Building a Healthy, Sustainable Home on a Realistic Budget

When you have a set budget for your new home or renovation, it can seem impossible to also include sustainable and healthy design features. I get how expensive it is to build right now, so anything “extra” can feel completely out of reach.

But sustainable and healthy features don’t have to be add-ons. Many of them can be built right into the base design of your home.

That’s not to say you can incorporate every sustainable and healthy feature without increasing your construction budget. There are plenty of expensive upgrades you can make in the name of sustainability, health, and wellness. But there are also plenty of ways to create a healthier, more sustainable home without significantly increasing the cost.

Some cost nothing more. Some are simply about designing or building differently. And others are trade-offs, where you can spend a little more in one area and save somewhere else.

Here are the things I’d like to see incorporated into every home because they can make a meaningful difference in health, comfort, sustainability, and durability without requiring a much bigger budget.

Start with a simple, intentional design:

Some of the best opportunities to make a home more sustainable and comfortable happen before construction even begins, and they don't require buying anything.

Start with how the house sits on the site.

Think about where the sun will be throughout the day and throughout the year. Depending on your climate and site, windows can bring in warmth from the sun when you want it, while roof overhangs and other shading can help keep unwanted heat out.

Then think carefully about where you actually need windows.

You don't need a full wall of glass to make a room feel beautiful and connected to the outdoors. A few well-placed windows can frame a view, bring daylight into a room, and create cross ventilation when operable windows are located to encourage air movement through the house.

Windows are also expensive and don't insulate nearly as well as a properly insulated wall. Using them intentionally can reduce construction costs while improving comfort and energy efficiency.

The shape of the house matters too.

Every bump-out, dormer, complicated roof intersection, and change in wall direction adds materials and labor. It also creates another place that needs to be carefully insulated, air sealed, and protected from water.

A simpler house can use fewer materials, cost less to build, and make it easier to create a durable, energy-efficient building envelope.

Keep Water Out:

Keeping water out may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you hear "healthy and sustainable home," but it's fundamental to both.

When water gets where it doesn't belong, it can lead to mold, rot, damaged materials, poor indoor air quality, and expensive repairs. And replacing damaged building materials over and over isn't particularly sustainable either.

The good news is that keeping water out usually isn't about adding fancy products. It's about getting the fundamentals right.

Start with the design.  Simple roof forms make it easier to direct rain and snow away from the house. Roof overhangs help protect walls, windows, and doors. Gutters and downspouts move water away from the foundation. The ground around the house should slope away rather than directing water toward it.  The use of basements and crawlspaces should be thoughtfully considered to make sure they’ll be safe from water intrusion.

Below grade, foundations need appropriate waterproofing and drainage so water isn't sitting against the house.

And anywhere materials come together, especially around windows and doors and where roofs, walls, and foundations meet, water needs a clear path back to the exterior.

Control Air and Moisture:

A drafty house doesn't just waste energy and make you uncomfortable. Air moving through cracks and gaps in the building can also carry moisture and pollutants with it.

That's why airtightness is such an important part of a healthy, sustainable home.

Creating a good air barrier around the house reduces uncontrolled air leakage. That can make indoor temperatures more consistent, reduce drafts, lower heating and cooling loads, and give you more control over the air entering your home.

And this is a great example of something that doesn't necessarily require expensive materials.

Airtightness is largely about how the house is built.

The details matter. The air barrier needs to be continuous, including around windows and doors and where walls meet roofs and foundations.

This is also where builder experience can affect cost. If a contractor is familiar with airtight construction, these details can become part of the normal building process. If it's completely new to them, they may anticipate additional time and uncertainty and price accordingly.

That doesn't mean you need to find the one perfect "green builder" who knows every high-performance building technique.

It does mean that it helps to talk about these priorities early. And once again, simplicity helps. A simple building shape with straightforward details is easier to air seal than a house with complicated roofs, bump-outs, and intersections everywhere.

A non-leaky house is the easiest way to make your house more thermally comfortable and energy efficient.  So if you’re debating over air tightness vs insulation, start with getting the house as air tight as you can, then add whatever insulation you can.

Bring in Fresh Air Intentionally:

A healthy home needs fresh air.

Once you're controlling the air that leaks through the walls and roof, you also need a way to intentionally bring outdoor air in and remove indoor pollutants and excess moisture.

We create moisture, odors, and pollutants just by living our everyday lives by cooking, showering and cleaning.  Furniture, finishes, and other materials can also release pollutants into the air.

An air tight home needs a balanced ventilation system such as an ERV (energy recovery ventilator) which brings outdoor air into the house while exhausting stale indoor air. It does this in a much more controlled and energy-efficient way than relying on random cracks and gaps in the building.

Kitchen and bathroom exhaust are another important part of managing moisture and air quality.

While this is one of the areas where creating a healthier home can add some cost, an ERV shouldn’t be looked at as an additional expense.  Mechanical ventilation is already required by modern residential energy codes in many places, so ventilation is something that is supposed to be incorporated into every home.  It shouldn't automatically be treated as a luxury healthy-home upgrade.

Airtightness and ventilation work together. One reduces uncontrolled air movement. The other gives you control over the fresh air your home needs.

Insulate Where It Matters:

Insulation is one of those invisible parts of a house that affects both sustainability and comfort every single day.

A well-insulated home needs less energy to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer. It also helps keep interior surfaces warmer or cooler, depending on the season, which can make the house feel much more comfortable.

The goal isn't necessarily to buy the most expensive insulation or put the maximum possible amount everywhere.

It's to create a good, continuous thermal layer around the house and pay attention to the places that are easy to overlook.

The attic or roof is often one of the easiest places to add insulation, and it can have a big impact.

Don't forget the foundation either. Because it's eventually buried or covered up, foundation insulation can be easy to overlook. But an inadequately insulated foundation can leave you with cold surfaces and uncomfortable spaces that are difficult to fix later.

Insulation can get complicated and if not done right, it can lead to moisture issues.  How you insulate your house depends on the climate that you live in, the type of insulation you use, and the particular design of your house.  This is where it’s very important to work with an expert that knows building science and how to insulate for your particular situation.

Choose healthier and more sustainable materials without assuming "premium":

Materials are probably where I see the biggest misconception about healthy and sustainable homes.

It's easy to assume that healthier materials mean expensive natural finishes, specialty products, and a big increase in your construction budget.

They certainly can.

But they don't have to.

There are places where a healthier or more sustainable material can be substituted for something you were already going to buy without dramatically changing the budget.

Flooring: Instead of automatically choosing vinyl flooring, look at linoleum made by Marmoleum. If you're building on a concrete slab, consider whether the slab itself could become the finished floor rather than buying another material to cover it.  If you want wood flooring, Kahrs is a good alternative to typical, formaldehyde-filled engineered wood.

Insulation: Wood fiber and cellulose can be a good alternative to spray foam in many applications. It can provide excellent insulation while using recycled material and avoiding some of the health and environmental concerns associated with spray polyurethane foam.

Cabinetry: A healthier kitchen doesn't necessarily require expensive custom solid-wood cabinets. Look at the materials used to make readily available cabinet options and pay attention to products with lower formaldehyde emissions.  There are affordable cabinet systems that can still help you reduce some of the pollutants you're bringing into the house.  I love IKEA cabinets! 

Drywall: Drywall is generally the most affordable way to finish your interior walls and ceilings.  There are finish options out there that may be healthier or more sustainable like plaster and MgO board, but that doesn’t mean drywall is bad.  However! not all drywall is created equal.  I really like using National Gypsum Gold Bond because it’s Green Guard Gold certified and more sustainable than other drywall products.

Paint and finishes: Annoyingly, paint is an area where a healthier option is going to cost more.  But it’s very important to choose healthy paint so I want to make sure I address it.  Think about how much of your house is covered in paint.  That’s a lot of off-gassing when going with regular, Low-VOC paint.  

And even more annoyingly, Low-VOC still off-gasses A LOT.  There’s a lot of greenwashing in this area.  You want a paint that is Zero-VOC.  And ideally one that has the Green Seal 11 Approval check mark.  Benjamin Moore Eco Spec is one example.  Mineral based paints are even better for you and the environment than latex paints but they are very expensive.  If you’re looking for a place to splurge, this is a good place to start.

Sometimes the healthiest and most sustainable material is the one you don't use.

Every additional finish takes raw materials and energy to manufacture, has to be transported to your house, costs money to install, and will eventually need to be maintained or replaced. If you can eliminate an unnecessary finish layer, you're simplifying the house while potentially saving money at the same time.

You don't need to find the "healthiest" or "greenest" version of every product in your house.

Instead, understand where materials have the biggest impact and make better choices where you can.

Make healthy and sustainable construction easier to build:

There's one more piece of the affordability conversation that doesn't get talked about enough: what your builder already knows how to do.

Sometimes a sustainable building practice gets labeled as "expensive" when the materials themselves aren't actually the expensive part.

The unfamiliarity is.

Contractors have to account for labor, time, uncertainty, and risk when they price a project. If you're asking a builder to figure out an unfamiliar wall assembly, air-sealing strategy, or flashing detail for the first time, it's understandable that they may add time and money to the price.

But that doesn't mean you need to find a needle-in-a-haystack contractor who specializes in every aspect of healthy and sustainable construction.

Instead, make the important things as straightforward as possible.

Keep the house form simple. Use familiar materials when they're a good fit. Identify the details that really matter. Talk about airtightness, flashing, insulation, moisture management, and ventilation before construction starts rather than after a problem appears.

And ask questions.

How do you typically flash your windows?

How do you create an air tight house?

How do you typically insulate the foundation?

Do you typically ventilate the house?

(These aren’t all the questions, but a good start 🙂 )

You don't need to tell your contractor how to build a house. But asking these questions can help you understand how they approach the parts of construction that will affect your home's health, comfort, efficiency, and durability long after construction is over.

Healthy and sustainable shouldn't mean "upgraded"

There will always be opportunities to spend more money on a house.

You can buy higher-performance windows, add more insulation, choose premium natural materials, install solar panels, or pursue any number of certifications and performance goals.

Those can all be worthwhile choices.

But they aren't what makes a home healthy or sustainable.

A healthy, sustainable home starts with the fundamentals: thoughtful design, protection from water, control over air and moisture, fresh air, good insulation, intentional material choices, and construction details that are simple enough to execute well.

Some of those things cost money. Many don't. Some are simply different choices about money you were already going to spend.

And that's the shift I'd like to see us make.

Healthy and sustainable shouldn't be a special package added onto a house after everything else has been designed. They should be part of what we expect from a good home in the first place.

Because ultimately, a good home is a healthy and sustainable home.