What is Green Remodeling and why should you consider Going Green.
Green remodeling means incorporating sustainable, durable, and healthy design into the renovation of existing homes. Energy efficiency is the most popular reason why consumers choose a green remodeling
A survey of its Remodeler members by the National Association of Home Builders revealed that
- Over 75% of remodelers use building techniques that minimize the amount of lumber taken from old-growth forests, such as using engineered lumber and recycling from previous structures.
- 65% incorporate recycled or recyclable materials into their projects.
- 85% of remodelers surveyed incorporate low-emmisivity windows into their projects
- 68% install insulated exterior doors
- 65% upgrade existing insulation
Why go green?
Green remodeling can increase the comfort, safety, health, durability, and energy efficiency of your home. In addition, increasing energy efficiency can dramatically lower your energy bills helping to offset the monthly costs of a home equity loan used to finance the remodeling.
What are the top ways to increase energy efficiency?
- Add insulation and /or Install appropriate insulation in areas to be remodeled.
- Install high-efficiency windows instead of those that minimally meet the energy code. (Old windows are often the weak link in energy efficiency. New window technology yields windows that are three times as efficient, or more.)
- Seal all exterior penetrations.
- Replace older appliances with new Energy Star®-rated appliances. (Energy Star®-rated appliances are designed to use 10-50 percent less energy and water than standard appliances and save an average of 30 percent over standard models.)
- Replace existing plumbing fixtures and / or install new low-flow water fixtures. (Toilets, showers and faucets account for 60 percent of water usage in the home, according to the EPA. Replacing these items with more efficient models can save 11,000 gallons of water per year.)
- Upgrade to at least an Energy Star-rated water heater, or better yet, a tankless water heater.
- Replace your existing HVAC system with the highest efficiency HVAC system you can afford and make sure it is correctly sized for the area you want to condition.
Where do you start?
I recommend you contact a Home Performance Specialist (HPS) certified by the Office of Energy Resources, such as On Point Advantage LLC can diagnostically evaluate and pre-test your home for targeting improvements of greater impact and profit that can be made during a remodel / addition at a substantial reduction in cost increasing the efficiency and value of your home.
Some lenders offer energy efficiency home improvement loans. The State of Idaho provides financial assistance through low interest energy loans to individuals and organizations for programs and projects that result in the conservation of energy and/or utilization of renewable resources within the state of Idaho.
The State of Idaho also offers two energy tax deductions for homeowners. If your home was built before 1976, you can deduct the cost of adding insulation to your home in the year the insulation was installed. If you install an alternative energy device in your home such as a
solar, wind, or geothermal system, ground source heat pumps or water source heat pump, you can deduct a portion or all of the cost of the device over 4 years. Federal tax credits for existing homes expired at the end of 2007 but In February of this year, the House passed legislation providing for a one-year extension of the tax credit for efficient furnaces, boilers, air conditioners, water heaters and insulation and window upgrades to existing homes for improvements installed in 2008 and an extension of the tax credit for residential solar systems and the addition of a residential wind energy credit to the end of 2014. Discussions are now proceeding in the Senate on what modifications to make to the House bill, and how to pay for them.
Chuck Miller GMB CGB MIRM CMP MCSP CSP
President / Builder – Chuck Miller Construction Inc.
(208) 229-2553