Tweet

The time is right to renovate

Written by: Libe Chacos

Article Overview: Renovating has always had advantages over building or buying new: Stay in a neighbourhood that you like Save on relocation costs Save on agents fees for selling your existing place

The time is right to renovate

Because of new technologies and improvements in design and construction it has also never been easier to renovate, or even make minor modifications to your home that provide real benefits.

One of the advantages in renovating today is how easy it is to make your home much more comfortable, much more energy efficient and sustainable – and do so in a way that is healthy for your bottom line.

Banks see the value of energy efficient homes and a number of them will even reduce your interest rates if they meet some simple criteria such as solar hot water, and double glazing.

An example of this is Bendigo bank’s Generation Green home loan

To qualify for their reduced rate your renovation simply needs to include two of the following:

Double glazing, solar hot water, or 2500 litre water tanks

Or your home can have photovoltaics or a grey water system.

If you have thought about renovating, the time has never been better to be rewarded for creating a green home. We all want our home to remain a valuable asset. And now with the right knowledge you can turn your home into the ultimate ethical investment.

The good news is that its not just you that wants your home renovation to be a huge success and be highly energy efficient and sustainable.

Leaders in the Australian green building sector are promoting a cap-and-trade scheme for building energy efficiency to supplement greenhouse gas trading.

Maria Atkinson, global head of sustainability for property giant Lend Lease, and Che Wall, group director at Lincolne Scott consulting engineers and former head of the World Green Building Council, are behind a plan, which they hope will overcome limitations in current emissions-trading schemes.

They hope to create an incentive for achieving dramatic energy savings through fundamental building improvements. They argue that under current emissions cap-and-trade systems only incremental improvements are considered because of the strict rules governing those programs. Even those improvements often fall prey to the split-incentive problem, in which the entity responsible for making the investment is not the party that would reap the savings.

An advantage that you have over companies like Lend Lease is that you can cut through all the red tape and create a highly efficient sustainable home that is comfortable very easily.

Isnt it time to turn your home into the ultimate ethical investment and your personal oasis?

Related Articles
  Are Shelter Books Dead -- Or merely the new bridal magazines?
  TAKE, SHAKE OR BREAK
  Dare To Look Them In the Eye
  Highest and Best Use Analysis
  Real Estate Commercial Loans?

Article Tags: bendigo bank, building energy, consulting engineers, dramatic energy savings, emissions trading, energy efficiency, energy efficient homes, ethical investment, global head, greenhouse gas trading, grey water system, group director, home renovation, incremental improvements, lend lease, lincolne scott, right knowledge, solar hot water, strict rules, water tanks



Related Forum Posts
e-logos... great or? - I’d like to renovate the image of my business. I’ve hear about getting those from internet, but I wonder how it works about quality image and designs. It also concerns legal issues. If some of you have some experience on it, I’d be really useful
Start with Low cost website - Hi, our company had the same dilemma. we started out working with a small web developer, and created a very simple website, as we didn't have a whole lot of money to spend, and, like you, don't have much experience in web design. We spent less than $1,000 for a website that serves its purpose, and will soon renovate it when the funds become available and make it much more advanced. My recommendation is that you have one created right away, as every one of my customers or potential customers have asked for my website add to date, and I can't imagine telling them that we don't have one. For a simple, low cost site, I would recommend the developer we used. best of luck
Re: What Do you Prefer More - Time or Money - I tried to answer this question, and I think it is just like what came first the egg or the hen. I want money, everybody loves money, money can buy you time, and some other things too (like food). Personally I know that if I had a bigger budget I could use it to save time and use the time I "created" for other tasks. But I want time too, there is never enough time, even if you have all the time in the world. I noticed that when I have busy busy days, I can manage my time better. Many people suffer from this problem, the more things we have to do, we can find more time to do them. So I want both, I want money to by me time to make more money for more time, and to travel around the world.
Re: Welcome, Mal Tindle, our new forum moderator - Hey Mal, Never feel guilty for taking time off and getting away. Sounds like you had a great time! I took my laptop on my last vacation, but the only "work" I did was Facebook-ing, uploading pictures and checking email. I think vacations should be a time to get away and enjoy the things we couldn't otherwise, which means not having to do any sort of work during that time.
Re: What Do You Outsource Mostly? - I haven't really done much outsourcing apart from some articles from time to time and the distribution of my article to the various directories which I really don't have much time for, but I think in the near future I will need to consider doing a bit more as I find it really difficult to try and do everything myself. MichelleJ


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Quick Tips on Buying a Business

Living on The Edge of Chaos...

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.