Build Eco-Friendly Housing with These 6 Green Home Remodeling Tips

In the first quarter of 2019, over 400,000 homes in the U.S. were LEED certified. To join in on this amazing cause, try practicing green building or green home remodeling.

An eco-home is one that’s friendly to the environment. In this case, the environment stands for soil, atmosphere, people living and passing by, other buildings and so forth. An eco-home considers factors like energy, carbon footprint, expenditure, and promotion of local materials and technology.

6 Green Home Remodeling Tips to Build an Eco-Home

To achieve an eco-home, here are six tips to take on.

1. Install a Thermostat

A thermostat will help you regulate temperatures in your home to avoid overheating or extreme cooling. Once you connect a thermostat to most of your electronic devices, you’ll realize a significant decrease in the use of electricity. Fans and heaters won’t have to run all day — slashing down your electric bills.

The best part is the availability of smart home thermostats that can be controlled from your mobile device, and from anywhere you are. Get one that can detect your departure and automatically adjust the temperature of your home.

2. Increase Natural Light with Skylights

Green home remodeling doesn’t have to be all boring and gloomy. There are several ways to maintain an eco-friendly home and keep it as elegant as possible. Such ways include the addition of skylights in certain rooms of your home.

Adding skylights might be a bit expensive, hence essential to only add them in main rooms like the kitchen and living room. They add natural light to the room and increase warmth in the house. A well-lit house brings so much life to the home making it appear spacious and comfortable.

Skylights will reduce the usage of lamps and electricity throughout the day, saving you energy. When installing skylights, fit them with automated blinds to block or regulate sun rays into the room.

3. Go Hardwood

Hardwood is known to be one of the greenest types of wood available. This makes it best for flooring and furniture. However, before purchasing hardwood, ensure the wood is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). FSC always ensures that businesses acquire reasonably sourced woods that in turn, maintain our forests green.

Hardwood can also be used for panels and cabinets. This is not to limit its usage. Go creative with the wood and improvise it in different sections of the house. Make wood vases, wood stands like shoe stands and the like.

4. Get Rid of Old Electronics

Nothing eats up your energy like old appliances that take twice the time to deliver a service. Electronics like refrigerators are known to be quite costly. However, a good refrigerator will:

• Last long
• Save on your energy bill
• Decorate your kitchen

It’s an eco-friendly home makeover win for you. Also, you only buy it once making the expense entirely worth it. However, don’t go replacing all 2-year old appliances. Only replace those that are worn out and seem not to be functioning.

Some appliances can be repaired. Therefore, consider that option before replacing with a new one to save on money as well.

Also, try and acquire appliances of new models. This is because newly manufactured electronics are designed to save energy as compared to old-age electronics. If you have an old model washer/dryer, sell it and purchase a new model.

To save more on purchases, look into rebate programs, brand offers, and the like. You can also purchase second-hand appliances that are still under their warranty. This will be way affordable and yet efficient for your home.

5. Go Solar

One of the best green renovation projects is going solar. If your budget fits solar panels, then this will be the best way to go. If not, you can apply some changes to your home, such as the previously mentioned skylights.

You can also install a solar chimney that’ll help improve your home’s ventilation and heating. Smart blinds are a good investment too — they automatically open and close with a change in temperature and light.

During the summer, the sun can be your worst enemy. To avoid constant conflict, you can plant temporary trees in your yard to block rays from getting into your home. Generally, focus most of your home remodeling on the rooms that regularly receive sunlight.

6. Switch Your Paint

Yes, most people don’t know a paint job can be eco-unfriendly. There’s a chemical in certain paints known as volatile organic compounds (VOC) that comes from petroleum-based solvents used during the manufacturing of the paint. It is known to evaporate from the paint at certain temperatures and into the home atmosphere, which is harmful to home appliances and your family members.

There are paints with low VOCs and others with none. These are the paints you should purchase for your home. Such paints use water in place of the VOC making the paint harmless to the environment.

On the same note, petroleum is a non-renewable resource. Therefore, using low VOC or no VOC paints adds to an eco-friendlier home.

Green Home Remodeling Bonus Tips

Green home remodeling doesn’t always have to be expensive. Borrow what you can, improvise what you have, and make use of offers and discounts in the market. You can hire a professional contractor to help remodel your home and turn it into an eco-friendly space.

Gearing up for the remodeling season? Prove that you’re top-notch by offering your clients insurance-backed protection from RWC. Contact us for a quote on a Remodeler Warranty.