by Broderick Perkins
Greening up your home can come with energy savings, a value boost, tax benefits and a smaller carbon footprint.
Not only do you and your household's bottom line benefit from green home improvements, so does the planet.
Unless the work is quality work, however, you may not get the personal financial benefits you seek, nor the pinch of planet cooling the Earth could use.
According to green experts a "green" home improvement, just like a newly built green home, is built with more sustainable and conservation-minded materials, designs and technology. The work helps the home use less energy, water, or other natural resources and it helps generate less waste. And the finished product makes for generally healthier and more comfortable conditions for the occupants than work performed otherwise.
Less energy needed, means less dependence on fossil fuels. Burning fossil fuels contributes to pollution, depletion of natural resources and potentially disastrous climatic change, which can affect the health of the planet and its inhabitants, according to the vast majority of scientists.
Building contractors began widely using green techniques only less than a decade ago, codes specific to green building still vary and while green building isn't rocket science, neither is traditional building.
Somehow, however, even with building techniques older than they are, some builders, developers and contractors manage to build in defects. Despite the relative basic science of green building, finding a green contractor requires the same attention to detail as hiring virtually any other professional to work in your home.
There is, however, a learning curve to overcome.
"Consumers have to ask deeper questions rather than just accept a 'green' label," says Marc Richmond president of Practica Consulting an Austin, TX-based green building consultant.
The firm's "Hiring and Working With Green Building Professionals" offers a some suggestions for consumers looking for good green help.
- Whenever possible ask family members, friends, co-workers and others you trust, who've recently been satisfied by completed work, for referrals to licensed contractors working green.
While virtually no government regulatory agency license contractors specifically as "green" you can find otherwise licensed contractors affiliated with or certified by the U.S. Green Building Council; Build It Green; the National Association of Home Builders; the National Association of Remodeling Industry and other building trade groups.
Also, those groups and publications like Consumers Union's Greener Choices and Green Builder also offer educational information to help you understand the true meaning of green.
- Richmond says you'll need to learn and know about green building in order to engage potential contractors in discussions about their interest in and experiences with sustainable building, areas of expertise (solar, indoor air quality, conservation techniques, etc.) and their particular interest in your job.
The contractor should be able to explain to you more than just the "green" approach, but also the benefits to you and your home in terms of lower utility bills, better air quality and more durable, sustainable materials.
"Contractors shouldn't depend on the 'green' word but focus on the benefits to consumers," Richmond said.
Richmond also advises touring green homes, attending informational conferences and workshops, and otherwise boning up on green building before you go shopping for green workers.
- Just as with any contractor, be sure they and any subcontractors are licensed, insured and bonded and don't have bad marks against them with the Better Business Bureau, trade groups, regulatory agencies and similar agencies.
- During the interview process, learn about potential contractors' partners and sub contractors and what their affiliates (competitors, suppliers, subcontractors, building inspectors, real estate agents, etc.) have to say about them.
- Ask if they don't just build green but area also dedicated to the issues by running a green business operation. Determine if they are experienced in the specific work you need completed. Seek letters of recommendation, sit-down time with past clients and a look at actual work from both recent jobs and past projects to determine professional continuity.
- Choose a contractor with whom you can communicate your expectations, but who isn't afraid to tell you your assumptions may be incorrect. You'll be "living" with him or her until the job is complete. Seek personal compatibility. Hire someone you'd also like to get to know.
- Get everything in writing in a complete contract (possibly with blue prints, specifications, a payment schedule and other pertinent information) with no blank pages or sections. Don't pay any contractor more than a down payment and incremental payments as the work progresses. Withhold the final 10 percent payment until a final walk through or look-see finds the work to your satisfaction and you have a lien release, Richmond advises.
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