It’s a little known fact, but there’s a nasty little secret about green building.  All the ecological housing isn’t as good or as energy efficient as simply remodeling older homes.  For one thing, there’s the huge environmental impact of destroying the existing building.  Then there’s all the raw materials wasted by trashing a perfectly good, if old home.  And then, there’s the cost of rebuilding the house with green materials and green technology.  While people love to talk about green, nobody wants to actually pay more for a green house.

In the long run, owning a green home with fancy materials might be cheaper than owning an older home with normal building materials.  But what are the odds I’m going to live in a place for the 20 or 30 years it might take for the greening to actually pay off?  Slim to none.  Until the market adjusts to green tech, it’s just cheaper to green a house as you go along replacing older equipment, and more environmentally sound to boot.

Tags: green buildings, green homes, environmentalism, green homes cost more than they’re worth, green improvements not raising home values, the real cost of green homes, home preservation, Preservation is Green, Brantford, Ontario, Canada

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