Building Green from Basement to Rooftop | Real Estate Beaufort SC ...

Today, build?ing an eco-friendly home requires much more than just installing extra insu?la?tion in the attic. There are lit?er?ally thou?sands of eco-friendly prod?ucts and build?ing options out there to choose from and while daunt?ing, all will deliver improved home effi?ciency and a unique home that could appre?ci?ate beyond stan?dard properties.

In gen?eral terms, the best place to begin is to hire an archi?tect. They should be able to artic?u?late the fea?tures you?d like inte?grated into your prop?erty, in addi?tion to pro?vid?ing a clear direc?tion for prime and sub-contractors to fol?low as the home addi?tion is?built.

Once per?mits are secured, source a builder that knows local build?ing codes, but is also a spe?cial?ist in build?ing eco designs. While in high demand, eco homes are still in their infancy, so be wary of builders who claim to be an expert in everything.

Addi?tional considerations:

• Choose a site that max?i?mizes sun?light. This will help heat your home dur?ing the win?ter and pro?vide an excel?lent charge for solar pan?el?ing. Also, if pos?si?ble, posi?tion your home near decid?u?ous trees whose bloom will shade the house in summer.
• Choose build?ing mate?ri?als such as bricks or sid?ing for their insu?la?tion as well as durability.
• Select energy-efficient light?ing options includ?ing ?day-lighting? such as sky?lights to min?i?mize energy use. Also con?sider build?ing in tim?ing, dim?ming and motion detec?tors that will turn lights on and off when areas in your home are not in?use.
• Con?sider hav?ing ?struc?tured wiring? installed for Smart Home options that enable one-touch (?smart cli?mate?) light and heat control.
• A south?ern fac?ing roof topped with solar pan?els can heat water, gen?er?ate elec?tric?ity and, in some loca?tions, direct sur?plus elec?tric?ity back to the elec?tric grid which could earn you cred?its or addi?tional income.
• Ensure your insu?la?tion will be at R-2000 stan?dards, includ?ing R-50 attics, R-25 walls and R-20 basements.
• Con?sider the new, micro ?combined-heat-and-power? (CHP) unit fur?naces that not only heat your home but can also gen?er?ate up to $800 worth of elec?tric?ity per year. These can run $13,000 to $20,000, yet you should be fully reim?bursed in about three to seven years depend?ing on the cost of electricity.
• If the CHP fur?nace is too expen?sive, con?sider a heat pump that can deliver energy-efficient air con?di?tion?ing and heat?ing capabilities.
• As well, choose energy effi?cient appli?ances that have the ENERGY STAR? endorsement;
• Insist on low-flow shower heads and faucets, as well as water-efficient reser?voirs in your bathrooms;
• Green Land?scap?ing shouldn?t be for?got?ten since it can be sculpted to pro?vide nat?ural drainage into flowerbeds, veg?etable gar?dens, or onto lawns where you need?water;
• Finally, check out local and national gov?ern?ment ?green? pro?grams that may assist you in the pur?chase of your eco-friendly prod?ucts through rebates or dis?count programs.

Undoubt?edly, there will be choices galore while build?ing your new home. How?ever, be sure the ones you select are ones you need and they will deliver tan?gi?ble ben?e?fits to you, the envi?ron?ment and even?tu?ally, poten?tial buyers.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 19th, 2012 at 10:35 am and is filed under todays tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://www.beaufortpropertyfinder.com/todays-tips/building-green-from-basement-to-rooftop/

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