The right home improvement products, techniques, and services:
Contractors, home improvement stores, and specialty shops in your area may not yet have a complete familiarity with the ‘green’ opportunities, products, system integration, and overall savings potential. So, you may get some resistance, since people in general are typically more comfortable recommending something that they are already familiar with rather than something new. To help break the inertia, use the information across this website like our Return on Investment Master ROI Table. Also feel free to post a question in our forum on the message board about a particular need for your home relative to your area. Our team has spent multiple years aggregating research from public and private sector performance reports and from manufacturers and homeowners across the country in order to provide you with the perspective you may need to see the initial payback and long term advantages. Environmental enthusiasts and leading institutions like the American Institute of Architects and the National Association of Realtors, see the value and link into our resources to support their members.
The Green Home:
For your overall home improvement, you can save money, improve your family’s health, and save the planet. Find out for free how much it will cost to do different types of home improvement in your home from a qualified and member approved contractor in your area. Get a FREE Quote . Plus, regardless of the size and scope of your home improvement project, save money and keep your home clean with the top rated chemical free and concentrated Green Home Cleaning Products .
Category Checklist:
Make sure to consider the latest Home Improvement products and services. If you are doing the work yourself or planning on working with a home improvement contractor use this checklist below as a guide to review and ask questions about the preferred products, details, and installation techniques related to:
- Emergency Lighting: Flashlights and Generators
- Home Lighting: Daylighting, Energy Star Lighting, Indoor Lighting, Lighting Design and Lighting Principles & Terms, Energy Star Lighting, Lighting Design, and Lighting Types.
- Light Bulbs: Compact Fluorescent Lighting, Hallogen Light Bulbs, Incandescent Light Bulbs and, LED Light Bulbs.
- Light Fixtures: Ceiling Lights, Chandeliers, Floor Lamps, Holiday Lights and Kitchen Under Cabinet Lighting, Pendant Lighting, Replacing Lamps & Ballasts, Table Lamps, Solar Lights, Table Lamps, Track Lighting, and Wall Sconces.
- Light Switches: 2-Way Light Switches, 3-Way Light Switches, Dimmers, Landscape Lighting and Lighting Controls, Motion Sensor Lighting, Photo Cell Lighting, Remote Control Lighting, and Solar Garden Lights.
- Outdoor Lighting: Garden Lighting and Low Voltage Lighting.
Tips on Lighting: Consider occupancy sensors switches in play rooms or finished basements where kids may forget to turn of the lights. The switches are less than $40 and these are the types of rooms where you may not be able to easily see that the lights are left on…sometimes for whole sections of the day. The occupancy sensors will automatically shut of the lights and save you money. Also consider dimmers to reduce your electric bill. Lighting is one of the easiest places to start saving energy. Replacing your five most frequently used light fixtures or the bulbs in them with ENERGY STAR qualified lights can save more than $65 a year in energy costs. ENERGY STAR qualified compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) provide high-quality light output, use 75% less energy, and last 6–10 times longer than standard incandescent light bulbs, saving money on energy bills and replacement costs. Overall, remember to always turn off your lights when leaving a room. Turning off just one 60-watt incandescent bulb that would otherwise burn eight hours a day can save about $15 per year.
Home Improvement Basics:
When it comes to home improvement basics, look for interior home improvements like creating a clean, safe, and healthy home through sustainable ‘green’ furniture, home décor, zero VOC and Interior Paint, plus ENERGY STAR Appliances and Electronics. For energy and utility savings you can focus on insulation and air sealing, windows, doors, lighting and skylights, water saving plumbing opportunities, and high efficiency heating and air conditioning systems. On the outside of your house, look for exterior home improvement opportunities through landscape design and gardening plus solar energy, wind and other power sources. If you are undertaking a major home renovation, an additions, or building a new home, then take the lead to ‘go green’ in as many ways as possible to save money and the environment.
