Upgrade Your House for a More Sustainable Future

Suppose you’re an eco-conscious homeowner; green living and green savings most likely take up attention in your mind constantly. You’re aware of each home improvement project’s impact on the planet (and your bank account) and do your best to transform your house into a sustainable dwelling.

Fortunately, you can pick from countless home improvement projects. Whether you want to boost your house’s sustainability to make a difference or just to cut down expenses, the following recommendations will prove useful.

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Sustainable home improvements bring economic value

Considering their value, it might be challenging to commit to bringing sustainable improvements to your house. Eco-friendly tools, materials, and methodologies are usually more expensive than traditional ones, but specialists believe they’re worth the up-front investment.

Most green projects boost your house’s efficiency, so they automatically add more value. Sustainable kitchen and bathroom fixtures, for example, cut down your water bill.

Planting trees around the house minimises your energy bills during the summer because they provide shade. All sustainable improvements pay for the extra costs involved if given enough time.

Suppose you plan to sell the house; making sustainable improvements enables you to ask for a higher price. Research shows that green properties can capture from 8% to 30% of additional value compared to traditional houses.

Sustainable home improvements have environmental value

If you take the financial aspect out of the equation, green improvements are great for the environment. Houses are usually inefficient due to several factors:

– Construction companies have a negative impact on the environment

– Most building projects use eco-unfriendly materials

– Properties require fuel to function

– Most households use an excessive amount of water

Eco-friendly home improvements can ameliorate the harsh effects properties have on the environment, keep chemicals out of the water and drainage system, and cut down the amount of energy households use.

Home improvement projects for an eco-friendlier property

Now that you know what advantages sustainable home improvement projects bring, let’s discuss the most effective ones.

 

Adding insulation

If you insulate your property, you can lower its carbon footprint. Suppose you have an attic with a thin layer of insulation; cool and warm air can escape through the roof and transform your house into an uncomfortable environment.

Hire a constructor to insulate your attic and repair the roof to ensure there are no holes that allow the air to escape. Ensure the contractor has insurance for the workers because if they get injured while working on your roof and attic, you can be held liable for personal injury.

Besides insulating the attic, also have a look at the windows and doors to identify any cracks that could impact your home efficiency.

Replace the old appliances with energy-efficient ones

As you may already know, older appliances are usually energy inefficient. If you notice an increase in the monthly amount you pay for energy bills, it’s wise to replace the old appliances with modern alternatives to cut down on the fuel and electricity they use.

If you don’t know if your appliances are energy efficient, call a specialist to test them. The fridge, furnace, water heater, and dishwasher need a greater amount of energy to function, so if you want to prioritise the replacement, they’re the ones that require your attention.

Opt for reusable materials

Reusing is one of the most important principles of eco-friendly living, so you should adopt this habit when renovating. Reusing can even be something small, like repurposing something you no longer use.

For example, you can transform an old broken vase into a garden decoration or planter. If you repaint the house, don’t throw away any unused products; save them for later projects or sell them to other people. This is the simplest measure you can apply when building or renovating.

Use low-VOC paint

If you want to renovate the house and repaint the exterior or interior walls, use low VOC paint because it has a low impact on the planet. Low VOC paints contain a smaller amount of volatile organic compounds than regular products and release no chemicals in the environment.

It’s best to avoid high-VOC products because they harm your health and the environment. Volatile organic compounds are released both when you apply the paint and in the years after renovating the house, slowly damaging your health.

Update the windows

An effective way to improve the energy efficiency of your house is to replace single glazing with double-glazing windows. Double-glazed windows are more efficient at keeping the heat inside because they lose no heat through the frames and prevent draughts. They also reduce the volume of outside noise, transforming your home into a more peaceful place where you can relax after a busy and exhausting day.

If you want to go the extra mile, you can choose triple glazing. However, they’re 20% more expensive than double-glazing ones, and the investment makes sense only if you also insulate your house to boost the overall eco features of the property.

Invest in renewable energy

If you’re serious about creating a sustainable home, then you should consider replacing your present energy source with a renewable one, and luckily technology is continually developing, so you have several options you can choose from.

Specialists use the term renewable energy to refer to energy produced from natural resources like sun, water, or wind. The most popular renewable energy systems are:

– Air source heat pumps

– Biomass boilers

– Ground source heat pumps

– Solar panels

– Geothermal heating

Suppose you want to install a fire in your house; you can opt for an eco-friendly alternative. You can choose from electric, gas or biofuel stoves that provide the same advantages as traditional burning stoves.

Transform your house into a sustainable dwelling

You don’t have to build the house from scratch to support your sustainable lifestyle. You can easily convert your inefficient existing property into a sustainable home that enables you to lower expenses and have a lower impact on the environment.