As I sat down to write a few words, I read through a few of my saved articles for inspiration, and this article from Oprah’s website written by Winfred Gallagher really struck me. One quote in particular:
“We worry a lot about how our homes look, but how they make us feel, emotionally and physically, is far more important. That costly renovation or those silky sheets matter less than whether our living spaces nourish who we are, buffer us from stress, and provide opportunities both for privacy and for socializing with family and friends.”
Home is more than a building. It reflects who you are and what you value. If family is a high value for you, I’ll bet anybody knows that shortly after walking into your home. Likewise with fashion or style. But what about environmental sustainability? Is that value reflected in your home? Not many people realize that we can add this important value to our homes pretty easily. Most people think that it takes a lot of money to be sustainable.
Sustainable building doesn’t have to be about cost. It is about expressing who you are through your home and the decisions you made during the build. Did you know that sometimes just changing the way the house is oriented on your lot can have little to no cost impact on construction costs, but large energy savings to you? By rotating your home’s orientation to the compass, we can minimize direct sun exposure to large windows and reduce the amount of summer cooling needed. Or, perhaps you decide to use LED lighting during the new build rather than the standard incandescent bulbs. By doing this, not only do you reap the energy savings of LED lighting as soon as you move into your new home, but you are also able to use the bulk-buy ability of your builder to lower the up-front cost of these energy-efficient lights.
When we walk into our house, we want it to be home. We want to escape into our values and be ourselves. Choose the way you build your new home with as much diligence as you choose your colors, furnishings, and decorations. At Choice Builders, we have the heart of a teacher and guide you through the process so that you can be intentional with the values your home reflects. If conserving the environment is important to you, we believe that your home should reflect that as much as it reflects your family values.
Environmental sustainability is deliberate, but not necessarily complicated or expensive. Let us teach you how to choose sustainable features that match your values and allows your home to truly manifest what’s important to you.