Which Eco-Friendly Design Features Offer The Best Bang For Your Buck?

Sustainability is a top priority for a growing number of homeowners. When building a new home, there is an opportunity to design a home sustainably, right from the start. Additionally, adopting a sustainable mindset towards daily living after you move in, along with how you furnish and decorate your home over time, will make your home greener, while shrinking your footprint. 

Which eco-friendly design features offer the most bang for your buck? What are some tips for adopting the mindset to make sustainable homeownership a habit that will stick and offer positive change for the planet? 

Look For Eco-Friendly Product Certifications 

No matter what you are purchasing, look for the proper certifications. 

Lots of housing products and goods claim to be environmentally friendly, without certification. Look for third-party certifications that have specific processes and standards in place to maintain consistent, measurable sustainability. 

These are some of the most seen, and most trusted certifications: 

• Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)  

• Water Sense  

• Energy Star  

• Cradle to Cradle  

• Green Seal  

• Green Guard  

• National Green Building Standard  

• Global Organic Texture Standard  

When designing and decorating your new home, in addition to LED lighting, renewable energy sources and low-flow water fixtures, what features and products offer the most eco-friendly bang for your buck? 

Enhance Efficiency For Heating and Cooling 

One of the benefits of a newly built home is the chance to incorporate energy efficient, and therefore eco-friendly, heating and cooling systems, as the home is being built. 

Enhance energy efficiency by upgrading insulation, slowing heat transfer and further reducing carbon footprint.  

Investing in a high-efficiency heating and/or cooling system will reduce your energy bills and help the planet. 

Choose a programmable thermostat to make your heating and cooling use timed around your peak schedule, reducing energy waste. 

Choose Timeless Over Trends 

Indulging in the latest interior design trends is fun, but for better eco-friendly bang for your buck, stay timeless with your design and decor choices. Timeless design means that you have to update decor less frequently, reducing waste in landfills. 

Upgrade Windows, And Place Them Strategically  

Given that windows are essentially openings in the building envelope, they create challenges for energy efficiency. That’s why investing in double or triple-paned windows is money well spent. You’ll save money on energy costs, create a more comfortable home, and reduce your carbon footprint, all at the same time. 

Beyond making windows more airtight, placement in the home will increase green benefits. Place windows at the front and back, or on the side, of your home. 

“Homes don't have enough natural ventilation,” says Marla Esser Cloos, with The Green Home Coach. 

“Use nature to enhance design features,” she says, to create cross ventilation and address one of the greatest challenges in a built environment: lower air quality due to lack of fresh air. 

Green Appliance Choices 

Energy Star-certified appliances offer the most energy savings and operational cost savings. Smart tech features streamline energy use and enhance efficiencies as well. 

Induction cooktops use and direct heat efficiently, cutting down on cooking time, and reducing the amount of heat wasted, and spread into the home. 

Choose an energy-efficient washer with smart water use capacity. Look for an Energy Star certified dryer, or better yet, to be eco-friendly, line-dry your clothes. 

Look for eco-friendly small appliances too. Enjoy soda or sparkling water? Invest in a Sodastream, or choose a faucet with carbonation capacity to reduce plastic use and waste in the landfills. 

Sustainable Building Materials 

Several of the trending aesthetics, including biophilia and Japandi design, take advantage of natural, sustainable materials. 

In addition to being eco-friendly, natural materials lend a rugged, authentic beauty that is comfortable, cozy and durable.  

Look for recycled wood, recycled metals, natural stone, bamboo, and cork. For decor and accents, choose pieces made with natural fibers and textiles, such as rattan, cotton, linen and wool. 

Choose Low Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Paint  

While many household goods and decor items have VOCs that emit toxic fumes during off-gassing (when the chemicals are released into the atmosphere) paints are notorious for high levels of VOCs. 

Inside the home, VOCs lessen air quality, and can cause respiratory irritation, and several other health-related problems. Outside the home, VOCs contribute to greenhouse gases that are harmful to the environment.  

Several major paint brands now offer low or zero VOC paint options, in designer-grade colors, so you can be stylish, improve indoor air quality, and aid the planet, all at the same time. 

Upcycle Furniture and Decor 

One of the hottest interior design trends is blending antiques and vintage goods into modern-day decor. This has the added benefit of boosting eco-friendly efforts.  

“One of the easiest ways to be eco-friendly, especially with furniture, is to shop secondhand. The beautiful thing about secondhand furnishings is they've already off gassed for the most part,” says Esser Cloos. 

If you source a well-built piece that is solid, but doesn’t suit your aesthetic, don’t be afraid to refinish or paint it, or even consider alternative uses. 

Eco-Minimalism 

The clean, uncluttered lifestyle and design philosophy that is associated with minimalism is preferable for those who prioritize sustainability. 

Minimalism, at its core, means scaling back on “stuff”. This means more mindful consumption, less packaging and waste, and conservation of natural resources. 

Choose durable, timeless, multi-purpose items that are space saving, and have a longer lifespan, such as solid-wood furniture with built-in storage and/or seating. 

The Mindset Around Eco-Friendly Design And Sustainable Habits 

It’s a good start to design a sustainable home, but it’s how you live your life in that home that will ultimately dictate the overall level of sustainability. 

It’s important to note that sustainable homeownership isn’t all or nothing. “There are shades,” says Esser Cloos, when it comes to living sustainably.  

Homeowners may find it easier to adopt a gradual approach, because these habits are more likely to stick in the long term.  

It's not necessarily about living off-grid in a self-sustained home, but rather about compiling choices, and framing them through an eco-friendly lens. 

For example, every time you repair, maintain or replace something in your home, choose something that’s more eco-friendly. “Choose things that are energy efficient or more water efficient, less toxic, or off gassing less, says Esser Cloos. 

“Think about how you are living in your home, and how you can be living better,” she says.