Overview on New Homes and Major Renovations

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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:
  1. Average Home Costs and Resale Values: Cost by Building Type, Cost Per Square Foot, Home Resale Values, and National Cost Trends.
  2. Green Home Site Selection: Green Communities, New Green Home Developments, New Home Builders, Orienting Houses to Face South, Trees, Utilities, and Wind Protection.
  3. GREEN Strategies and House Plans: Earth Shelter Homes, Log Homes, Manufactured Homes, Solar Electric Homes, and Straw Bale Homes.
  4. Home Demolition: Demolition Contractors, Demolition of Tear Downs, New Home Construction, Partial Demolition, and Salvaging Demolition Materials

Tips on New Homes and Major Renovations: Start thinking outside of the box. The current US building codes and home construction techniques are largely derivative of the 1950s approach when oil was such a fraction of the cost per barrel and electricity was so much more affordable. So, we have an opportunity to break the intertia and re-think the whole idea of a home and the way a home can work as a system or organism instead of just an object that uses power. Take advantage of the surge in interest from architects across the country. The added cost of working with a qualified architect may seem in the beginning like a luxury, but you will most likely find that the investment has a terrific return. Architects are trained to question the way to build and push for innovation.

As just one example, the solution for your property may come in the form of orienting some aspect of the home to the south to take advantage of the winter heat gain while simultaneously designing an overhang that shades the summer sun in your area. Given the tilt of the earth, each latitude has a different peak summer sun and lower winter sun, and architects are well equipped to help make your home an integrated part of the landscape. Think of your home as a system and architects work with function and style as well as your personal needs and wishes to create solutions that have intrinsic value for generations to come.

Connect with a Qualified Architect in your area.

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.

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