by Kelly Hart

There are many reasons for remodeling. It could be the desire for greater comfort in your home from improved insulation or heating and cooling options. Or perhaps you want to create new space for activities or family members. Or maybe you hope to achieve increased efficiency and savings on utility bills. Sometimes toxic materials can be replaced with more benign, natural choices. Perhaps you want your house to be more attractive. All of these goals can be accomplished with a carefully planned green remodel.

To renovate a home is one of the ultimate ways of recycling, taking an existing structure and using it as a basis for creating just what you need. This is certainly a more sustainable choice than building an entirely new home that would likely entail the use of much more material with all of its embodied energy and negative ecological impact.

Over the course of the author’s life he has engaged in numerous remodeling projects, as a professional carpenter, as a home owner, and as a renter. He draws on this experience as he explores with you what he considers to be the main principles that should guide you in your choices for your own green remodeling project.