For about 4 months now, my boyfriend and I, have been waiting to find out if a house we want will be ours. Short sales can take a long time, which means it gives us a lot of time to think about the changes we want to make to the house. For the most part, the house is perfect, but the kitchen is the one room that needs remodeling. We also go back and forth whether to take out the carpet in some of the rooms and change them to hard wood. As we are doing all this thinking, I keep reminding my boyfriend that I want to make these changes in the most sustainable way. That means using “green” products and making our home more efficient to save the planet and save us money, like we do by saving on our California Home Insurance policy. It may take a little more work to make your home more Eco-friendly, but the first step is knowing what the right questions to ask your contractor are before the construction begins.

The following are a list of questions to ask your contractor when trying to build a “green” home.

1. Are the building materials Eco-friendly? Recycled content building materials are a great choice for home changes. Choices like recycled plastic, recycled carpet, and recycled glass for counter tops are great choices. Renewable materials, like cork and bamboo, are also great options.

2. Are the building materials non-toxic? Using products in your home that contain or have been treated with toxic chemicals are not only harmful to the environment, but also to your family. Instead of the toxic materials use paints, primers, sealers etc with low or no VOCs.

3. Can we reconstruct, rather than demolish?  Reconstructing, rather than demolishing, can help you salvage and reuse the origional materials. This will not only cut down on waste but also can save you money!

4. Are locally made materials available? When a product is made local it will have a shorter distance to travel to get to your home. This reduces the air pollution emitted during transportation.

5. Are the materials used durable? The longer a material lasts, the less amount of waste you produce, meaning the materials are essentially Eco-friendly.

7. How do I maintain the new products in the material to ensure they last longer? Make sure you are aware if there are any special instructions to preserve the new additions to your home.

8. Do the Eco-friendly materials have other benefits? Sustainable products are not only great for the environment but they have other benefits as well. Some benefits are getting efficient heating and cooling systems. Find out about any potential money savings the products have too by using less electricity or water among other things.

At John E. Peakes Insurance Agency we not only care about saving our customers money on their California home insurance but we also want to save the environment. If you are interested in having an Eco-friendly house, make sure to ask these questions in the beginning to make sure the process starts on the right foots.