From our experience of over two decades as a leading Toronto Interior design company, we believe that going green is not an easy task, but it is essentially worth all the effort, particularly when it comes to renovating your home. When you choose a renovation agency Toronto, they should be able to incorporate sustainable features that are environmentally conscious and yet inexpensive into the renovation project and add value to your home. Toronto has been experiencing significant demand for green homes over the past decade or so. With homeowners becoming more and more conscious about the benefits of eco-friendly homes, particularly the energy efficiency aspect, eco-friendly homes do add value to your asset. On the other side, new homes are focused on cutting energy outflow by as much as 60% in comparison to older homes – and that is a convincing prospect for budget-conscious and eco-friendly homeowners.

Irrespective of whether you are about to launch into your dream home construction or just make some environment-friendly upgrades to your existing home, we have culled out some inexpensive upgrades for an eco-friendly and sustainable home, from a mix of resources drawn from our interior design studio.

Upgrade lighting to LED

As a reputed renovation agency Toronto, our first upgrade recommendation for your home is an upgrade to your lighting from conventional lighting to LED. Though the LED bulbs are a bit expensive, they consume just about 25% power and last several times longer compared to luminescent bulbs. Therefore, you will consume lesser electricity month after month and there will be fewer bulbs heading for the landfills.

Consider solar

When we are considering an environment-friendly home renovation, we should focus on reducing the carbon footprint. Across its lifespan, solar panels are actually more cost-effective than most people think. Additionally, you could also be eligible for tax credits on rooftop solar panels. Further, if your home is solar efficient, you may even add clean power to the local power grid. 

Native plants

The addition of native trees and plants to your landscape is another smart move particularly because native landscaping involves only low maintenance and irrigation will consume very little water. Generally, native plants won’t need pesticides or fertilizers and you are also helping insects and local wildlife to thrive when you have native trees/plants added to your landscaping. 

Making smart choices

Renovation agency Toronto suggests that when you buy items for sustainable and environment-friendly renovations, you should make smart choices. For instance, rechargeable batteries can minimize waste that cannot be recycled. Similarly, washable napkins in place of paper and using biodegradable garbage bags are other helpful measures. Likewise, you can reusable containers for food leftovers in place of plastic bags.  

Check for leaky pipes and fix them 

This is a vital aspect of your environment-friendly home renovation. Leaky pipes can lead to significant wastage of water and you should fix them quickly. If just one drop of water leaks from your pipe every second, it will add up to a gallon in just four hours. Therefore, you know very well the urgency to get this under control a day earlier.

Recycle and Reuse

This is another important part of making your home sustainable and environment-friendly. Every member of the family should make a conscious and consistent effort to reduce waste while appreciating the importance of recycling and reusing everything that fits into the scheme. Have recycling bins for plastic, cans, cardboards, etc and reuse them wherever possible. 

Healthy home for a healthy life

Better air quality is a huge benefit when you choose environment-friendly renovation. Ask any Toronto interior design company and they will vouch for significant health improvements from enhanced air quality in green homes. When non-toxic materials are employed in home improvement or home building it contributes to better air quality. Allowing fresh air from outdoor is the best way to ensure healthy air quality indoors.

Durability

Sustainable and environment-friendly home renovation also means high quality since green projects tend to last significantly longer compared to traditional home renovation. Across its lifetime, green homes can also save you money in replacement and maintenance costs. Further, green homes may also be eligible for tax rebates in some regions and you should check with your renovation agency Toronto on this.