Green Home Renovations

We had a nice mention in today's story about green home renovations in the Commercial Appeal...

Dedicated recycler bones up on green techniques to pull off ambitious renovation

Ben Bradley didn't play with regular toys growing up.

He would just take them apart and put them back together.

"My parents finally realized they should not buy me typical toys, and started getting me radio kits and stuff like that," said the Arkansas native.

After he bought his first house in 2007, his old habits kicked in, and he began to take it apart.

Now that he has stripped it down to the bare bones, Bradley plans to put it back together keeping one goal in mind: to be as green as possible.

"I'm going to do what I can to the best of my ability. As a homeowner, unless you have a lot of money, it's hard," he said.

Not wanting to attempt such a major endeavor blindly, the local courier has done his research.

The same year he bought his house, he traveled to Global Exchange's and Co-Op America's Green Festival in Chicago to soak up some information.

"I was completely mentally exhausted. I was there until they pushed me out of the building," said Bradley, 39. "It was really liberating. All of a sudden I had more information than I even knew what to do with. It was like being drunk on information. It was like all of a sudden, this was possible."

He has zeroed in on a 90-percent post-consumer recycled insulation line made out of denim by UltraTouch.

"I got to play with it in Chicago. You can rub that stuff on your face," he said, something one wouldn't want to do with regular fiberglass insulation.

During his research, he stumbled across some high-grade energy-efficient windows, meaning nine Pella ProLine double-insulated, double-hung windows with Low E insulating glass.

"Those are top-of-the-line. They're some of the most efficient windows you can get your hands on," he said. "Someone ordered the wrong size and had to dump them. I got them for less than 50 percent of the retail cost."

He sized them to his 1,000-square-foot, two-bedroom brick home by taking out the existing sills. Not wanting to waste anything, he's reusing the old windows in his greenhouse out back.

Recycling is part of Bradley's routine

He takes his own to-go containers when he ventures to local eateries, and recycles his toothbrushes, mailing them to a company called Preserve, which turns No. 5 plastics into other products.

"I try to recycle any cardboard that comes off of any material, paper, plastic, anything I can," he said.

He recently purchased a case of Premier Industrial eco-friendly sealant low in volatile organic compounds (low-VOC) for his doors and windows.

Once he gets to the finishing stages, he's going with low-VOC paint and soy-based finishes.

Bradley began his travels down the road of ecological awareness through gardening.

"I started looking into Greenpeace and PETA and into who makes the products we use, what they put in our food, how the animals are treated," he said.

After he changed his eating habits, his quality of life changed with it.

"Once I started getting my hands on some decent food products, my sinuses and allergies changed dramatically. I thought, 'There's something to this,'" he said. "The people involved were less aggressive and more friendly."

He tends his own organic garden and has recruited the nearby residents of his Vollintine-Evergreen neighborhood to join him.

"We're working together so everyone's not growing the same tomato," he said. "Urban farming is where it's at. It's time for people to get smart and build their communities back up. You get exercise. And you meet your neighbors."

Although the MLGW EcoBUILD program was developed for new home construction, the utility's website offers some pointers on green renovation, including "conducting a Home eValuation energy audit," resulting in a "list of recommendations, with estimated costs and payback periods, as well as low-cost and no-cost tips."

"The challenge in pursuing green renovation projects is that you're looking at unusual materials, and you have to determine if they're as good as traditional materials," said MLGW strategic marketing coordinator Becky Williamson. "It's kind of a 'buyer beware' thing. Check the technical information to see how accurate it is. Understand the ratings. The Energy Star website is a great place to start. Someone doing it on their own just has to do a lot of research."

For Bradley, that's old hat.

"I've always questioned everything. I've never just accepted the way things are," he said. "There's a line from a song by my favorite band, Men Without Hats, that goes, 'I may not know what's right, but I know this can't be it.'"

Useful websites

Some sites to help green up your home include greendepot.com, greenamerica.org and energystar.gov.

Or go to mlgw.com, click on "For Your Home" and scroll over "Energy-Saving Tools."