Sustainable green home renovations, especially of old homes, can range from replacing the flooring, installing replacement windows, upgrading the siding and adding insulation, to totally gutting the home. I highly recommend that you start with an energy audit. This will tell you where your home looses the most energy and has the highest infiltration. You can do an energy audit yourself or have an audit done professionally.
Once you have your answers from the energy audit, ask yourself the following questions:
What Is The Goal Of Your Green Renovation Project?
Being clear about your goal will help you plan the project and will result in a smoother construction process. Each of the following goals have different requirements as far as cost, extent of disruption, and time frame for construction are concerned.
A complete green renovation, after which your home has all green and sustainable building materials, uses minimal water and energy, and is equipped with alternative energy sources. This could mean a total gut, with you living surrounded by construction for months, or living somewhere else for a while. And in the end you will be living in a green, healthy, low-energy, maybe zero-energy, home.
Minor green renovations, such as:
These green home renovation projects could be accomplished one room at a time, with minimal disruption to your family life.
Build a family room addition and combine those two small bedrooms into one larger bedroom with a new bathroom with low-flow plumbing fixtures. Use only green and sustainable building materials, such as engineered wood for supporting beams in the addition and using the bricks from the house they are tearing down next door for your fireplace.
This project will probably not have much impact on how you live while the construction is on-going. You will have the sound of hammering and sawing for a while. And it will be important to install tight construction barriers between the areas of construction and the rest of your home.
Upgrade the insulation in walls, roof and basement and install high efficiency, low-e replacement windows. This is one of the most important green renovation projects you can do. A well-insulated, tight building envelope is a must for a green home. Once you have done that, it makes more sense to install a solar heating system for heat and domestic hot water.
Adding insulation in the attic and the basement should be fairly straight forward. Upgrading insulation in the walls might mean replacing the siding. If that is the case, I would recommend adding 1-2 inches of rigid insulation and then installing siding made with recycled materials. Blown-in insulation could be another possibility.
What Is Your Budget?
The cost of a total green and sustainable renovation can approach the cost of building a new green home. If you have lived in your home for 20 or so years and you really love the location, then maybe it is a good time to take out a home equity loan to do a total green renovation of your home.
Some mortgage companies offer plans with lower interest rates for green homes, especially if you are reducing the energy requirements for heating, cooling and lighting. Mortgage green is one I have come across. Check with your mortgage holder if they have a green financing program.
Some local utility companies and your state, city, or town might also offer incentives, grants, low-interest loans. The Database Of State Incentives For Renewables & Efficiency is a great resource.
What Is Your Time Frame?
Most homes have been built in record times and the results are often dismal. Walls are not plumb, doors are hung so they stick. Warm air leaks out of unsealed cracks and missed insulation and cold air drafts make your home uncomfortable, besides costing you lots of money.
Green renovations take time. They require careful planning, close coordination between all involved parties, and precise and neat workmanship. Do not rush green and sustainable construction!
Who Is Helping And Supporting You?
I highly recommend you hire a skilled, experienced green home building team that has done green renovations before. Depending on the extent of your project, you might want to consider hiring a green architect. S/he can help you optimize passive solar energy features, such as enlarging the two windows in your south-facing living room and adding an overhang to provide shading in the summer.
Green construction takes teamwork. Insist on having a meeting with all contractors, so you can inform them what your goals and your expectations are. Ask them for their input and their recommendations. They have experience and knowledge in their fields of expertise that others don’t have. They probably know materials and special ways to build that you have never heard of and might offer the perfect solution for you.
Here are a couple of useful links and resources:
