How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint at Home

If you’ve ever tackled a new investment project and created a meticulous business plan, timeline, and checklist to go through, what are the chances you’ve incorporated creating a green property onto that list? When we think about climate change, we often think of big things that cause them—large cars, traffic, pollution. Rarely do we think about starting at home. The reality, however, is that minimizing one’s carbon footprint can begin before they ever leave their front door, and for investors, this creates big (and important) opportunities to seize.

This year, Temple View Capital Funding, LP (“Temple View”) and its affiliates have committed to providing innovative lending practices to investors, spearheading the important effort to create green residences and reduce carbon footprints on a larger scale. Temple View is the first private money lender to become carbon neutral and promote it as a benefit to our borrowers, partners, staff, and industry peers.

For investors, this means thinking of new, sustainable ways to flip properties or build new ones from the ground up. This means finding important ways to increase the value of a property while also encouraging prospective renters and buyers to live a lifestyle at home that protects the environment—without having to do anything out of the ordinary. It can all begin with the moment an investor receives financing for a new project, if not before then. These are some of the easiest ways to create greener properties for the market.

Use renewable energy sources

When harnessed properly, the earth’s elements can be quite powerful. Consider adapting renewable energy sources like solar, wind, air heating systems, biomass, and heat pumps. These alternative options can do wonders for significantly reducing carbon emissions both during the construction (or renovation) phase of a project, as well as once the home is built and lived in.

Not only will the installation of solar panels make properties more energy-efficient, but they can also create greater appeal for prospective buyers who will be drawn to a reality of cheaper energy bills. This also means higher property value for you, the investor.

Use sustainable material

Using sustainable materials is a major cost-effective way to reduce the carbon footprint of a property development. Did you know that approximately half of all CO2 emissions in the construction industry stem from cement production? Finding and swapping out to low-carbon cement is simply low-hanging fruit for creating a greener residence.

Consider weatherizing your property

This is especially important if you are fixing and flipping (or building new construction) in a part of the country that gets significant cold weather. Making a property airtight is one of the best ways to ensure an eco-friendly property since a tightly sealed home means less heating pumping through the space, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Of course, the same is true for the summer months. Keeping the hot air out and a cool interior means there’s less of a need to blast the air conditioning nonstop.

In some ways, the housing market can be shaped by the choices made by real estate investors who are revitalizing neighborhoods and bringing old properties back to life. Partnering with a lender who shares the same vision and offers lending practices to see the vision to life is just one critical way properties can become greener en masse. If you are ready to discuss your next carbon-neutral investment project, contact Temple View today.