The eco reno

April 18, 2011

Lydia McNutt chats with Peter Khatami, co-owner of Nostco Construction, to get the lowdown on eco-friendly renovations, how they’re done and when you need to surrender your tools to the pros.

Q. What are the top three ways to incorporate energy efficiency into your home renovation?
A. Use energy-efficient appliances and products. Energy Star is a government-backed symbol for energy efficiency that was established
to make it easy for consumers to identify and purchase energy-efficient products that offer savings on energy bills. Everything from plumbing, roofing, lighting, heating and cooling, insulating, appliances and even electronics could bear the symbol. So look for the logo on your next purchase.

Insulate. Most homes are under-insulated and all too often homeowners overlook the importance of this vital component in the energy efficiency of their home.

Seal all the gaps that are causing air leaks from your home. This could be as simple as applying caulking around windows and doors.

Q. Water- and energy-saving appliances and features for the home are more expensive, but do they pay off in the long run?
A. Removing the “eco-friendly” side of the argument from the equation, consider that almost every product in your house has two prices. The first being the purchase price and the second being the maintenance/operating cost. Energy-efficient products can dramatically reduce your utility costs and last longer than “conventional” alternatives. Energy Star products have been evaluated to ensure that their initial additional purchase price is offset by the energy savings of using that product over a relatively short amount of time.

Q. Do you have a lot of clients asking for eco-friendly features?
A. As much as I would love to say “yes,” the unfortunate truth is that the clients who do are few and far between. I suspect that a lack of consumer awareness about the different products available to us is the main cause.

Q. Are there environmentally friendly ways to take care of reno waste?
A. Absolutely, and since diverting products away from the landfill is the name of the game, consider donating to charity, selling or giving away as many of your appliances/furnishings as you can for starters. Next, separate your cardboard. You might be surprised but cardboard probably represents 10 per cent of all the waste from a conventional reno. You can also recycle your plastics and even sell some of your metal scraps.  These are all relatively simple and easy measures that we can all take to do our part.

Peter is co-owner of Nostco Construction, a design/build, project management and contracting firm serving residential and commercial clients throughout the GTA. With more than 10 years of industry experience, Peter prides himself in working tirelessly on behalf of his clients to transform vision to successful reality on every project. nostco.com

Filed under: RENOVATIONS