Well I should probably start off by saying that everything feels too expensive these days. Inflation has us all in sticker shock on a daily basis, and home building is certainly no exception.
However, this should not deter you from pursuing sustainable and healthy building options if you’re building or renovating your home, because a sustainable and healthy house doesn’t have to cost more than a regular house.
Also, I will not be talking about future cost savings in this post because I know that doesn’t help you invent the money you need now to build the house. Future savings (which will happen) will be an added benefit, but for now we’re focusing on the cost of building a sustainable and healthy home that isn’t more expensive than a typical home.
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How To Build An Affordable Sustainable Home:
Build Smaller
I know this doesn’t sound very fun, but it’s the number 1 way to afford the eco-friendly wellness home of your dreams. We tend to overbuild, so taking a look at how to reduce some unnecessary space in the house won’t make your house uncomfortably small. Smart, efficient layouts are key to controlling the size of your home.
Build Simple
A house with lots of jogs in the exterior walls and tons of roof lines is more time consuming and more difficult to build, so it’s going to cost more. (Btw it also makes it a lot harder to make your house air tight and durable). So stick to a simple shape for your house and bring life to it with your materials, window design, and exterior features like awnings and porches.
Use Passive Design Strategies
Use nature to heat and cool your home. It doesn’t cost any more money to design your house with passive strategies than without. All it takes is the foresight and knowledge to include these design features when designing your house.
Orientation, shape, window placement and room placement all impact how well the house will perform with passive comfort control.
If your house is well designed with passive strategies, you can make your hvac system smaller which saves you money upfront.
Eliminate
Don't build what you don’t need. For instance, basements are expensive to build when they’re properly insulated and waterproofed. If you eliminate the basement, you’ll save money by not building the basement, plus your slab-on-grade floor can double as your finished floor, meaning you don’t need to put any flooring over the slab if you don’t want to.
Download my free 10-Step Guide “Sustainable Home Design Made Simple” for the full step-by-step process of creating a sustainable and healthy home.
What to focus on first: where to put your money
Don’t feel like you need to make a perfectly sustainable and healthy home. That pressure will make you never be able to create your home.
Do as much as you can.
Passive Strategies
If you can only focus on passive strategies, that’s actually a lot. Your heating and cooling bills will be lower in the future. Passive strategies are free, so always include them.
Then focus on air sealing and good ventilation.
Air Tightness and Ventilation
An airtight house goes a long way in energy efficiency and healthy air quality. And a balanced ventilation system is an absolute must in an airtight house. These two go hand-in-hand, so don’t neglect the balanced ventilation system. A good ventilation system can be installed for a few thousand dollars. You don’t need the most expensive, top of the line system to have good air quality in your home.
Insulation
If you can get exterior insulation on your house, that’s amazing. But exterior insulation isn’t always attainable. It’s hard to find contractors that know how to do it, which means they might charge more for the install. And exterior insulation is more expensive than interior wall cavity insulation in general.
Oddly enough, figuring out how to insulate a home is rather complex. There are lots of factors to consider, mainly related to climate, contractor experience, and material access. There isn’t a one size fits all approach to insulating a home, so make sure to work with an expert that understands your local conditions when choosing how you’ll insulate your home.
Windows
If you can budget for fiberglass windows, they’re better than pvc (for long term durability and for the planet). Double pane glazing is fine if you’re really working on a budget but if you’re in a cold climate and can afford triple pane, go with those.
Materials
Spend your money on large surface area interior materials to improve air quality like wall and ceiling paint, flooring and cabinets and countertops.
Really focus on the air quality of bedrooms because you spend a lot of time in there, and your body is trying to recharge while you’re sleeping so healthy air is a must for bedrooms.
It’s also good to plan on non toxic sealants. In the grand scheme of things they don’t have a huge effect on the overall budget.
If you have more in your budget after focusing on these things, then keep going! But these items will get you very far.
Final Thoughts
Do the best you can with the funds you have! It’s all about balance. Don’t completely write off creating a sustainable and healthy home if you feel like your budget won’t allow for it. There are always things you can do.
And it’s good to keep in mind that there are all different levels of sustainable and healthy design. Every little bit makes a difference for your health, comfort, happiness, and the health of the planet and everyone on the planet. You can do this!
Download my free 10-Step Guide “Sustainable Home Design Made Simple” for the full step-by-step process of creating a sustainable and healthy home.