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How I Picked The Right House
For My Green Home Makeover

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And yes, you can design your own floor plan.

When my green home was still but a dream, and I realized that it would be too expensive to retrofit my present house, the next step was to find a house that was a good candidate for a green remodeling project.

That was just the beginning of the adventure that is the subject of this website. I had no idea at the time what a challenge that would be! 

BUT WHAT IS A GREEN BUILDING?

That means different things to different people; for me, it was:

1. Appropriately sized with a simple floor plan, or one that was easy to adapt. How much space does one person need? How many rooms can you be in at one time?
2. Energy efficient. That's the idea, isn't it?
3. Eco-friendly. Using recycled or green building materials, collecting rainwater, etc.
4. Healthy. Free of toxic materials and having good ventilation.
5. 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: 

My house, as it looked when I found it.

Remember: This is a "Before" picture!

But what was it that made that house more appropriate for my green rehab 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. My green home would not possibly be bigger than what I needed.
• 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 green home 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.
• Floor Plan: A bit daunting at first, but easy enough to alter.
• Basement: Very good. No moisture problem that a proper eavestrough system wouldn'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 my green home. 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 my 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. 

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 the existing building.

Click to enlarge.

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.

Click to enlarge.

As you can see, my green home's layout underwent a major redesign! A staircase has been eliminated, another has been moved, walls have been knocked out, etc.

Later, I made a few more changes: the main entrance moved to the side of the dining area, a closet was added near the entrance, the exercise area was moved to where the new main entrance was to be. Minor stuff.

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.

IS YOUR PRESENT HOUSE SUITABLE FOR A GREEN REHAB?

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 stilla 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 up 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? 

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My green rehab 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!) 

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.

For details and the results of my inspection, and to download a copy of the checklist, visit my Home Inspection page:

Go to Home Inspection for details and a downloadable checklist.

If you want to see all the "before" photos, go to the Photo Album:

Go to Photo Album for all the gory details! 

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Leave MY GREEN HOME | Go to HOMEPAGE 
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