Eco Home Upgrades Have The Power To Transform Your Whole Neighborhood

Home buyers are happy to pay as much as 53% more for a home that’s sustainable compared to a traditional one, Financial Review reports. And with 77% of U.S. homeowners now having made at least one green improvement to their homes, it’s clear that going green is well and truly mainstream. The reasons for this are fairly straightforward. Who doesn’t want to cut their energy bills or shrink their carbon footprint? But what’s less obvious is how these benefits ripple out. For example, eco-friendly upgrades can lead to lower bills for the whole community, cleaner air and even higher property values. As it turns out, sustainable living is very much a community affair.

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Lower energy bills for you and your street

Green renovations of any kind can slash your energy bills. Solar panels alone can save you around $2,230 per year while upgrading to an efficient heat pump can save anywhere between $600 and $3,100 annually with the exact amount depending on what system it replaces. When multiple homes on the same street reduce their energy consumption, there’s less demand placed on the grid at peak times. This strain is actually a key factor in power outages and the need for costly backup power. But when demand drops across the street, those costs fall too and this means lower bills for everyone in the neighborhood over time. For example, research has found that if you combine insulation upgrades with heat pump installations in multiple homes in the same neighborhood, peak summer energy demand decreases by 8% and outage hours fall by 63%. 

Even if you’re not in the position to completely upgrade your energy system right now, regular maintenance of what you already have can still make a difference. A boiler that hasn’t been serviced in years can burn more fuel than it really needs to and causes more emissions to enter your neighborhood’s air. Modern boilers are designed to run at around 90%+ efficiency, but a buildup of sludge and limescale from not servicing them regularly can really reduce that. Servicing your boiler annually keeps it efficient which saves you money and reduces unnecessary emissions in the process. 

Cleaner air for everyone

Heat pumps eliminate combustion entirely which means they don’t produce the nitrogen oxide that you get with traditional heating systems. Research finds that gas combustion from both cookers and boilers accounts for over 20% of nitrogen oxide emissions in cities, and nitrogen oxide isn’t something you want at all in your neighborhood. It’s a pollutant directly linked to asthma, heart disease, and neurological issues and it’s even a key driver of smoggy air that hangs over urban areas on still days. Just one house that switches to a heat pump can make a small but positive difference to the street’s air quality. This also matters especially for children and elderly residents who are more prone to breathing issues. When more homes follow suit, the difference to air quality for the whole street really starts to add up.

A greener street is a more valuable street

Green renovations can also increase your home’s value. On average, homes with solar panels sell for around 4% more than similar homes without. Energy efficient homes, like those with Energy Star certification, can also sell for 2%-8% more. But it’s not just about your own property. The more homes that make green upgrades, the more attractive the neighborhood becomes as a whole. If a street has multiple green homes, buyers can see the area’s a great place to live. Energy bills are likely to be lower and the street attracts neighbors who care enough to invest in their properties. It shouldn’t be a surprise then that 64% of homeowners would be happy to pay more to live in a green community. That rising demand benefits the whole street, even those who haven’t made a single upgrade yet find their property more attractive to buyers simply by being part of a greener neighborhood. 

Making your own home more sustainable can benefit your entire neighborhood. Every upgrade you make, no matter how small, helps make your street a better place to live.