517-699-7787
kevin@goffhomeinspections.com

Inspections Performed 24/7 including Holidays

• Reduce light pollution;
• Prevent pollution during construction;
• Maximize open space on your land;
• Collect rainwater for irrigation;
• Install renewable energy sources like a wind generator or solar panels;
• Cut energy use with insulation and a highly efficient furnace and appliances;
• Build storage for recyclables;
• Restore wildlife habitat;
• Build new while incorporating the walls, roof or floor of an older building;
• Buy products made of recycled materials; and
• Use certified (sustainably harvested) wood products.

• Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. They last seven or eight years and use less energy, saving about $100 per year in electricity. Cost: $2 and up.

• Install a timer on your lights and heating-and-cooling system so you can program your home to consume less energy when you're gone or sleeping. Cost: roughly $30.

• Put aerators on faucets to dramatically reduce water use. Find them at hardware stores for about $3 each.

• Caulk and weather-strip air leaks around windows, doors and other places where the wall is penetrated. Cost: Roughly $5 for a 10-ounce tube.

• Check references. Ask builders for names of homeowners, architects and engineers they have worked with. Interview references about the quality of the builder's work, which green solutions were used, how well these worked, how receptive the builder was to them and whether the job site was well organized and tidy -- a clue to the overall safety, organization and management of waste and recycling.

• Ask about costs and schedules. Ask if a builder typically stays on budget and on schedule, two sources of client-builder conflict. Projects can run from zero to 20% over budget. Learn the amounts of cost overruns and what caused them. All in all, the Green Building Council figures most new green homes cost roughly the same as non-green homes, though going all-out can add 2% to 5% or more to your construction bill.

• Research a builder's communication style. A good builder spends time on pre-construction planning, forecasts upcoming decisions well ahead and communicates early, helping to contain costs while making a project greener. Your contribution is to have a detailed plan and stick to it. For example, after your foundation is poured, your project will screech to an expensive halt if you haven't already chosen a heating system. Your green options -- radiant-floor heat, for instance, or certain high-insulation foundations -- will be limited and you'll feel pressure to pick the quickest, not the most-economical, solution. Also, inefficiency on the work site runs up costs. The argument that green building is more expensive is more likely to be true if you are making decisions at the last minute. The more time one has in a project to make decisions, the more opportunities there are to build in green features, reduce costs or save waste.

• The Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC).

• Colorado Built Green lists state energy organizations that can lead you to green professionals in your state.

• Denver's American Institute of Architects committee on the environment offers a sustainable design resource that tells how to evaluate materials, process and home furnishings in every phase of construction for environmental effects.

• The (sixth edition) GreenSpec Directory lists some 2,000 green building products, screened by editors of Environmental Building News monthly newsletter. Download back issues for free from 1992 to the present.

• The Environmental Protection Agency's green building site.