Renovating your home does not need to have a profoundly negative impact on the environment. If you take a few things into consideration, you can plan a renovation that leaves your home more eco-friendly than when you started. You can also use processes that are better for the planet.
Insulate Properly
Properly insulating your home keeps you from using excess energy to heat or cool. You can add insulation and keep your thermostat off more often, and this helps the planet and your electric bill.
When choosing the right insulation to use, you can even choose eco-friendly products. Cellulose insulation is over 80 percent recycled newsprint. Once it’s safely treated, it insulates and works to repel bugs that might want to make their way into your home.
Make sure to consider where you need the most insulation and what type of climate you live in as you move forward. This will help you make the best insulation choices for your home.
Consider Your Roof
People don’t often think about their roofs when making eco-friendly decisions for their homes. However, everyone should since the roof you choose has a major impact on the amount of energy you use in your home.
Obviously, roofs that aren’t in good shape and need to be replaced or repaired are not energy efficient. When it’s time to replace them, you can choose materials that actually absorb less heat, and this means not having to run your air conditioner as often to keep your home cool.
Metal, clay, or slate tile roofs are all great options. You may even be able to find recycled materials, and that makes this renovation even more eco-friendly. Commercial roofing in Brooklyn can even help you choose the right color for the roof on your home since it’s thought that a lighter roof actually helps a house stay cooler.
Try Solar Energy
Solar panels use clean energy to power your home, and this is wonderful for the planet. There are fewer emissions involved when using solar, and fossil fuels aren’t an issue when using this type of energy. You can also save money on your energy bill in many cases.
Having solar panels placed on your roof means you are relying less on energy that takes from and hurts the planet. If you live in an area where the sun shines most of the year, the energy you save can have a major impact.
Choose Paints Wisely
Painting a wall, your cabinets, or a piece of furniture is a smart way to give your home a lift without purchasing a new item. However, not all paints are created equal. You want to choose your paints wisely so your impact on the planet won’t be so harsh.
Low or no VOC paints are your best options when painting. Volatile organic compounds, a.k.a. VOCs, can affect the air quality in your home. Besides harming the planet, VOCs can also be dangerous for humans. Your nervous system or other organs can be damaged when you take in the fumes in the paint that contain VOCs.
It’s worth it to find paints that have no VOC if possible. If you can’t, make sure to choose a low VOC paint and air out your home when you’re painting.
Reuse
Sometimes you need to take down a wall or redesign a room to get the look you want. Don’t simply demolish or destroy materials, and don’t give away everything. Carefully deconstruct your space so you can use leftover parts and materials for other areas of your home.
You can often salvage tile from one room and possibly use it in another. Light fixtures easily transfer from one room to another. You can even take cabinets that are no longer right for your kitchen and find a place to install them that will offer extra storage in a different part of the house.
The key is to plan ahead before you start taking everything apart so you won’t get rid of anything you can use. Buying something new when you could have made use of something used is not eco-friendly.
Renovating a home is a necessity for most of us at some point. When it’s time for you to take on a home renovation, choose eco-friendly processes to create a home you love on the only planet we have.
