Remodeling Your Home Green

jchait — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 01:00:00 -0400

Building your own green home is awesome. However, some of us like our house just fine already; we don’t want to build a new home, we just wish our current home could be a little more green. Here are some ideas for remodeling green:

Make a flexible wish list: If you’ve been considering green building or remodeling, than it’s likely you have some wish list ideas. It’s a good idea to keep your list flexible though. Until you speak with your remodeling team, it’s tough to know which eco-techniques will work in your existing home.

Questions you may want to explore include:

Which green home options have we seen in action that we think might work well in our home?
How do we want our home to make us feel when we walk through the door – energized, relaxed, both?
Which green home options will give our home the most bang for our bucks – are there options with a better return value? A quicker return value?
How will making these changes affect our current lifestyle?
How involved am I willing to be in the running of my home – for example can I learn to check and change batteries for solar power? Do I want to?
How do we currently use our home? Which spaces are the most occupied on a daily basis – which are the least occupied?
What do we have that is worth keeping (like large windows that allow natural light), and what do we think needs changed (like better insulation, less toxic carpet).
And of course - how much am I willing to spend? OR how much can I spend? Having a general idea of your budget can be useful when you start talking with your remodel team.

These are just a few questions to consider. The design process when remodeling takes a while. To jump start, you may want to talk to a company that specializes in green design and or green re-design. This can help give you an idea of options, costs, and time commitments.