8 Sustainable Options to Consider When Renovating Your Home

Now more than ever, it’s becoming increasingly important that we take steps as homeowners to protect our environment and conserve natural resources. In an effort to combat global warming and sustain our planet in the long term, we’d like to introduce you to some eco-conscious and sustainable home renovation ideas!

Working in the industry for over 20 years, we’ve seen a lot of change, but one of the largest and most consistent areas of growth in construction and home design has been a push towards eco-friendly and sustainable materials. Whether you’re starting from scratch with new construction, or just looking to do some updates and renovations over the next few years, we’ve got some great suggestions on where to get started! 

Let’s take a look at some simple changes you can make to your older home that can help bring it into a greener, cleaner, more modern lifestyle, as well as helping to reduce financial strain of energy consumption!  What’s not to love about that?

• Plumbing Amendments  -  For those with older structures, you may wish to consider upgrading your toilets, showerheads, and faucets to modern low-flow rated options.  The biggest contender being your toilet – nearly 30% of the water consumed by your household will be consumed by flushing the toilet.  (As of 1992, the federal government has instituted “The Energy Policy Act”, requiring that low-flow plumbing fixtures be used in homes!)  Another great option is installing a greywater recycling system, which collects and treats the water from your sinks, showers and baths, and laundry to reuse in your toilets as well as irrigation systems.  Tankless water heaters are another great eco-friendly option, and very energy efficient allowing on-demand hot water and space saving design.

• Insulation and Siding - There are lots of modern day options for insulation, each with their own eco-friendly and health-conscious applications!  Spray foam ensures that all leakes and holes are plugged with a dense, expanding foam; recycled materials like cork made form the bark of oak trees, cellulose fibers, cotton/denim material, or rockwool are also wonderful choices if a little pricier.  Ensuring that your home is properly insulated against the elements can reduce your costs of operating a home.  Ensure that your siding is rated for reducing heat absorption during summer and keeping cold out during winter, such as insulated vinyl siding, or metal/steel siding which is a commonly recycled material!

• Windows - Vintage windows may give your home some serious charm, but they’re not doing you any favors on the heating or cooling end of things!  Replacing old and outdated windows and having the framing repaired or refitted can insulate your home against the elements. Modern windows offer a more accurate fit, are sealed more efficiently, and many are also double-paned to ensure you’ll have proper heating/cooling management.

• Appliances - If you love the look of vintage, but don’t love the high-cost of your energy bills, we’ve got great news!  Many modern-day appliance manufacturers are offering colorful and creative design lines for home appliances. You can get that classic vintage charm while choosing an EnergyStar rated and Eco-Friendly appliance!  Additionally, don’t undersertimate the pennywise option of hiring an applianre repair technician; instead of replacing the whole unit for one small issue, a epair technician assesses the issue and performs necessary repairs to save another appliance from a landfill.

• Smart Home Systems - Outfitting your home with a “Smart Home” system can create an efficient, eco-friendly home by automatically shutting off lights, turning down heating or air conditioning when no one is home, monitoring appliances for outages, and creating a uniform system using LED bulbs and low-energy electronics.  Installing a Smart Meter can also help you monitor your energy use and fine peak usage times, so you can do your best in reducing your carbon footprint and dependence on the grid.  Consider setting your lights on a timer system year round, not just during vacations.

• Sustainable Materials - When you’re shopping for materials for a home renovation, new construction, or just a general fix-it improvement, it’s best to choose materials from renewable resources, such as recycled metal (aluminum or steel, usually), steel cable, reclaimed wood, tempered glass, “woodolex”, bamboo, douglas fir, etc. Shopping reclaimed materials from estate sales, closeout warehouse suppliers, contacting crews before they perform a building demolition, and heading to stores like Habitat for Humanity ReStore can net you some really high-end materials without the high price tag, as well as saving objects from landfills.

• Renewable Energy Sources - When you’re replacing your roof, consider your options for installing solar panels or solar roof tiles, which store excess and unused energy in a home battery power bank.  You may even opt to use this to power your home during peak hours and reduce your cost on grid electricity. Some homeowners have even seen a net-zero or positive credit to their account with solar energy electricity being returned back into the grid!

• Landscaping - Selecting edible landscaping that’s both functional and beautiful can enhance your property value, decrease your dependence on commercial large-scale farming, and give you the opportunity to give back to your community/neighborhood.  Purposeful landscaping such as restoring trees instead of large swathes of grass may even help prevent flooding and mud build up. As nice as it may be to plant tropical plants or exotic species in our yards and gardens, consider instead using regional plants, trees, and flowers to help your local environment and wildlife. You may even want to consider replacing your lawn with local wildflower and pollinator plants, evergreen shrubs, a vibrant vegetable garden, or even a well-manicured fruit tree or two! 

At Pinto Carpentry, we do our best to accommodate our client’s requests whenever possible, however, please note that this blog is for informational purposes only, and not an illustration of materials at our disposal.  While this blog has mentioned certain sustainable materials, please note that due to supply and demand as well as regional/national availability limitations, not all sustainable supplies mentioned may be available for your projects.  We cannot guarantee any availability of materials, as it is entirely up to market limitations.  Please also note that sustainable eco materials are often available at a much higher cost than traditional materials, and may not be suitable to all project price points and budgets.

Looking to upgrade your home’s railings and stairs? We’re here to help! With more than two decades of experience installing indoor handrails and crafting bespoke custom stairs, we feel confident in saying you’ll love our work for years to come.  Pinto Carpentry is available to serve most regions of New Jersey, and for both residential and commercial projects.  Just give us a call, reach out on social media, or e-mail us to request a consultation and custom quote for your project.  We can’t wait to work with you!