Lessen your impact on the earth with these green renovation choices
Going green is a popular catch phrase but what does a green renovation really mean? Going green when refurbishing your home is all about making choices that do more good than harm — from renovating instead of razing your house to choosing locally sourced building supplies.
- Change to more energy-efficient windows to save on energy costs and, in turn, lessen your carbon footprint
- Improve the insulation and heating system efficiency in your home
- Install systems that reduce the use of electricity and water (like an on-demand unit that heats water only when it’s needed)
- Select locally sourced building supplies that don’t contribute as much to carbon emissions created by transportation
- Use materials that don’t harm a person’s health, like environmentally friendly paint that emits no to low volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
- Use ecological and durable materials
- Reduce the need for electric lighting by installing light tubes, skylights or LEDs
- Reuse or give away some of the old material to make new use of it instead of sending it to the landfill
Go even greener with your very own green house
A green house will consume less water and energy and will consume less polluting materials.
Here are some ways you can green your renovation:
- Install an efficient natural gas or geothermic heating system
- Keep warm and dry by fixing air leakages, thermal bridges (breaks in insulation) and humidity problems to reduce heat loss and improve air quality
- Heat your floors or use other radiant heating, wherever possible
- Opt for shielded electric cables and choose eco-energy lighting (such as LEDs)
- Preheat water via solar power
- Install water flow regulators
- Collect and reuse rain water
- Install solar panels to reduce your energy consumption