Going Green: Simple Tips To Make Your Rental Property Eco-Friendly

You hear people talk about “going green” all the time but you kind of have to wonder if they’re really going green in their everyday lives or if they even know what it means to live an eco-friendly lifestyle. You see, the thing about going green and living an eco-friendly lifestyle is that you either have to be all in or you can’t claim the title of being eco-friendly.

It’s almost like how some people claim to be vegetarians but eat fish and chicken. You just can’t do that; you either are vegetarian or you’re not and that same theory applies to being eco-friendly – you either are or you’re not. Even if you do certain eco-friendly things but still do other non-eco-friendly things, you’re still not completely eco-friendly, sorry. But, if you want to start living an eco-friendly lifestyle, there are certain things you can do and incorporate in your everyday life to get you off to the right start. Businesses are even incorporating eco-friendly practices to appeal to a broader range of customers in various industries.

To continue on industries that are incorporating eco-friendly practices, can you think of another industry where sustainable living is rapidly growing? If you guessed the real estate industry, then you are absolutely correct! According to ecomena.org, as more and more people become environmentally conscious, they’re getting more comfortable with living an eco-friendly lifestyle. In fact, in the real estate industry, the more eco-friendly features a home has, the more appealing it will be to potential buyers or renters. Plus, that home will save on energy bills; up to 30%.

The great thing that is so appealing about sustainable living in the real estate industry is that you can customize a home to be as eco-friendly as you want it to be. For most people looking to start a career in the real estate industry and showcase eco-friendly rental properties, the easiest way to grow your portfolio is to take out a rental loan to get the properties you want. From there, you can add all the eco-friendly features you want.

Making Your Rental Property Eco-Friendly

First and Foremost, Rent to Eco-Friendly Tenants

Before getting into the eco-friendly features to add to your rental property, the first thing you want to do is make sure you’re renting your property out to tenants that live eco-friendly lifestyles. This isn’t necessarily you being picky or turning your nose up to certain interested renters, it’s more so you being selective in who you rent to because only eco-friendly tenants will appreciate the eco-friendly additions you make. They are also tenants who you probably won’t have to worry about destroying your rental – they will definitely take good care of your property.

Have Programmable Thermostats Installed

By having programmable thermostats installed in your rental property, this will give your eco-friendly tenants the power to be in control of the temperature in the home and with the tenants being eco-friendly, they are definitely going to be very conscious and aware of how much air conditioning they’re using. This will help them keep their heating bill at a reasonable price.

Install Low-Flow Shower Heads

Water usage is a big part of living an eco-friendly lifestyle. It will up to your tenants as to how much water they’ll use or how long of a shower they’ll take but as the landlord to your property, you can do your part by installing low-flow shower heads. The way these types of shower heads work is pretty much by reducing the amount of water that comes through the shower head without changing or reducing the water pressure. Adding these shower heads to your property can save about five gallons of water and make a huge difference in the water bill each month.

Install Dual Flush Converters

People don’t realize just how much water is used to flush a toilet… if you didn’t know, it takes quite a bit of water to flush our wastes down the commode. This is typical for the common toilets that are found in most homes and probably in your rental property as well. Instead of getting a brand-new eco-friendly toilet, you could just buy dual flush converter kits for your toilets. They’re not only easy to install but they’ll save on your water bill and they’re just better for the environment.

In fact, flushing the toilet is one of the daily habits that are bad for the environment that we do. If we can learn more eco-friendly alternatives to these bad habits, the world would be a much better place.

Caulk Air Leaks

In your rental property, caulking is one of the best ways to reduce air/heat loss and increase insulation. Have you ever been in your home and have the air conditioner on but it still feels hot in your house? That’s because there was probably a leak somewhere in your home. Air leaks is one of, if not the top reason why heating bills become increasingly high. Because your home feels hot, you’ll continue to turn your thermostat down to cool your house off when really, your house would already be cool but the cool air is seeping out of a crack near your window.

Conclusion

This is a project that your tenants could do on their own but they would first need permission from you but to prevent this need from happening, you should check all windows and the walls to make sure there aren’t any cracks or possible areas for air to leak out.