Eco-Remodelers

I’ve just bought a house. Well, we’ve agreed upon a price and signed the contract. I’ve still got to get the home inspection, finish filling out the loan paperwork, and close on the house. But… I’ve taken the first steps in turning a regular house into a green, eco-friendly, and sustainable home.

It would have been possible to talk with an architect to design and help me build a home from scratch. By building a brand new house, I could have had all the green products installed with all the green materials used in all the right places.

What a lot of people don’t know, however, is that even building a new house in a completely sustainable way comes at a price.

Building a new house, versus remodeling an existing house, generates three times as much carbon.

The house I’ve just purchased was built in 1978. It’s going to be harder to install a lot of the systems I want to put in. Retrofitting it always harder than installing something during construction. But the money I’ll be saving in buying an older home will allow me to do a lot of these green transformations. And I will be reducing our carbon footprint in the process.

Green Renovation Came 20 Years Too Late?

I’ve been thinking about this for a while as I’ve been planning to buy a house and make a huge effort to make it a greener home. Am I too late? Is this movement too late?

Many people think Global Warming is not real. Many think it’s just natural changes in the Earth and that our actions have nothing to do with it. Very few, if any, of those people are scientists. And the scientists that they point to are likely on the payroll of companies that want this green movement to go away.

While I’m not a scientist, I do believe those who are (regardless of their motivations.) Why? Because what if… and it’s a big what-if… they’re right and we did nothing?

My concern is that there are a number of scientists out there who are claiming we may be making changes too slowly or that it’s already too late. Because I’m a bit of an optimist, I choose to not believe them. Why? Because what if they’re wrong and we did nothing?

Your Vote Doesn’t Count

Many people don’t vote because they believe their vote doesn’t count.  After the 2000 U.S. Presidential election, we learned that’s not the case.

While it may be true that my efforts to reduce my energy use, my water use, my carbon footprint that I leave on the planet won’t make much of a difference… perhaps I can at least tell my two daughters and their kids (if I am around long enough) that I did what I could to help.

Maybe it really was just a drop in the bucket.

Maybe it really was just to ease my guilt.

But I made an effort and maybe, just maybe, I encouraged a few others to make that same effort.

Do you think we’re too late?

The search continues for a house to buy. With the housing market in disarray, there are a lot of houses to choose from but we want to find one we’ll be happy with.

So far, we’ve seen a lot of homes in the area where we want to settle down. But nothing has really blown us away. Each has a lot to like and a few things we didn’t like.

Naturally, we want a house in our price range. But we also want to take advantage of this “buyers market.” The more we can save, the more we can spend on our eco-remodeling projects. Another criteria for our house hunting efforts is that we don’t want the best or nicest house on the block. It’s important when renovating a home to not “over-renovate” it. If we do too much expensive remodeling to the nicest house around, we’d never get our money back out if we ever sell it. Finally, we want a home with good bones. This means that we’re not looking at the color of the walls, the condition of the appliances and cabinets, or the style of the carpet.

We can change those things. We’re looking at the square footage, the size of the rooms, shape of rooms, where the load-bearing walls are, location of plumbing fixtures. These are the things that require a lot of time and effort to change.

We visited one house last night and we’re going to see two more tonight. Maybe we’ll find something we just can’t live without.

What is a CFL? It stands for Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs.

I wanted to let you know that this is a great way to save money. Change out the incandescent bulbs in your house with a CFL bulb and you could save $30 to $50 over the life of the bulb in energy costs.

It’s real simple to do. I’m not quite sure why more people aren’t doing it. You simply pick out the correct wattage of bulb at any store and swap out the old bulbs in your lighting fixture. These bulbs cost a bit more but… when you change out all the ones in your house, you will notice a difference on your electric bill. Trust me.

So, to find out why more people aren’t using these little gems, I asked a few of my neighbors.

Turns out there are a LOT of myths and misconceptions about CFL bulbs. And I’m here to bust a few of them for you:

• The Light Looks Funny/Flickers/Buzzes: Not any more. There are a ton of varieties of bulbs now. They don’t flicker or buzz. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The light looks very close to incandescent bulbs and you’ll get used to whatever slight change you perceive in a few days.

• They Contain Mercury and Are Dangerous: Each CFL bulb has 1/5 less mercury than a watch battery and 1/100 of your tooth filling. If one breaks, it’s important to recycle it and treat it as hazardous waste. Go to Earth 911 to find a recycling place in your area — and the good news is that all Home Depot stores will now recycle for you.

• The Mercury Makes Worse Than Incandescent Bulbs: Mmm. No. Most of the mercury released into our atmosphere comes from power plants that burn fossil fuels. By using a product, like an incandescent bulb (which requires 75% more energy to use!) you are putting 75% more mercury into the air.

• CFLs are Made in China - The Shipping Pollutes the Earth: The majority of all light bulbs are made in China. Buying local is great, if it’s an option. But the choice between two bulbs made in China where one saves you money and saves the planet, well… the choice is easy. Besides, the CFL bulbs last much longer, so you’ll have to buy fewer of them.

Suggested Reading:

Snopes Busts CLF Myth

Energy Star CLF Page

Let me know if you have any questions about CFL bulbs or if you need help with the installation.

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

Green building. Sustainability. Water conservation. Solar energy.

Those words have been floating around for many years now. And they’re starting to make it into everyday conversations. People have decided to help protect the planet, help protect their families and homes, and to save money.

I’ve decided to do my part as well. My plan is to buy a home, here in Columbus Ohio, and turn it into a “green” home. This blog, EcoRemodelers, will cover the journey to make the house a safe home for family and to reduce my carbon footprint on our environment.

My goal is create a How-To guide as I learn how to do all these green renovations myself. I want to cover all aspects of the home - energy efficiency, indoor air quality, recycling, alternative power sources, and green home products to name a few. And I want to try out a few remodeling projects that are expensive as well as many that are absolutely free.

Whether you’re a professional renovation contractor or you’ve never picked up a hammer in your life, my hope is that you’ll get something out of my trials and (many) errors. Maybe you’ll try a few things in your own home. Maybe together we can make a difference and help our planet and our wallets at the same time!

Stick around. Come back often. Laugh at me. Laugh with me. Watch as I slide on these green-colored glasses and do my little part in my little corner of our big blue planet.

Email me at tim (at) ladaddy (dot) com if you have questions, comments, ideas or whatever.

Photo courtesy the Sierra Club