Assess your existing or proposed home with this two part free guide.
The Needs & Benefits summary looks at features and benefits for the following questions
• Will this home suit my desire to live a more sustainable lifestyle?
• Will buying or continuing to live in this home be an expensive mistake?
• Will this home be a healthy house to live in?
The Check Sheet rates the following on how they could affect the occupant’s health and ability to create a sustainable lifestyle.
• Location
• Access
• Land
• Indoor environment
• Outdoor environment
• Building
• Insulation
• Construction materials
While investigating a property recently for a client to buy Don realized that many people, including real estate agents, were unaware of how different homes could have a significant effect on both their personal health and their ability to live a sustainable lifestyle. Buying the wrong house could lead to poor health and expensive future renovations. “Some properties’’ he says “will never be made into healthy living environments due to their proximity to pollution and the lack of sun during winter”.
From this experience Don has developed a Home Assessment for Health and Sustainability that he is offering to home buyers to help them make informed decisions. This is a free guide and comes in two parts: A Needs & Benefits summary and a follow up Check Sheet. The Check Sheet can be used to rate a home or site before purchase.
“The house I was looking at for my client was in a gully and completely blocked by the neighbouring house to the north. I carried out a sun study and this showed that the main living spaces and deck would receive no sun for at least three months during the winter, partially explaining the damp musty feel of the house. Additionally the house was clad with asbestos lining and uninsulated. Naturally the recommendation was to not look into this house any further; in fact I believe that this particular house was so bad that nobody should be living in it”.
