Green Remodeling Provides a Second Chance at SustainabilityLife Cycle

When remodeler Michael McCutcheon visits Boston, he is struck by the longevity of some of the city's buildings. Take Paul Revere's home. Built around 1680, the house was remodeled at various times for a wealthy merchant, Revere's family, a candy store, a cigar factory, and more. The home remains today as a historic museum on its original site.

McCutcheon uses that attitude and approach when asked about the meaning of green remodeling. He says pros should be building and remodeling structures to last at least 500 years.

"Green remodeling is the recycling of buildings," says the Berkeley, Calif.-based president of McCutcheon Construction. "Instead of recycling the cabinets, the doors, or the trim, remodelers are recycling buildings."

Second chances

While many new-home builders are looking to reduce their homes' environmental footprint, green remodelers have a chance to give their clients a healthier or more comfortable dwelling without starting from scratch. "Remodeling is inherently greener than building new homes," says Abe Degnan, vice president of Degnan Design Builders, a building and remodeling firm based in DeForest, Wis. "You're working with existing infrastructures and with the houses that most need to be improved and greened," he says. "Beyond that, green remodeling is very much like other green processes."

In fact, remodeler Connie McCullah poses criteria for green remodeling that sound a familiar note to anyone already keeping up on the green building trend: "Is it energy efficient? Does it improve indoor air quality? And what's our resource conservation, what's our footprint on the planet?" says the co-owner of Odin's Hammer, a green design/build company based in Berkeley, Calif.

McCullah says her and her husband's green remodeling actually started with a concern about the health of the young men in their crews, many of whom had families and were using potentially toxic products. Seeing an employee running a power saw to cut a piece of plywood, sending sawdust and the product's urea-formaldehyde bindings into the air, led her to consider products like low-VOC paints, caulks, and adhesives, as well as certified and healthy wood products.

The partners' desire to create a healthier environment for their employees led them to ask, "Why aren't we creating a healthier environment for our client to live in?" That concern finally spread to the community at large. "It's the main focus of all of our design and all of our production," she says.

In addition to low-VOC products, McCullah often includes products such as air exchangers, which bring fresh air into the kitchen and bath, and radiant floor heating, which heats a room without stirring up allergens.

A number of remodelers say that green remodeling reflects their values of stewardship and conservation, or that it's good for employee retention and morale. But they also point out that it makes good business sense, particularly at a time when green consciousness is elevated. "[Our] No. 1 lead generation, beside repeat customers and direct referrals, is coming from the [Madison, Wis.] Green Built Home Web site," Degnan says. Plus, he says, green remodelers can sell upgrades and have greater profits due to green features.

Project Priorities

But while green remodeling has similar goals of green building, it's not nearly as simple. No two remodeling projects are identical, of course, and the amount of "green-ness" you can bring to a kitchen remodel is different from that of an addition. Incorporating green practices into a remodel requires a great deal of forethought, as well as a conversation with your clients about their needs.

"When we modify a structure, we take into account what needs to be done, and what benefits our green practices will bring to the table," says Willie Delfs, a builder and remodeler and president of Able Homebuilders in Sioux City, Iowa. "At minimum we will bring into the equation energy efficiency, whether that be in the form of HVAC equipment, windows, insulation, water heating, or appliances. We try to use recycled or sustainable materials."