If you’re planning to refurbish your house, we strongly recommend that you consider the contemporary trend known as a sustainable home renovation.
You may be asking yourself – what sustainable renovation all about? Should you choose hardwood or bamboo flooring? How will you save energy?
The idea is to plan every step of sprucing up your home by keeping in mind various ways that you can save and utilize energy as much as possible. Basically, this is the perfect opportunity for you to take a significant part in preserving the environment.
Therefore, in this article, we are going to discuss a number of ways that you can renovate your home in both green and cost-effective manner.
Walling and Chemicals
Walling most commonly looks like the easiest part of the job – pick the right color and refresh your home with a new layer of paint. However, what people most often don’t know or take into consideration is how a large number of paint products that are on the market today are made out of toxic chemicals that are bad not just for you but also for your surroundings.
The good news is that there is a solution. You can decide to go for one (or more) of the eco-friendly paints that aren’t hard to find. These are made out of organic materials that don’t off-gas pollutants into the air around you.
Eco-friendly Flooring
Just like walling, flooring can also significantly benefit or diminish your attempt to make your home as green as possible. You need to put some thought into the materials that you are going to use. In case you want to go for softer flooring, you could pick reclaimed hardwood or bamboo.
On the other hand, if brick and concrete are your preference, you need to be aware that they absorb heat when it’s daytime, so the rooms that would usually be a lot warmer during the summer days remain cool enough. This is why you should implement these materials into locations that get the most sun. During the cold winter days, the effect is the opposite – these thick materials prevent the rooms from becoming way too cold.
Green Roofing
It goes without saying that sustainable home renovation includes your home’s exterior as well. For starters, it is extremely important what kind of approach you choose when it comes to your roof. A green roof is capable of creating a microclimate that will both insulate your household and help you diversify your garden.
It is also essential to mention that such roofing forms just the right protection from the elements and significantly decreases your energy bills.
Ecological Gutters
Continuing our discussion about roofing, it is also crucial to think about your gutters. The best approach is to pick a material that is very durable. The eco-friendliness of this solution lies in the fact that the environmental cost will be significantly smaller the longer your gutters last. A cheaper solution will degrade fast and require replacement which will cost more, both in terms of your own wallet and the time it takes for it to be recycled and manufactured.
Some of the great solutions include aluminum, copper, and galvanized steel. PVC gutters are a pretty common choice, but it is important to note that they tend to suffer damage when it’s too cold and they aren’t nearly as strong as the aforementioned options. Furthermore, the production and burning of polyvinyl chloride release dioxins.
Finally, just like in the case of walling, it is important to choose the right material for the gutters painting job. You want to go for environmentally-friendly paints that don’t release toxins into the surroundings.
Efficient Appliances
Eco-friendly solutions come down to even the smallest elements, such as the choice and proper use of home appliances. First of all, you should know that pretty much every device has a greener solution that you can find on the market, and you can easily decide which ones you need by using Energy Star as a reference. So, if you’ve got some old and questionable ones, it would be wise to upgrade to a more eco-friendly solution. For example, you can get an eco-washing machine. Such an appliance will not only decrease the negative effect on the environment, but it will also significantly decrease your bills.
Placement is also very important. For example, you would want your refrigerator to be placed in the part of your kitchen that receives the least amount of direct sunlight, in order to save as much energy as you can.
Final Words
Of course, it would be kind of silly to put all this effort into remodeling your home in the greenest way possible and then contradict all your efforts by not recycling properly. Just throwing your old materials in a bin simply will not do.
Make an effort to find a local recycling center, so that everything that you throw away can be repurposed for you or someone else.
Read More:
Everything you need: your new sustainable home checklist
It’s almost Christmas time: how to eco-friendly decorate your home
Your basic guide to building an eco home
How to be more eco-friendly in the kitchen without overhauling your lifestyle