Making Your Home Environmentally Friendly

Green upgrades are good for the environment, whether they are part of a new home package or a renovation on an older model. In fact, what once was considered a green upgrade in some cities is now the norm. Take Edmonton for example. Replace a furnace in your home today and you must put in a high efficiency model. Only a few short years ago, that furnace was a suggestion. Insulation regulations have also changed, requiring green-rated material rather than the wood chips allowed in the recent past.

But there is still not enough data to figure out how much upgrading your home to a green model increases that home’s value. If you are doing the renovations with the intention of living in that home, it may not matter that much. But if you are doing all that greening with the intention of selling, it might. For example, a geothermal system, running about $40,000 would be well worth the investment to the current owner, and to some future buyer, but perhaps not. If the house next door was priced $40,000 less which one would the prospective buyer choose? It’s hard to tell.

If you are thinking about green upgrades and are staying in the home, chances are it will be well worth it. You will save considerable amounts on your energy bill and over time will get back most if not all of your initial investment. At that point, perhaps the resale price may not be such an issue after all.