We have been asked on a number of occasions if we have any green home renovation tips for choosing a green builder. If you have decided to go green in your next green home renovation, we want to commend you for being brave enough to think outside of the box. But more than give you a pat on the back, we also want to provide you some with solid guidance on choosing a green builder who will be up to the task in hand.
Green home renovation tip for choosing a green builder
To get you moving in the right direction, we sourced this article form Green Communities that provides three great tips for choosing a good green builder…
First, ask to examine the types of materials that your chosen contractor will use in constructing or reconstructing your home. Not only should you examine the final products that you will use on an every day basis – appliances and the life – but also the materials that will go into actually constructing your home. It is not enough to simply buy a few appliances that promise to be green.
This is a very important point, why? because there are a lot of cowboys out there who will tell you exactly what you want to hear. Only by taking the time to make sure that everything your builder uses is designed to have a low enironmental impact can you be sure your home is truly green. I would be looking for a builder that made use of salvaged or recycled green building home materials, and someone who understands how energy efficient design can be implemented into your home.
Second, ask to examine the methods your chosen contractor will use when constructing or reconstructing your home. Specifically, you’ll want to watch for wasteful or harmful behavior by either the builder or his hired crew. Do they minimize the amount of energy used when working on your home? How are excess products handled? If a hazardous substance cannot be avoided, how is it approached or disposed of? Ask your builder to walk you through his construction process step by step to determine if he is truly observing green principles or is simple taking one or two steps that are valuable for appearance sake only.
This is a critical but often overlook part of the building process. One of the main requirements of all the green home rating systems is ensuring that a minimum amount of disturbance and waste is created during the construction. This is because construction is inherently environmentally unfriendly due to the chemicals and materials used when building a house. By consiously implementing green alternatives and practices, you lessen you environmental footprint and could save money in the process.
Finally, look into whether or not your home is being constructed in accordance with LEED certification principles. LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is overseen by the United States Green Building Council.
Although the LEED rating system is a great benchmarch, it’s by no means the only opiton availiable to you. In the US, systems such as the Energy Star rating are also used and provide an equally comprehnisve set of guidelines. In the UK, you should be looking out for BREEME which is still very prevenlant there, although LEED does seem to be catching on.
By doing a little researech on the web, you will quickly get an understanding of what you can expect from a green builder who is accredited with one of these green qualifiaciton. green home remodelling tips for choosing a green builder are readily available on a number of sites, but our advice would be to start with the official site for the LEED rating system.
If you would like more advice on this subject, drop us a comment in the box below, and we will get back to you….
