Met Eco (continued)
—
Metropolitan Home: How do you strike a balance between green design and beautiful design?
Harrison: There is no balance to be struck here. If it’s not green, it’s ugly—in the way that anything thoughtless is ugly.
MH: But how do you begin to make a renovation green?
Lenard: Focus on the parts of your house that consume resources. Start with the small stuff, like replacing incandescent lightbulbs with compact fluorescent lights.
Photo: Susan Rennie
MH: Many people hate fluorescents.
Lenard: In my experience, the no-name brands can produce ghastly light, but the full-price models are almost indistinguishable from incandescents.
Gitt: The quality of light and number of compact fluorescent products available have come a long way in the past few years.
Shaw: EcoBulbs, from Feit, produce a nice, warm light.
Freed: Color-corrected and dimmable bulbs are now easily available.
Harrison: But the dimmable ballasts for CFL lamps are very expensive. Luckily, that should change in the near future.
Lenard: Then move on to appliances. Most appliances have tags with energy-consumption figures. But think about the energy a new unit will save versus the energy required to produce it. Small gains in efficiency from replacing a five-year-old washing machine may not be worth it. Larger gains from replacing a 20-year-old refrigerator may be.
Shaw: Sadly, even appliances with the Energy Star label are far less efficient than many European models. I have a Bosch dishwasher, and it’s extremely energy-efficient. Liebherr is a brand to look at for refrigerators. Luckily, consumer interest is pushing the domestic brands to become more competitive in energy efficiency.
Harrison: On one project that a humble Kenmore refrigerator was the most energy-efficient option. So it pays to read the labels. Lenard: And choose models that are built to last and don’t have parts that need frequent replacement. Next, you can go for more significant improvements in larger systems, such as your hot water or HVAC.
Harrison: Before you do any of these things, you may want to talk to a real estate agent. The most environmentally friendly solution when a home doesn’t fit your needs is to move to one that does! Chances are someone else out there will like your house the way it is. Not renovating at all is the greenest option.
Lenard: True. With parts of a building that have already been manufactured, transported and installed, the environmental damage has been done, so let them live out their useful lives. On the other hand, it’s wasteful to let an inefficient boiler or old, drafty windows cause higher-than-necessary fuel consumption for another fifteen years.
Harrison: I agree. These days, there’s a sense of urgency about climate change that makes it essential to do something about energy-hogging houses.
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