How to Pick the Right House For Your Own Green Home Project
When I decided that I wanted to start living in a green home, and that it would be too expensive to retrofit my present house, the first step was to find a house that was a good candidate for a green remodeling project.
But what is a green building?
That means different things to different people; for me, it was:
Appropriately sized. How much space does one person need?
Energy efficient. That's the idea, isn't it?
Eco-friendly. Using recycled or green building materials, collecting rainwater, etc.
Healthy. Free of toxic materials and having good ventilation.
Environmentally responsible. Taking the environment into account to the greatest extent possible under my own limited circumstances; taking care to minimize the ecological footprint of the building, the landscape and the occupants.
Some people prefer building green from the ground up, but for me, a truly green home meant recycling an existing house; that way, I could save all kinds of resources from being taken from their environment.
So I shopped around until I found a suitable house – one that was about the right size, at the right price and in the right place – and when I found it, I bought it. Here is a picture of my future green home, just as I saw it on a cloudy January day:
Remember: This is a "Before" picture!
But what was it that made that house more appropriate for my green makeover project than others I had seen?
Here are the criteria I used in my search:
Price: Very good. At $10,000, you might think that I got a real bargain, but in fact that was just the right price for this area. A similar house down the street went for $13,500, and it had a water well; mine didn't.
Size: Acceptable. The footprint is a mere 925 square feet: just enough space for a cozy nest for one. In my opinion, a green home cannot possibly be bigger than necessary.
Location: Good. Not my favorite street in the village, but with more pros than cons and with all services and amenities within walking distance (terrific if you're concerned about your ecological footprint!)
Lot size: Very good. Although I would have liked a bit more distance between my house and the neighbors on either side.
Number of Floors: Acceptable. I would have preferred a bungalow - let's just say I'm not getting any younger! The house was what they call "1-1/2 stories". The solution: make do with the main floor space and turn the upper floor into an attic.
Basement: Very good. No moisture problem that a proper eavestrough system won't solve.
No Restoration Required: Excellent! With my small budget, I couldn't afford fancy restoration work. This house has little worth restoring, but a fair amount worth preserving or recycling, which are not the same thing as restoring.
General Condition: Good. Some fixer-uppers aren't worth fixing up! This one was.
Structure: Good. At least as far as the original body of the house was concerned. The additions were somewhat questionable.
Affordability of the Renovations: Good (I hope!) Let's say I was willing to spend what was necessary to create the green home I wanted. I was also flexible enough to adjust my expectations to the estimates, should they turn out to be beyond what I could afford or wanted to spend. A third option: spread the renovations out over time.
Grant Eligibility: Excellent! Two government programs - one federal and one provincial - were in place at the time, specifically aimed at improving home energy efficiency.
Permaculture Criteria: In choosing that house, I was also choosing to live in a small rural village where, in addition to having enough space to grow some of my own vegetable and fruit, I would also have access to wild foods such as fish, berries, mushrooms, etc. - all within walking distance. This would allow me apply the principles of permaculture in a more satisfactory way than if I had chosen to continue living in the city.
A Personal Decision
The decision was easy for me because I was buying a small house for the purpose of turning it into a green home for myself.
In order to achieve the energy efficiency target that I was aiming for, it was necessary to execute an extreme green makeover of the type discussed in these pages.
Anything less just would not give results anything near satisfactory.
According to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), when it comes to Canadian (read: temperate climate) post-World War II residential houses, the maximum energy efficiency gain possible after carrying out all recommended normal upgrades and activities such as insulation, elimination of air leaks, furnace upgrades, etc., is only 41 %. I needed better numbers than that, what with the threats of climate change and ever-increasing energy prices.
Is Your House Suitable For A Green Home Project?
Is your house a family home full of period details and sentimental value? Hopefully your budget will allow you to keep it. Obviously, you will have to decide what's important for you. However, leaving all emotions aside, this is still a real estate project, and you will have to decide if it makes sense for you to invest X amount in Y house. List your own priorities, and proceed accordingly.
These are your options:
Option A: Turning Your Present House Into A Green Home
Should you decide to green your present home, you still have to consider if you can afford it, how far to go, and under what timetable. For example, you could do one room each year, or one floor, etc. Or move out for a few months and re-do the whole house at once. (If home remodeling is not for the faint hearted, renovating a house while living in it is only for the very bravest among us!)
Option B: Buying a Fixer-Upper
You don't have to build from scratch in order to achieve your green dream home! You can turn a fixer-upper into just about anything you want. (New homes are not covered in this site.)
Obviously, there aren't too many places where houses cost as little as $10,000! (And of course you may need a bigger house than I did.) If in your area average home prices are $100,000, or $500,000, "handyman specials" will be priced accordingly.
So, depending on where you live, or want to live, a bargain will be whatever a bargain is in that area. You're in the best position to find out.
The Right Decision is the Green Decision
In environmental terms, you've already made the right decision by choosing to rehabilitate an existing house instead of building a new one.
According to the online newsletter Environmental Building News' "Checklist for Low-Cost Green Design and Construction Practices",
When we renovate older buildings instead of building new, we generally save significant quantities of materials and energy, thus benefiting the environment.
Can you think of anything more satisfying to recycle than a house?
My green remodel is simply an example of what I, as a homeowner, found was best for me.
You can do it too!
Whether your house is 10 years old or 100 years old
Whether it's 900 or 9000 square feet
Whether you're planning a do-it-yourself project or need to hire a contractor
Whatever your budget
And you will find a lot of help right here in these pages. (Including what NOT to do!)
Before and After Layout
To give you an idea of what I'm dealing with, here's my own rustic rendition of the ground floor layout of my future green home:
The house footprint is a mere 925 square feet (about 86 square meters).
To have seven rooms in such a small space seems ludicrous nowadays, but the working-class folks who built those small houses in the 50s were grateful to have their own place to raise their families. As the families grew, new additions were built to accommodate the increased needs.
As you can see, my green home's layout is undergoing a major redesign! A staircase has been eliminated, another has been moved, walls have been knocked out, etc.
You don't have to be an architect to draw a floor plan. I even created my own squared paper on the computer!
I find it easier to work in feet because one foot is the right measure for one square, which is an easy scale for most people. But I've indicated the metric equivalents.
No Home Inspection
I took the chance of not having an inspection done by an outside expert. It didn't seem to make sense to pay someone $500 for inspecting a $10,000 house, just to have him tell me what I could observe with the naked eye - so I decided to rely on my own judgment and experience, with the help of a home inspection checklist. (PDF file)
These are the results:
The house needed a new roof;
The siding of the sun porch went all the way down to the ground, preventing one from seeing the foundation material and condition and possibly concealing a moisture problem;
The chimney needed repointing;
The roof of the rear addition was too short, which had caused the wood under the fascia and soffits to rot out and had probably allowed moisture to enter the walls and cause some damage there;
The furnace was probably not working (the house had been abandoned for six years), and besides, it was old and therefore inefficient;
The oil tank was past its expiration date;
The wiring was questionable;
The basement was full of junk, which prevented a proper inspection anyway.
If you want to see all the "before" photos, go to the Photo Album.
