Greening at Home
Local builders discuss ways to make your dwellings more sustainable, and affordable
Lexington, KY - Green options permeate practically every element of day-to-day life – from cleaning supplies to utilities, gardening to remodeling, transportation to grocery shopping, from drinking water to eating a peach.
Of course, with most over-saturations come some drawbacks – as Stefan Rumancik of Designer Builders mentions in this feature, the price on many green materials is overly inflated due to their current popularity; companies are taking a sentiment that should probably be reserved as good common sense, and capitalizing on it left and right.
While it can be difficult to decipher which shade of green any given company's motive truly is, the good news is that the green trend has undoubtedly imparted a higher level of environmental consciousness to every day decision-making for millions of consumers across the world.
The other good news is that there is no shortage of resources, both locally and nationally, to turn to for tips on how to lessen your ecological footprint – no matter how lofty your intentions (or your budget).
And even more good news: the government will pay you to lessen that footprint – Kentucky offers a 30 percent income tax credit for individuals and businesses for most energy-efficient renovations, residential or commercial, through Jan. 1, 2016.
Though transportation often takes the heat as the leader of mass consumption of nonrenewable energy, as Casey Mather and Michael Hughes of CSC Design Studio point out, buildings actually account for more energy consumption than any other sector. With that in mind, we turned to local experts in sustainable building and construction to provide some advice on ways to incorporate more environmentally responsible practices at home, whether it's building a new house or addition, or remodeling or retro-fitting your current dwelling.
These experts' perspectives on environmental responsibility and sustainable design go much deeper than the current green trend, and their tips range from the simple and every day (like opening your windows) to the ambitious (installing photovoltaic solar panels to move your home toward net-zero energy).
Given the complexity of the topic of sustainability, in all its facets, what follows on the next five pages is a general overview and starting point for anyone interested in making eco-friendly changes at home (we know you want to save Mother Earth, but the financial incentives from Uncle Sam certainly don't hurt).
Lexington is home to many additional experts on going green, and we encourage you to peruse the Bluegrass Green Guide at bluegrassgreenworks.org to explore further options.
Designer Builders Sustainable Construction, Inc.
Started by Ray Rumancik in Danville, Designer Builders Sustainable Construction has focused on sustainability since its humble beginnings as a small fence, deck and renovation company. Ray's son Stefan, who has been running the family business since 1998, recalls a green building project he completed with his father on their organic farm as a child.
"It was basically built out of trash," Rumancik laughed. The home's modifications were built virtually only with building scraps and refuse his father collected from other construction projects.
The green emphasis stuck with Rumancik, and his business has benefited from the trend in recent years. Still, Rumancik laments that sustainable materials are overwhelmingly priced higher than they should be because of that very trend.
"We give customers a discount on the material markup on a lot of our [green materials]," he said. "We installed a solar hot water heater for a renovation we did in Danville last fall, and I didn't mark it up at all – it's expensive to do, and I was just glad to get it on one of our projects. I really try to work with people on 'green' products and systems that we've never done before. It incentivizes people a bit."
This excerpt was taken from the Sept. 30, 2009 issue of The Chevy Chaser
and was written by Saraya Brewer.
To read the entire article online click here or to download the PDF version click here.
|
