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Green
Bathroom Remodeling
When remodeling your bathrooms the first and foremost concern
is water use and the second main concern is energy use.
To reduce your water conception, install water
saving toilets, faucets and showerheads. When we
remodeled three of out bathrooms, we switched from the
old standard toilets in exchange for much smaller,
dual-flush toilets.
In addition, we installed water-efficient
showerheads and facets, which reduced out water
consumption by 32%.
When you consider the amount of energy needed to
purify our drinking water, and the fact that many areas
of our country are in drought conditions, you can fully
understand the need to conserve all the water we can.
Two products that you may wish to consider are: Kohler's
Master Shower Eco (www.kohler.com) and Niagara
Conservation's Earth Massage (www.niagra.com).
To help reduce energy cost, consider switching out your
energy wasting incandescent lighting with more energy
efficient compact fluorescent lighting.
If your bath room remodeling project involves
installing a new ceramic tile floor, you may want to
avoid adding energy-consuming features such as
underfloor heating, and heated towel racks.
Yes these items are luxurious but they will not
increase the overall value of your home.
They will however, increase your energy bills.
Before you pick up the sledgehammer and begin your remodeling
project, you want your remodeling project to last and to
be durable. Sadly,
it has become a trend for remodeling project to only
last a few years and many people are under the
impression that it is trendy to remodel every time
design styles change.
However, all the fixtures, toilets, tiles,
cabinets, sinks, etc that are tossed out are filling up
landfills. It
is estimated that approximately 40% of the waste in
landfills comes from residential remodeling.
No matter how energy efficient the products are
that you install, if you are remodeling every 5 to 10
years, you are adding to the problem. Therefore, when
designing your new bath room, make sure the design you
choose is one that is not only energy efficient but also
will stand the test of time.
As longevity is a vital part of going green,
which many of us have forgot about.
When tackling a bathroom-remodeling project, not
only do you have to consider the items that you install
such as water conserving toilets and showerheads, but
you also should take into consideration how you decorate
your bathroom once you have finished your remodeling
project. Items
such as rubber bath mats, plastic shower curtains and
even the paint you select could undo the environmental
gains your made. Therefore
it is important for you to also use environmentally
sound products when decorating your newly remodeled
bathroom.
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