There is more and more attention being paid to our environment today. For anyone who has seen An Inconvenient Truth, you have to wonder what is happening. Even if Al Gore is only partly right, as the saying goes, Houston, we have a problem.

The thing with the green movement is; what is green? The biggest problem is that everyone has a different definition of green. Some of the areas claiming to be green include: the forestry industry; the oil patch; the auto industry; and Wal-Mart. On top of this, many things are being green washed. What about the housing and renovation industry? We will meet our Kyoto targets, when most other industries wont.

In my opinion, renovation is green. You may ask why, when some of the following is true: the home gets bigger; debris must be disposed of; and all the new finishes, i.e. hardwood floors, cabinets, paint, windows, etc. This is because the existing home is being upgraded and made more efficient by the changes.

These upgrades make a difference with added insulation; air and vapour barriers to save heat in winter and cool in the summer; plumbing fixtures that use less water; installation of new energy efficient heating and air conditioning equipment; new windows and doors are more efficient than the ones from 5 to 10 years ago. Perhaps most importantly on a larger scale, no farms or forests are lost to a new subdivision when homes are renovated.

When you are planning a green renovation, you will have many other questions to ask yourself, in addition to the usual renovation questions. The questions start with, what is green for you? Theses can include:

• Do you want a smaller carbon footprint?
• Are you going to use local resources, i.e. a 150km radius?
• Do you want to save money on the monthly bills?
• Do you want to use renewable resources? Do you want to be off the grid?

Renovation and home building were green long before the concept was fashionable. We have been using various green practices and items for a long time. Some of these items include:

• using finger joint wood for trim, shelves and doors
• using composite materials for decks, fences, and structural elements
• reusing existing finish materials, like brick, siding or fixtures
• using latex and low VOC paints
• using windows made of PVC and with low e films and argon gas
• building R2000 homes, which has been around for some 30 years

Now what about the other energy efficiency programs like LEEDS and Energy Star? Aren’t they better than R2000? Most of them are a response to R2000 being expensive or difficult to implement. R2000 provides a basis for many of these other programs to be conceived and put in place; and some of the levels of these programs are better than R2000. In addition, it is expected the R2000 program will be equal to the OBC part 9 building code requirements by 2012.

What are net zero homes? These homes produce as much energy as they use, and this is not hard to reach in many cases. CMHC is currently working with the industry to create net zero homes. This program is called Equilibrum Housing and is being under taken by various builders across the country. One of the homes is being built in Manotick by Minto Homes; so some of the larger builders are recognizing that new home buyers want to reduce their footprint and affect on the environment.

This article was provided by Citadel Renovations. Owned by Rob Wright, who carries on a family tradition of quality craftsmanship and attention to detail, Citadel Renovations has completed projects in the Ottawa area for years with very satisfied results. Renovations are completed by a carefully selected team of professionals, and clients always come first. Visit our website for more information.