5 Steps to Greening Your Home on a Budget
While many homeowners realize the importance of creating a greener, healthier home they often mistakenly believe that to make a real difference in your home you have to spend a lot of money. Not true. Just like with conventional remodeling, there will always be expensive options. But, some of the best green choices you can make for your home are also the most affordable.
We asked David Johnston, author of Green Remodeling: Changing the World One Room at a Time, for some green suggestions that the average homeowner could easily incorporate into their home.
Below are 5 steps you can take to a greener home—without spending a lot of green.
1. Replace conventional light bulbs with fluorescent. Perhaps the easiest change you can make in your house is to replace your existing light bulbs with fluorescent bulbs. Even if you only replace one or two bulbs, it makes a big difference.
"One fluorescent light bulb saves the equivalent energy of driving a car coast to coast," says Johnston.
2. Use low or no VOC paint on your walls. "The most common thing people do is paint, so it's important to be aware of the VOC content," says Johnston.
Painting is the most inexpensive way to create a dramatic change in any room?and this is no different when you use low or no VOC paint. The VOC, or Volatile Organic Compound, content in conventional paint emits toxins into the air—that distinct new paint smell. These emissions lower indoor air quality as evidenced by many studies, often causing headaches, nausea, and respiratory system irritation.
But, these days nearly every major manufacturer, from Sherwin Williams to Benjamin Moore, also offers a low or no VOC paint line.
3. Install natural linoleum flooring. "Natural linoleum is a great choice on a budget," says Johnston. "Linoleum is entirely natural, an ancient recipe that goes back hundreds of years. What's different today is the beauty is enhanced."
Today linoleum flooring comes in a variety of designs and colors to offer homeowners a wide array of flooring options. But, be sure not to confuse linoleum with vinyl flooring, which can significantly offgas.
"Vinyl has that distinct smell–think of a beach ball," explains Johnston. "If we can smell it, we don't want to live with it. This is the offgassing."
Click here if you want to install alternative natural flooring.
4. Seal surfaces with paint to prevent offgassing. Johnston suggests that homeowners look at what has the potential to offgas in their home–particularly in the kitchen and bathroom. The number-one offgassing culprit is particleboard, which most cabinets and many countertops are made from.
"Reducing the amount of particleboard that is exposed is the most important thing here," says Johnston. "The most inexpensive was to do this is to paint the underside with a low-VOC paint to seal the exposed surface. There are all kinds of sealants on the market, but two to three coats of paint work just as well."
5. Add more insulation. Johnston insists the number-one issue in green remodeling should be energy efficiency. Adding that homeowners should get more insulation as soon as they can and insulate above the building code.
"You will pay more to insulate above the code," says Johnston, "but it's probably the best investment you can make because it will be returned year after year."
A nontoxic alternative to fiberglass insulation is recycled cotton bats (or recycled denim), which is treated with borates to prevent fire and pest infestation. For bigger projects, Johnston recommends cellulose insulation.
Courtesy of ServiceMagic. Copyright 2005.