energy
• Water efficiency
• Indoor air quality
• Landscaping
Site consideration
• Does it have solar orientation?
• Are there trees for windbreaks?
• Can you plant trees?
• Is it prime farm land? It shouldn’t be, unless you are farming.
• Is it habitat for endangered species? Avoid this!
• Is it close to public transportation, schools, parks, shopping and other conveniences you use?
• Is it infill, an empty lot between buildings? Great idea!
• Can you build according to the topography?
• Can you save the trees and natural drainage?
• Is it possible to share a driveway or parking area?
Your home should be designed for the land. It doesn’t hurt to get an architect to look at the lot you want to build on. I have had clients do this to see if there are objections to the land that will cause problems and increase costs.
Home Design
• Smaller is better – Even though a large home may be built according to green guidelines, it still takes more resources to build and uses more energy than a small home. Large homes also tend to have wasted space in hallways and rooms that don’t get used, but need to be heated and cooled. Consider your lifestyle, and build only what you use.
• Natural daylight – Light should hit 75% of the home. If you have unpleasant views or want privacy, consider Solatubes, skylights and clerestory windows.
• Solar orientation – Your home should be oriented within 15% of true south, but up to 45% is acceptable.
• Overhangs and shade trees on the south and west sides – Keep out hot summer sun and reduce cooling bills.
• Proper windows – Reduce heat transmission in summer and allow heat in winter. See my article on windows in link list below.
• Light color roof – Reflect summer heat to reduce cooling needs
• Green roof – Roof plantings add oxygen to the atmosphere and make up for the lost footprint of the home.
• Use renewables – Generate some of your own power with the sun or wind.
• Tight envelope – Minimize air infiltration to reduce energy costs.
• Seal ductwork – Reduce heat loss between the furnace and the registers.
• Install air and vapor barriers – Reduce air infiltration and moisture build-up.
• High-efficiency HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) – Greatly reduce energy costs and keep you more comfortable.
• High R values – The higher the R value of insulation, the better it works at keeping heat in during winter and out during summer.
Next, read about the details of an energy efficient home.
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I am a remodeling junkie, because to remodel is to recycle. I have given new life to more than one home. I have sold or given away materials I replaced – a set of kitchen cabinets, 15 interior doors, numerous windows, wood stoves, beams, furniture, a travel trailer I lived in while building, and more!
Recycling a home also does not take up more land. Land is finite, and if we build on every inch of it, there will be nothing BUT remodels in the future. We need open land to feed our souls and maybe our bellies, so I prefer remodeling to new construction.
Remodeling is full of surprises, always making the project more expensive and time consuming than planned. This is part of why builders prefer new construction to remodeling – they are in control of what goes on. With remodeling, you never know what will pop up and take the reins.
My First Remodel
The first thing I did on my first home was to add a drip edge to the roof of the travel trailer I was insulating for winter. Rain ran off the roof and under the plywood decking. A carpenter friend helped me get a drip edge on the roof.
We bought the drip edge and peeled back some of the roofing to install it. What we found was that the entire row of decking was rotting and needed to be replaced. So we removed enough roofing to expose that row of plywood. Lo and behold, there had been a leak rotting the plywood in the next row. So we peeled back the roofing further.
Long story short, we ended up replacing ALL the decking and covering it with new roll roofing. My little $10 drip edge job turned into an expensive new roof! This is the essence of remodeling. Good thing I love a challenge!
REGREEN Guidelines
If you’re like me – a green home fanatic, avid recycler and lover of projects characterized by mystery and unknown processes and endings – you will be interested in some green remodeling guidelines. The American Society of Interior Designers’ Foundation (ASID) and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) created REGREEN Residential Remodeling Guidelines for you and me.
Before you begin, ask yourself these questions to assess your needs and wants for a green remodel.
- What makes you want to remodel?
- What do you like about your house?
- What don’t you like about your house?
- Have you had to make compromises because of existing problems?
- What results do you expect from a remodel?
- Are health issues driving the remodeling project?
- Is increased water efficiency a goal?
- Do you have enough natural daylight and sun?
- Are your utility bills high?
- Are there hot or cold spots in your house?
- Do you have to wait a long time for hot water to reach certain fixtures?
- What are your thermostat settings in the summer and winter?
- Are you content with your finishes and furniture?
- How long are you planning to live in the house?
Things to take into consideration are:
- Energy efficiency
- Water efficiency
- Materials
- Indoor air quality
- Cost benefits
As you answer those questions and ponder these topics, you will discover other things about your home and your needs.
These questions are in the basic overview of the Guidelines, but they also cover remodels for kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, living and work areas and a finished basement. There are also chapters for doing a major addition, a gut rehab, a deep energy retrofit and outdoor living areas.
The authors ask questions about each area, so the homeowner can narrow down needs, wants and priorities. There are details about greening up each of these areas of your home. There are also case studies so you can see the before and after of a green remodel.
This publication is geared towards builders, but you will be able to glean enough information to ask intelligent questions of a contractor.
I absolutely recommend hiring a contractor for a remodel, unless you have building experience. I have either been the contractor or heavily involved in my projects, but I knew enough about construction to do that. Hire someone if you don’t feel qualified to tackle it alone.
Here are a couple of photos from my 2007 remodel, part of my kitchen, before and after, but still not quite finished at this point.
Download the guidelines at REGREEN.
(Nan’s Note: I found the title of this article a little misleading. Not so much misleading, but it doesn’t convey the wonderful information in it about green building and energy efficient mortgages. There is an idea here I have not heard before. Instead of an energy efficient mortgage (EEM), all mortgages should be required to take energy efficiency into consideration. There should be no specialization. Wow. I can’t believe I didn’t think of this!
There is a great photo in here of a blower door test in an energy audit, and there’s a chart explaining a HERS rating. There’s not so much info about Energy Star or sick homes, but it’s worth reading to understand how we can get more efficient homes built, sold and lived in.
By the by, when I remodeled my home a couple years ago, I did an energy audit and got a HERS score of 88. Check that out when you look at the chart, and read about my solar retrofit.)
By Andrew McGlashen
… the US housing stock remains woefully ’sick.’
About 17 percent of new homes built in 2008 earned the Energy Star label. The proportion – which is expected to reach 20 percent when 2009’s figures are tallied – marks a five-point increase from 2007 and “indicates such incredible success,” said Sam Rashkin, national director of the program’s section for homes.
Home energy use accounts for 16 percent of the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions.
Despite the EPA’s gains, some 99 percent of American houses are “sick” – damp, drafty, dusty, noisy and expensive to heat and cool – and “could be made at least 30 percent more energy-efficient with highly cost-effective, tried-and-true energy-efficiency improvements,” according to Rashkin.
Read this informative article at The Daily Climate.
(Nan’s Note: Ok. I will repeat this one more time. I am a remodeling junkie. You must know this by now! I was thrilled to read this article and learn about this book. The bold font below points out what I believe is true about building, retrofits and the economy. The six points in the article are worth absorbing.)
By Leanne Tobias
While the real estate economy faltered between late 2008 and early 2009, I was writing a book about building retrofits, the sector of the property market that will likely bring us through and out of the downturn. The result, “Retrofitting Office Buildings to be Green and Energy-Efficient,” was published recently by the Urban Land Institute.
My friend Jim Boyle, CEO of the Sustainability Roundtable, asked me a great question upon the book’s completion: “What surprised you?” Here are the lessons that surprised me….
Find out at Greenbiz.com.
(Nan’s Note: We’re on the right track, which I am grateful for. It’s not perfect, but at least New Mexico is doing something.)
Gov. Bill Richardson has painted a target on New Mexico’s coal-fired power plants, saying they provide a major source of electricity for homes and businesses in the state but pump far too much pollution into the air.
Richardson called out the coal plants during his State of the State speech before the Legislature on Tuesday, but his administration says they’re not the only polluters the governor is after.
Find out what else he has in mind at the Santa Fe New Mexican.
Look at a map of coal plants in New Mexico.
(Nan’s Note: If you don’t know by now, I am a remodeling junkie. I found these sustainable [and beautiful!] flooring materials and tiles today. These folks in Wisconsin will ship if you’re not local, and they’ll help you find an installation contractor.
When you remodel, go a bit farther, and green it up. You don’t have to be completely eco-friendly, but do what you can within your budget. I have Upo flooring with a non-toxic finish, but many other items just came from the hardware store or Lowe’s. I did what I could, and you should, too.)
By Trish Smith
Everyone has fun decorating a new home or fixing up a dilapidated used-to-be cool home. You get to pick what colors you want your rooms to be, what you want your floors to look like and the overall ambiance of rooms like the kitchen and bathroom.
If you had the choice to get a sustainable AND stylish upgrade to your home, would you do it?
Read more, see pics and find the link to Eco Friendly Flooring at Greenopolis.
(Nan’s Note: Wow! I love Apple, and I love the Smart Grid, and now they may get married so you can control your home energy! It’s just a patent, but very do-able and very necessary in my eyes. Sign me up!)
By Matthew Wheeland
Can Apple do for energy efficiency what it did for smartphones?
Although the tech world is abuzz with the much-hyped and much-prophesied Apple (”iSlate?”) Tablet, which people expect to be released later this month.
But the website Patently Apple has uncovered a patent filed by the company that suggests Steve Jobs may be looking to move into greener pastures: Home energy management.
The “Smart Home Energy Management System,” as Patently Apple calls it, covers a number of areas, including……
Read about this cool gadget at Greener Computing.
