As the fall harvest winds down with freezing the vegetables (no pickling this year) and prepping the seeds for next, my efforts turn to the green renovation project consultancy I feel is needed. I’m still “validating” the service, which means finding out what people want.

The goal is to:

  • impact the natural world less by conserving the resources your home uses (electricity, water, landscaping, etc),
  • protect your abode and your investment in it by enhancing its quality, durability, and appeal.

That sounds dry and market-y, but really, the more long-range the decisions you make, the better your home’s intrinsic and emotional value will be. Because people want to live in a place that is not only green, but unique, well-designed/considered, and loved.

When I came up with this idea, I wanted to learn the business by doing it for myself. Over the past year, I took a course on home renovation put on by Héritage Montréal, and then put my new knowledge and project management skills to work.

Project Management Plan

I created a large project plan based on the scope and systems I wanted to change, in logical order. I tabulated the different government subsidy programs intended to kickstart and consolidate the sometimes-lagging green renovation economy here in Quebec. Across various months, the following items emerged:

  • A multi-step lighting renovation:
    • Remove the recessed lighting and seal the second-floor ceiling (venting into the attic, not good! – just done)
    • Reinstall these same halogen/LED-compatible fixtures to the downstairs home office/den (just done)
    • Lighting changed in the main floor bathroom (done), as well as decor changes that the new upstairs bathroom lighting required (vanity counter and sink, new fixtures – to do)
    • Install two solar tunnels to introduce light at the central stair column and provide extra brightness in the main bathroom (procurement under way)
  • Replace an open pre-fabricated fireplace with a high-efficiency pellet stove for auxiliary heating (researching)
  • Insulate an inadequately sealed storage room, to help with what I would call extreme coldness of the room above the storage room (scheduled).

Upcoming work

Without heating the upstairs, temperatures in January tended to be 4-6ºC in the storage room and 10-14ºC in the brown/green bedroom above it (which is why I keep the door closed). The other two bedrooms are a balmy 16ºC, which is good enough for sleeping.

But because that bedroom is so cold, I know I have a problem. I’d love to get a thermographic scan of my house, and upgrade the insulation. The outside wall is siding and not brick, and it has building wrap/insulation/vapour barrier issues. It’s way too hot in summer and too cold in winter, the closet is the part that overhangs my front step, so it’s cold on 3 sides (back wall, side wall, floor). This could be an expensive one to fix. But if it brings me closer to an energy efficiency that pays off, it’ll be an entrepreneurial skill I can use to help other homeowners lower their environmental impact.

However, I doubt I can address any of these issues this winter, so I’ll concentrate on the list above.

Spring, when it comes, is going to be a treat. I’ve wanted to convert my driveway to a green driveway almost since the very beginning, scoping out the project five years ago. It’ll be done in April and I’m looking forward to that!