If you’d like to gain the benefits of eco-friendly design, you have two primary options: you could commission a new home with environmentally friendly features, or you could retrofit an existing house. Both options offer numerous green advantages worth reviewing with your family and building contractors, so you’ll make the best decision for your housing needs and the planet.

Green Retrofitting vs. New Home Construction: A Guide

Retrofitting Pros & Cons

Making an existing home more efficient with features such as improved attic and siding insulation, energy-friendly major appliances and water-saving fixtures, triple-pane windows, smart technology, solar panels, and HVAC system updates offers eco-friendly benefits. Retrofitting doesn’t require the materials or energy involved with new home construction, nor does it typically include land clearing and wildlife displacement. Retrofitting also saves time and is usually the more affordable option.

As energy-friendly as retrofitting is, there are instances where it may not be the ideal solution. The existing house could need so many updates that starting from scratch is actually cheaper. A home built in the 1970s that doesn’t have serious historical significance and needs a complete overhaul, for example, may not be worth the investment. Factors such as location also influence whether to retrofit or move forward with new construction.

New Home Construction Pros & Cons

While new developments can be less sustainable and more expensive than modifying an existing house in some circumstances, in others it will provide the perfect energy-efficient solution. Tearing down an old home that relies exclusively on fossil fuels in favor of green home construction doesn’t require using new land and therefore cutting down trees and rerouting drainage systems. Older materials could also be recycled into the new property if they’re still usable. 

New home construction provides the opportunity to create a wholly eco-friendly residence from the bottom up to reduce your carbon footprint. Optimal positioning for solar power, insulation, greywater systems, and other elements will keep your home’s energy requirements extraordinarily low. Custom building a green home also ensures it’s constructed exactly to scale so you aren’t paying to heat and cool space you don’t need — a perk that retrofitting doesn’t offer.

Make this important decision easier by discussing your needs with Zdon Builders, Inc. For over 35 years, the Deep River, CT-based building contractors specialize in green new home and remodeling services to provide clients with the modern, efficient spaces they want. Call their knowledgeable and adept staff at (860) 227-4127 to start your design journey or learn more about their services online.