The greenest building is the one that's already built

Visit us at EarthFest 2010 on April 18!  Ursuline College will be one of over 160 exhibitors at Ohio's largest environmental education event, held at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Ursuline students and staff will be on hand with an interactive exhibit that demonstrates how older homes can be transformed into greener homes.  Here are some tips to get started:

Insulation and the Foundation
The sill plate, where the frame meets the foundation, is often an overlooked leaky insulation spot in older homes.  Insulating along this point and in the attice and basement can cut 25% of the heating costs of the home.

Installing additional drainage systems may not be necessary with low-tech changes to the exterior of the house.  Use fill dirt to establish a slope of about 5 inches in the first 5 feet away from the house to create natural drainage.

Windows
Tearing out old windows and installing vinyl ones may seem like a good short term solution, but it may not be your best investment overall.  Vinyl windows have an industry-stated life of only 10 to 15 years and lack historic character.  Adding a properly fitted storm window to an existing wood window compares favorably to most new replacement windows from an energy efficiency standpoint.

A conventional window shade mounted inside the frame and touching the sill, with no more than a quarter-inch gap at the sides, can reduce heat loss by 27%.

Plaster & Stucco
Keeping existing plaster in your older home is the green choice.  There are 2,000 pounds of drywall in the average newly built single-family home. 

Considering a new exterior stucco finish?  Think lime.  Compared to ordinary stucco, hydraulic lime plaster releases only 20% of the CO2, saving your house from releasing 5,000-10,000 pounds of CO2 emissions.

Roof
The durability of older roofing materials, like terra cotta and slate (100 years plus), far exceeds that of modern roofing materials like asphalt (15-25 years).  Keep and repair them whenever possible. 

Consider installing a roof garden on a flat section of your house, as the rooms underneath can be up to 5-7 degrees cooler than the air outside in the summer.  Not ready to have moss growing overhead?  Choose a lighter color for your roof that reflects sunlight.  1,000 square feet of rooftop painted white has the same impact on global warming as cutting 10 tons of CO2 emissions.

Interior Materials
Retaining original materials such as wood floors, cabinets, trim, and doors retains the home's integrity and reduces the cost of having to newly furnish the space. 

Reusing these same interior materials reduces landfill contribution.  Instead of throwing away unwanted, gently used materials, consider donating them to "reuse centers" like A Piece of Cleveland.

Vinyl Siding
Covering your older home in vinyl siding jeopardizes the character of the structure by covering up decorative detail.  It may not be as inexpensive as you think -- vinyl siding has a life cycle of 15-20 years and may need to be replaced to retain curb appeal.

Vinyl siding is made with PVC (not biodegradable) and one of the manufacturing byproducts is dioxin, a highly toxic chemical.