Is Going Green Worth the Cost?
When Jason and Kelly Joseph, hardly the crunchy stereotype, built their new 2,800-square-foot Craftsman in Grand Rapids, they decided that the incremental cost of “going green” — $10,000 — was well worth the years of energy savings and air quality. In the Josephs’ case, green meant insulating the walls with draft-stopping foam (guess they didn’t…
When Jason and Kelly Joseph, hardly the crunchy stereotype, built their new 2,800-square-foot Craftsman in Grand Rapids, they decided that the incremental cost of “going green” — $10,000 — was well worth the years of energy savings and air quality. In the Josephs’ case, green meant insulating the walls with draft-stopping foam (guess they didn’t know recycled denim was an option), laying floors of wood from a sustainable forest and painting the walls with non-toxic paint. (We also heard a report on WNYC this morning that Walmart was soliciting proposals for going solar in all of its stores in five states–suggesting that there are savings in the sun.) The American Institute of Architects did a poll last year that found that 90 percent of people would be willing to pony up an addition $5,000 for an environmentally sound house. How about when it comes to renovations? Have any readers spent a little extra dough on green improvements that will pay dividends in the long-term?
Is ‘Going Green’ Worth the Cost? [CNN/Money]
i really wanted to go solar for electricity, but even with the tax breaks and rebates it’s expensive and doesn’t supply 100% or your electricty. you have to stay on the grid. i might reconsider because it’s important to me. on the other hand i think the technology is constantly improving and we may reach the point where the cost benefit ratio is way more in line.
Part of our long term renovation on our rowhouse in Red Hook is adding Solar Heat and Hot water. The cost is not cheap up front. The c15K figure is about on tareget with our estimates after the rebates, but it will amortize over time. We are not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination but we’re also not doing solar simply to save money, though it will happen in the long haul. We’re doing it because of environmental dividends, not financial ones. Because we feel we have to start moving away from our reliance on fossil fuels and the only place that’s really going to start is at a grassroots level. We could easily keep going with our regular utilites and not have to raise the money for this at all, but part of wanting to own our own home (as opposed to staying in our former co-op) was about being able to make these kinds of choices.
I’m just starting to learn more about building green. Alot of the things you can use material wise hark back to earlier vernacular building types and construction methodologies: knowing the sun and the seasons, your environment….
I would love to be able to use solar panels but they do tend towards big and expensive. There are some newer products that seem to function more like a skin, so that sounds appealing.
Here are some information channels:
The NYC Green Buildings Council is very active. They hold alot of meetings and forums and will include you on their e-mail list if you wish. Their sessions seem mainly geared toward commercial projects but they seem like a knowledgable and approachable group. http://chapters.usgbc.org/newyork/
Also, from time to time the NYC AIA has forums on green building. Anyone can attend, though there are usually fees involved. Here’s the link to their calendar.
http://www.aiany.org/calendar/
Yes there are a lot of rebates through NY State but the cost still ends up being around $15K. However if you know you’ll live in the house a long time and thus save money on utilities every year, or if the solar panels will be an appealing factor for resale (which I think they will be, more and more) then you get your money back one way or another.
Green building is going to be huge business. Huge. It’s the next thing. Anybody willing to set up shop as an all-green building home reno store in one of the hipper Brooklyn nabes, and establish their name before others jump on the bandwagon, will make good money.
I would definitely be interested. I personally think that there would be enough people to start an information sharing group… It should offer practical and realistic information, examples of what has been done in Brooklyn, companies, etc. (the usual Brownstone opinions), etc. Maybe if enough people knew the ins & outs and the prices, a real grassroots effort would become a reality…
We are putting cork floors in our kitchen. I guess that is green-lite.
no government rebates for solar panels as far as i know. you can get funding/help from the nys energy research and development authority (NYSERDA) but they are far more concerned with things like the boiler and windows than they are with things like solar panels.
I am going to be renovating a brownstone in Bed Stuy (currently in contract) and will be making as many green choices as humanly possible, definitely thinking in terms of the long-term cost and not the short-term (whenever I can… we are *definitely* not rich, can only afford this because we are doing most of the work ourseves, etc.)
It’s just more efficient. Global warming is important to me, but for me it’s about the frugality. This can be direct (insulation!!!) or more of a state of mind thing. I prefer bamboo floors to wood even though the price is comparable because they are globally frugal. And I would definitely scrape togethre 11K for solar panels because I love the fact that sunlight is FREE. Besides, solar panels could turn into that pennypinching ecstasy of selling power back to the grid.
What would the cost be for solar panel instalation on a Brwonstone? What tax breaks are available?