Energy efficient homes have begun popping up all across the country, with many homeowners looking to jump on the green bandwagon for reasons environmental or financial – or in many cases, both. The trend has started to reach Kansas City, where many local home builders are now rushing to meet this surging demand for eco-friendly housing. Local affiliate KCTV5 News reports that developers in the Missouri metro are emphasizing three key factors in creating a green home: energy efficiency, improved air quality and renewable resources.
Local home builder Gerry Starr specializes in environmentally-friendly home designs and incorporates a variety of efficiency tools into his projects. These methods include reinforced insulation to save money on heating and cooling expenses, cutting-edge air filtration systems that make use of fresh outdoor air and high-quality windows that block out extra heat from sunlight.
"It gives you a 35 percent reduction in your solar heat gain," Starr told the source. "And it blocks about 90 percent of the UV rays, so it's better on fabrics and things like that inside the house."
Sandy Adomatis, a local home appraiser, added that green upgrades offer a substantial boost in value should you ever want to put your property on the market. In some cases, a green home could net thousands of extra dollars on resale.
You don't have to build a home from scratch to go green, though. Nor do you have to live in Kansas City to take advantage of eco-friendly upgrades. Maryland homeowners looking to adopt a more energy efficient lifestyle can schedule an appointment with local Maryland home inspectors to get an assessment done of their property. This evaluation, also known as an energy audit, can identify ways in which your house may be wasting energy and what steps can be taken to address them – improving efficiency, reducing environmental impact and saving on utility costs all in one fell swoop.