In 2008 author and architect Sarah Susanka published The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live and this year her follow up Not So Big Remodeling: Tailoring Your Home for the Way You Really Live has been met with raves. It seems she was prescient to the backlash against McMansions and now the nation is ready to accept what she's known all along, living in over-built homes doesn't make sense.
Susanka will be delivering the keynote speech at this years NAHB remodeling show in Baltimore and she offered us permission to share some of her favorite green remodeling tips from Not So Big Remodeling.
The Not So Big definition of "green" refers not only to the sustainability, energy efficiency and durability of a house, but also to its innate beauty and the appropriateness of its size. A house that is right-sized for its inhabitants, beautifully designed and crafted is not only performing its current function efficiently, but is more likely to be well cared for by its residents for many decades to come. If a house is not beautiful, it is not truly sustainable, no matter how many green features it sports.
1. One is Better Than None - When undergoing a remodeling project, include as many green upgrades as the budget allows. If the prospect of many upgrades seems overwhelming, just pick one and do it well. Every improvement makes a difference to the long-term sustainability of the structure. One small step at a time can collectively upgrade the existing housing stock. Changing the furnace filters once a month is an extremely simple upgrade that everyone can do that will improve the efficiency of the whole heating and cooling system.
If the weather is as beautiful where you are as it is in Kansas City (right now, anyway!), then you, like me, may have a hard time thinking about furnaces, heating and winter weather!
Yet frigid temperatures will be here before we know it, and if you find yourself in need of a new residential heating system, you may want to consider a biomass furnace.
Available in a variety of capacities, biomass furnaces are often powered by fuel made from wood and its subproducts and wastes. Typically referred to as pellet furnaces, these heating devices are named as such because they run off of wood pellets or shelled corn.
One of the most common ways to incorporate green building practices into a project is to adapt or reuse existing materials or entire structures. Although toxicity or structural integrity can sometimes be an issue, experts generally agree that reusing materials or buildings is less expensive -- and more sustainable -- than creating post-demolition waste and buying or building new.
Homes built from shipping containers are a growing trend, yet thanks to this creative MSN slideshow (via The Daily Green), you can glean inspiration from a variety of unexpected building materials.
Do you have a masonry restoration project and are looking for a unique exterior or interior finish for your home that's naturally beautiful? Put aside that wood siding or hand-cut stone and opt for the smooth finish of Natural Hydraulic Lime. This wonder product achieves a look similar to stucco, but with more of an earthy appeal.
Spanish villa, contemporary beach house or modern family room - using natural hydraulic lime (or NHL for short) is an incredibly unique way to create a durable wall.
What Is It?
Without all of the usual technical mumbo jumbo, natural hydraulic lime is sort of like cement but is made with lime. It is truly all natural, containing basically water and lime mixed to a spreadable consistency that dries into a solid state.
Some products come with additives, but pure hydraulic lime has everything going for it. The material has a built-in resistance to bacteria and plant growth. That means mold, mildew and moss won't be a problem. NHL won't break down from exposure to salt either, making it ideal for coastal and marine applications.
