An environmentally friendlier home (emphasis on the “friendlier) should be the goal of every homeowner and builder, says Nick DiCosola, president and founder of the Chicago-based custom-homebuilding firm Distinguished Dwellings (www.distinguishedwellings.com). And according to DiCosola, most of the upgrades that can make a home greener and more energy efficient won’t affect its traditional appearance. In fact, visitors to your home won’t even notice most of the green upgrades you make.
Of course, if you want to provide visual statements to your commitment to green building, you can opt for bamboo flooring, countertops made from recycled materials, and similar materials that will make your home look good as well as more efficient and eco-friendly. DiCosola calls these “aesthetic green” improvements, and draws a distinction between them and “functional green” improvements, which are relatively inexpensive and easy to incorporate in any home, no matter its design or location. Some of DiCosola’s functional green home improvements include the following:
• Insulation: Use as much as you can appropriately fit in any given space. There are many new insulation choices available today, ranging from recycled newspapers and denim to injected foam. High-absorption insulation also slows the flow and leakage of heat.
• Furnace: Install a power-vented, dual-stage furnace with an efficiency rating of 90+ percent.
• Hot water heater: Install a tankless, on-demand hot-water heater, which is 20- to 25-percent more efficient than a traditional hot-water tank and takes up much less space.
• Low-flow toilets and washing machine: An older toilet can use three to seven gallons of water per flush. Today’s standard low-flow toilets use 1.6 gallons of water per flush and save thousands of gallons of water a year. Dual-flush toilets, widely used in Europe, are the next step in efficiency
• Low-E and argon-filled windows: These produce the best R-factor (degree of insulation) and minimize the escape of heat in the winter and cool air in the summer. Triple-glazed or paned windows are the ultimate in energy-efficiency
• Energy Star heating and cooling products: The EPA says that if 10 percent of households used these energy-saving appliances and products, we could keep 17 billion pounds of pollution out of the air.
• Build tight with ventilation: Homes that are built tighter are more comfortable and less drafty. However, it is important to bring in fresh air through mechanical means such as a heat-recovery ventilation unit.
Now is the time to incorporate energy-saving features, DiCosola says, as the expense of building green is on the decline. While it used to cost at least 15 percent more to build with green products, it will now only add one to three percent to construction costs.
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