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Don’t Just Remodel Your Home – REGREEN It
Technology 16 years ago No Comments

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The sluggish housing market is driving many homeowners towards remodeling. Whether they need to make their property more attractive to buyers (who currently have the upper hand) or they are abandoning moving plans, choosing instead regreentitle.gifto transform their current homes into the ones they’ve been dreaming about, upgrades are in. Luckily for them, the United States Green Building Council [USGBC] and the American Society of Interior Designers [ASID] Foundation have recently released REGREEN, a comprehensive set of approachable guidelines designed to inject some green practices into these projects, large or small. The bonus is that the strategies are not only handy for design professionals, but they’re equally as useful for contractors, tradesmen, manufacturers and the homeowners themselves.


Who Cares”

First off, let’s discuss why in the world you should even care about REGREEN. In other words, What’s in it for you” To be blunt: Money. Sustainable sells and sustainable saves.

If you are a homeowner looking to move your property, then make it stand out from the rest of the neighborhood inventory by implementing specific green aspects that you can then market to buyers. regreenlogo.gifIf you are planning to stay put in your home, then save yourself some cash in the long run by employing some green energy saving tricks now.

If you are a design professional or contractor, then incorporate these ideas into your bank of knowledge and experience and market your practice as having value-added services, which you can charge more for. Jump on the bandwagon for moral motives or for financial incentives, but ultimately it doesn’t matter why you green up because it all has the same result – as long as it’s done right, of course.

Unrated

Understand that REGREEN is NOT a rating system. USBGC does offer LEED for Homes, a rating system that was released January 2008 that touches both single-family and multi-family housing, but it’s basically for new construction. That system is very helpful, but it is definitely focused on ground-up construction and geared towards the design professional and the builder.

Instead, REGREEN is a set of recommendations, helpful tips, and best practices. Why” Because no two remodeling jobs are the same. With new construction, for the most part you can plan the process and create predictable conditions from the time the foundation is poured. In contrast, you can take two gently worn houses that were built in exactly the same fashion at exactly the same time, set the same remodeling goals, and the progression will never be the same. Chaos and entropy inevitably intervene, whether it’s due to the failure of the original materials, the way in which they were installed, use and abuse by home’s inhabitants, the quality of ongoing maintenance, or the whims of Mother Nature. These irregularities do not lend themselves to a rating system full of cut-n-dry checklists.

You Say To-MAY-to, I Say To-MAH-to

Another aspect of remodeling that doesn’t lend itself to a rating system is the variety in scope of work. Someone might tell you that they want to remodel their home, but what that really mean” Will they be overhauling their antiquated HVAC and electrical system or will they be moving a few walls around to create a playroom for the kids” Are they going to replace every window and all the flooring, or will they be adding window film and treatments while refinishing the wood floors in the primary living areas” And what about the kitchen” Will they be reworking the plumbing and installing all new fixtures and appliances or refacing cabinetry and installing new countertops”

And not only is every remodeling project different, but the timeline on every remodeling project is different. Major factors determining the course of construction are budget (duh), whether or not the homeowners will continue to live in the house, how readily available the selected materials are, when contractors and tradesmen are available, the reliability of said contractors and tradesmen, the vision and knowledge of said contractors and tradesmen, municipal restrictions and coordination, and the permitting process. And none of this even takes into account the aforementioned chaos and entropy part. So you can see why remodeling is not black and white and, therefore, isn’t exactly rating friendly.

Green Inside & Out

When we were introduced to REGREEN during a session at Interiors08: The ASID Conference on Design, even the delivery system was green. Instead of handing us a manual that would be out of date the moment it was printed and would ultimately take up another square foot in a landfill when we’ve had our fill, they handed each of us a handy-dandy reusable USB flash drive with the REGREEN PDF document on it. Of course, this document is also available online for downloading at the REGREEN website, which allows the REGREEN team to update it at will and allows you access to it 24/7.

Since you can so easily set your eyes on REGREEN’s user-friendly format, we’re not going to elaborate on its earth-friendly content. We will, however, mention the high points:

 a range of project types (so your home makeover is only as extreme as you want it to be)
a glossary (which you should definitely not gloss over)
a strategy library (breaking everything down into comfortably digestible bits)
and an explanation on how to get the most out of the guidelines (because some of us need extra special help).

For those of you who desire a little more monologue before getting to the “really big show”, then check out the REGREEN Interiors session’s video highlights, moderated by Penny Bonda, FASID, LEED AP (Interior Design magazine’s Eco Contributing Editor) and featuring the program’s think tank trinity: Eric Doub (Founder and President, Ecofutures Building, Inc.), Victoria Schomer, ASID, LEED AP (Green Built Environments), and Peter Yost (Residential Program Manger, BuildingGreen, Inc.). The session handouts are even available for those who enjoy a script.

More, More, More

How you use the REGREEN guidelines is up to you. Skim the surface, wade the shallows, or don your scuba gear for some in depth exploration. If you manage to avoid the bends, then dive into USGBC’s The Green Home Guide website as well. You are guaranteed to drown in a sea of information. But the bottom line is this: In order for a project truly to be sustainable, it requires teamwork, quality control and full integration of the design and construction process, all of which equals time, flexibility and patience. Because we’re all worth it.