It's an approach to home improvement with the goal of not only making your home look better, but making it work better - for both you and the environment. Want a healthier home? Lower utility bills? Reduced maintenance? A cleaner planet? With careful planning, you can create a home that combines beauty, efficiency, comfort, and convenience with health and conservation.
These booklets are provided by the City of Seattle.
Green Home Remodel:
What is a Green Home Remodel, and why consider one? This overview guide answers these questions, as well as describing what a green remodel can look like and providing project tips.
Download the free guide: Green Home Remodel(190kb PDF) (We appologize, this link is temporarily broken!).
Hiring a Pro:
This guide outlines tips on hiring and working with design professionals and contractors when working on green remodel projects. A green remodel requires a new approach to the design and construction process; this guide will help you understand this approach.
Download the free guide: Hiring a Pro (767kb PDF).
Kitchen:
The kitchen is the heart of the home. As a room subjected to daily heavy use, careful consideration during your remodeling project can ensure it's durable, efficient and safe as well as welcoming and comfortable. The Kitchen Green Home Remodel guide examines everything from countertops to cabinetry, including the kitchen sink.
Download the free guide: Kitchen (647kb PDF).
Bath & Laundry:
Bathrooms today are both refuge and a place for the all manner of utilitarian tasks, such as washing the family dog. They also use large amounts of water and energy (used to heat that water and warm, light, and ventilate the space). Use the Bath & Laundry Green Home Remodel guide to help make important decisions on fixtures, flooring, and more.
Download the free guide: Bath & Laundry (496kb PDF).
Roofing:
A roof provides essential protection to the rest of your housing investment in this rainy Seattle environment. But beyond shielding your home from the elements, choices made when replacing your roof can help protect the environment and your pocketbook. See the Roofing Green Home Remodel guide (765kb PDF) to learn how.
Download the free guide: Roofing (496kb PDF).
Landscape Materials:
Your landscape is an essential part of the way your home presents itself to the world. Selecting materials that are low-maintenance, nontoxic, and kind on people and the planet is one way to tell your neighborhood how you feel about it. See the Landscape Materials Green Home Remodel guide for selection tips on landscape elements from pathways to pergolas.
Download the free guide: Landscaping Materials (1.5mb PDF).
Salvage & Reuse:
Seattle is a treasure trove of building materials. Remodeling projects often yield materials that can be valuable in the project or to someone else. Additionally, used building materials and architectural salvage from other projects can be readily incorporated into yours. See the Salvage & Reuse Green Home Remodel guide to learn how.
Download the free guide: Salvage & Reuse (431kb PDF).