When to Build or When to Renovate.
The practice of new construction, with all of the advanced green building techniques, is a lot quicker than renovating an existing structure.
But when you take into consideration having an existing building and infrastructure, we also need to know which has the greatest environmentally impact. While the simplicity of new construction might be desirable, the greater potential for decreasing the carbon impact during a renovation compared to a new construction is very evident over a 75-year life span of a home or building. The National Trust for Historic Preservation newly mentioned that the greenest building could be the one you already have.
A new building that is 30% more energy competent than the average building could take 10 to 80 years to overcome the negative carbon impact that comes with new construction opposed to renovation. There is a massive amount of energy and CO2 locked into existing buildings from the foundation, materials, energy to create new materials, move materials, etc. that provides a savings in carbon dioxide in contrast to the demolition (energy to destruct and haul away) of an existing building and the construction of a brand new structure.
CO2 emissions from homes or buildings consist of two separate sources: CO2 given off during the building development and the manufacture of the materials throughout the construction of the home which is “embodied”, and Co2 given off from the energy consumption of living in the space which is “operational”. Clearly renovating an existing building conserves significant CO2 emissions, but over a life span of 50 to 75 years there will be a crossover to where the 30% more efficient new structures would save more CO2 emissions through energy savings. But the question is – are short-term CO2 emissions more critical than long term greater saving, supposing everything else remains consistent?
The building sector expects that 25% of the U.S. commercial building stock will tear down before 2030. What if as an alternative, we recycle these buildings and retrofit them to high efficiency within the existing building’s restraints? We have by now made the CO2 investment in the “embodied” building so why not use again and retrofit as a most important part of our overall policy, and generate jobs and economic growth while decreasing CO2 emissions.
On a renovation project in a home a second floor master bedroom was added on the garage and a sun room addition that reused 25 sheets of plywood, 20- 2X8s from the existing home and 4 patio doors from another building being remodeled. The result was not only the zero energy from the material reuse but also extra saving that came about in not having to move the material from the factory. Also minimizing the construction waste moving to the landfill saves significant amount of money. Making the best use of the “embodied” CO2 and turning the home to high efficiency to decrease the “operational” CO2 gives a reason to people to call the place home.
New construction will continuously be a part of the building mix, but if we construct to an advanced standard like LEED and Net Zero Energy, we can overcome that 30% hypothetical operating savings for 50% to 100% drop in “operational” CO2 emissions. We need a future where new buildings require working at Net Zero Energy standard and Zero operational CO2 emissions and existing buildings get a new life at a greater operational competency.
If you are interested in getting more information on doing an addition on an Atlanta home renovation, or new custom home contact Eco Custom Homes at 404 303 7280 or email to info@ecocustomhomes.com, and we will be happy to discuss the options that are right for your needs.
