Adopting environmental practices in all aspects of our life, is becoming increasingly important and the focus on reducing our carbon footprint will continue to inform our decisions. Even when it comes to the process of moving home; choosing a new home, booking the removals company and moving into a new property- there are several things you can do along the way to help make the process kinder to the environment.
When it comes to choosing a location, from a sustainability perspective it is of course most ideal if the property is located within walking or cycling distance of schools and places of work. Whilst it isn’t always possible to be so close to these places, it is worth factoring in whether the location is well served by public transport so that you have the feasible option of reducing the amount of car use in your day to day routine.
Structural integrity
In terms of the structure of the houses you are viewing, it’s important to find out about how well insulted the property it. For example, are the windows double or even triple glazed? Is the loft lagged to reduce heat flow? Not only will it reduce your carbon footprint, it will also reduce utility bills- which in light of the rising cost of living, will be advantageous.
Careful use of resources
Having a smart meter installed in the property, if there isn’t one already will be important to monitor energy usage. It’s also becoming increasing common to use programmable thermostats to control the temperature of your home on your smart phone or computer. There are also intuitive models are the market which learn your heating and cooling routines and follow them. So, for example, it will learnt that you don’t heat your home during the working day but turn the heating on in an evening.
Equally, solar panels are an important energy saving addition and the cost of these has dropped significantly over the past 20 years, making it a more affordable investment in the first place. There’s also some very handy devices known as ‘energy saving plugs’ which help to eliminate the costs of leaving devices recharging, or of being plugged in, for too long. There is the option of equipping your mobile phone to switch off appliances, devices or lights remotely.
Futureproofing
As the movement towards electric vehicles marches on, it’s worth keeping your eyes peeled for an electric vehicle charging point at the properties that you’re viewing. The country will continue to move away from petrol and diesel vehicles, so this will become an increasing important feature in homes.
Environmentally friendly removals
When you’ve reached the point of speaking to a removal company about planning the move, opt for a removals company who have a real awareness of, and dedication to reducing their carbon foot-print. Look for a company that has committed to reducing their emissions and are advancing ways of doing this. Research removal companies that have made commitments in this area and speak to their surveyors about this when they carry out a pre-move survey for your move.
