Remodeling a bathroom incorporates many different facets of a home: insulation, plumbing, and finishes, just to name a few. As you begin your remodeling project, green thinking should pervade your entire design and construction process. Remodeled bathrooms that improve energy efficiency, reduce indoor pollution and makes use of recycled materials can provide you with a return on that investment every month you live there.
How to Get Started with your Green NYKB Bathroom Remodel
Things to think about when you are deciding on a bathroom remodel.
How many people will be using the bathroom –
Do you wish to keep the same layout – In this case NYKB advises to purchase items that are about the same size and shape as the existing dated ones.
Tub. shower, toilet, sink – you need to decide if you would like to keep the standard tub/toilet/sink originally installed or will you go for a new whirl pool tub, a new toilet with pressure assisted flush mechanisms or just a new water saver tub, an under mount sink, and don’t forget to think about COLOR! Your new toilet should be equipped with: effective flush volume that shall not exceed 1.28 gallons and solid waste removal must be 350 grams or greater.
Faucets: Eco-friendly faucets conserve water – a fast-depleting natural resource – and helps to reduce your water bills. Bathroom faucets account for more than 15% of all indoor household water use. This is more than 1 trillion gallons of water across the United States each year.
Tiles – Tiling a bathroom can create a clean and tidy environment, which is easily maintained. There are many different approaches NYKB can take to tiling your bathroom, from simple measures of splash backs against the bath, sink and shower, to part or full tiles. There are wide ranges of tile sizes and designs, along with a variety of colored grout that can add a different feel to the total look of your bathroom.
Counter Top – NYKB options to choose: Caesar Stone, Sile Stone, Marble, Granite, Concrete, Recycled Glass, Cork.
Lighting – Size, Style? Replacing a 100-watt incandescent with a 32-watt compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) can save you at least $30 in energy costs over the life of the bulb, AND, if every household in the U.S. replaced one light bulb with a CFL, it would prevent enough pollution to equal removing one million cars from the road
Storage – your family bathroom can accumulate a large amount of clutter. Whether wishing to store cleaning materials, medicines, children’s bathroom toys or your toiletries, there are various options available to you. A medicine cabinet that can be locked is an ideal storage item for these child-free items, whilst a bathroom vanity cabinet can hide many of the bathroom toiletries.
Ventilation – the majority of NYKB bathrooms have windows, which allow for natural ventilation, however, where there is no ventilation NYKB will need to install an extractor fan.
