Green Remodeling

The reason for remodeling your home to make it more 'Green' is really quite important. We need to live more lightly on the earth. We can no longer ignore the impact we have on the earth's ecosystems. The way we live, the choices we make in providing for our needs, will have an enormous influence on the quality of life of those who will follow us.

How one remodels one home, both in design and choice of materials, is one of the most significant ways that you can affect our future. Much of the concern boils down to the use of energy. How much energy is embodied in the building materials themselves, in their transportation and assembling? Then once the house is remodeled, how much energy does it consume to keep you comfortable?

With the ever rising cost of energy, it is reasonable to strive for 40 percent less energy use in a green home. At Hillman Carpentry we employ the following strategies to help you achieve this goal:

• Passive design strategies that can dramatically affect building energy performance, including building shape and orientation, passive solar design, and the use of natural lighting.
• Installation of high-efficiency lighting systems with advanced lighting controls.
• Use a properly sized and energy-efficient heat/cooling systems.
• Installation of high R-value wall and ceiling insulation, windows and doors.
• Minimize the electric loads by utilizing energy efficient appliances.
• Were practicable, use of alternative energy sources such as photovoltaics that are now available.

reen remodeling also requires fewer natural resources. According to the U.S. Department of Energy's Center for Sustainable Development, buildings consume 40% of the world's total energy, 25% of its wood harvest and 16% of its water. A green built home can take as much as 60% of this pressure off the environment compared to traditional construction.

With most of us spending more than 90% of our time indoors, a Green home is the healthy, common sense choice for a better life. As it stands now in traditionally built homess, the quality of our indoor environment is often far more polluted than outdoors due to various building materials, inadequate lighting, and a variety of other variables. According to EPA reports, the air in new homes can be up to ten times more polluted than outside air due to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other chemicals used in product manufacturing. However, homes that follow green building guidelines use healthier paints and building materials, and adhere to stricter gas emission and ventilation requirements improving the quality of a home's indoor environment. At Hillman Carpentry we can help you select construction materials and interior finish products with zero or low emissions to improve indoor air quality.