Green Bathroom Remodeling Resources Chicago IL

When considering remodeling a bathroom, your first priorities are likely the aesthetics and the resale value of your home. There are many different versions of a bathroom remodel: a small bathroom remodel might require little more than a fresh coat of paint and new fixtures while others know they’ll be tearing out walls and committing the plumber’s cell phone number to memory.

Beyond the feel-good fuzzies of environmental ethos, there are three things that matter when considering whether to go green in the bathroom: conserving water, conserving electricity, and your indoor air quality. A green bathroom should save you money and contribute to your well-being.

Now a closer look at the available options:

Conserving water with low flow bathroom fixtures

Most bathrooms will have a minimum of three fixtures which include the showerhead, vanity sink, and toilet. There are almost infinite options when it comes to bathroom fixtures these days. Luckily, most of the best showerheads available today were designed for water efficiency and include a number of desirable hand-held, setting, and color options. We Lazy Environmentalists believe the low-flow showerhead is one of the best investments available for greening your home that’s both cost-effective upfront and resource-effective in the long-term. The next best improvement or upgrade is a low-flow, high efficiency toilet . Older toilets can use as much as 5 gallons per flush, while newer models use as little as 1.28 gallons per flush.

Using less water and less energy to heat that (lower quantity of) water quickly adds up to substantial savings on the utility bills. If you’re going beyond the new fixtures and new coat of paint remodel, many people will also consider installing an energy-efficient tankless water heater, but the cost-benefit analysis is still inconclusive from a Lazy Environmentalist perspective.

Walls, Shelves, and Vanities

If you’re going to carry your remodel this far, it would likely pay to bring in a kitchen/bath designer. These people have more knowledge of the latest trends, best fixtures, and most sensible layouts than other professionals including architects, contractors, sales people at the big box store, and your jack-of-all-trades brother-in-law. Hiring an expert kitchen/bath designer will ensure that you maximize your remodeling budget in a way that also maximizes the future resale value of your home. What you pay a qualified designer you will often save on materials through the designer’s purchasing knowledge and connections.

At all costs, avoid particle board in vanities and shelves, because it’s packed with formaldehyde and other VOC-laden toxins. An additional benefit of hiring a kitchen/bath designer is to keep it local. Hiring professional, local craftspeople means greater freedom and customization wit...