How To Save On Insurance With Eco-Friendly Homes

You may receive discounted homeowners insurance rates if you make use of energy-efficient features and sustainable materials to secure a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for your home. In addition, smart home appliances can decrease the chances that you will need to file a claim and earn you further insurance discounts.

Read below to learn about the characteristics of eco-friendly homes and how they could help you save money on home insurance and other expenses.

On This Page

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  What Does It Mean To Have an Eco-Friendly Home?

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  What Are the Benefits of Living in Eco-Friendly Homes?

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  Can an Eco-Friendly Home Help Me Save On My Homeowners Policy?

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  Which Companies Offer Discounts or Rebates for Eco-Friendly Products?

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  How To Make Your Home Eco-Friendly

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  FAQs

What Does It Mean To Have an Eco-Friendly Home?

An eco-friendly home incorporates materials and features that can help lower your family’s carbon footprint and limit the home’s impact on the environment, usually by lowering the amount of electricity you use. Some of the factors that can make a home more environmentally friendly include the following:

• Locally-sourced materials: The closer your home is to the materials used to build it, the less carbon dioxide vehicles will burn in the process of transporting those materials.
• Green windows: Certain aspects of the design of your windows can contribute to their environmental impact. For example, double-pane windows are adept at insulating your house, allowing you to limit how much you use your heating and cooling systems.
• Green roofs: If your roof is flat or has a minimal slope, you could install a rooftop garden, also known as a green roof, which insulates your house, stores rainwater and improves the air quality in your neighborhood.
• ENERGY STAR appliances: You can purchase a wide range of appliances like washing machines, refrigerators, freezers, air purifiers and dehumidifiers with an ENERGY STAR label that indicates they meet energy efficiency standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), meaning they require less electricity than traditional appliances.^[1]
• Smart home devices: Many smart home devices and systems can also help you save electricity. For example, smart home thermostats can often automatically adjust to regulate the temperature in your home and prevent you from wasting power.
• Solar panels: Even if you cannot collect enough energy to completely power your house, renewable energy sources like solar power can supplement your electricity usage and make your home more sustainable overall.
• Water conservation: Low-flow toilets, faucets and showerheads can help you regulate your water consumption. In addition, you could collect rainwater for purposes like watering your plants.
• Passive home design: You can limit your energy usage by employing passive design elements. For example, you could strategically install windows so you can rely on natural light more than electric-powered light bulbs. Well-placed windows also allow for natural ventilation that limits how much you need to use your air conditioning system and improves the air quality inside your home.
• Waste management: Recycling materials like paper, cardboard, glass, plastic and metal can keep you from wasting resources. It’s also important to properly dispose of electronic waste and other types of trash that could pose an environmental hazard.

The premier marker of an eco-friendly house is a LEED certification from Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI). GBCI issues points based on how a building deals with carbon, energy, waste, water, transportation, materials, health and indoor environmental quality. To be LEED certified, a building must score at least 40 points.^[2]

The easiest way to qualify for eco-friendly home insurance benefits is to purchase a home that was constructed with LEED certification in mind. While it is possible to upgrade an existing building to make it more eco-friendly, you will likely have to completely rebuild your home to meet GBCI’s standards.^[3]

What Are the Benefits of Living in Eco-Friendly Homes?

The most obvious benefit of environmentally-friendly homes is that they can reduce your energy consumption, thereby lowering the amount of fossil fuels you are responsible for burning and minimizing your impact on the environment. However, there are also several other practical benefits to purchasing eco-friendly houses.

For example, you will most likely pay lower energy bills when you use appliances designed to be energy efficient.

Other eco-friendly house features can lead to lower maintenance requirements and could even improve the health of you and your family members by improving the air quality in your home.

Can an Eco-Friendly Home Help Me Save On My Homeowners Policy?

You could save on homeowners insurance if you have an eco-friendly home because many insurance companies offer green discounts. For example, Kin Insurance offers a 5% home insurance discount to California residents whose homes are LEED certified.^[4]

In addition, some eco-friendly products could lower the odds that you will need to file a homeowners insurance claim that would cause your rates to increase. For example, many smart home systems can detect a leak and either alert you or automatically shut off your water supply, saving you the trouble of dealing with a sudden water discharge and subsequent homeowners claim.

Which Companies Offer Discounts or Rebates for Eco-Friendly Products?

Several national insurance providers offer lower rates if you have an eco-friendly house. Some companies also offer extra home insurance coverage to help pay for environmentally-conscious upgrades. See below for an overview of green discounts and endorsements from major insurance carriers.

How To Make Your Home Eco-Friendly

You may be able to receive support from the government in the form of a tax credit or grant in order to make your home more environmentally friendly. For example, the federal government offers tax credits that can cover between 30% and 100% of the costs of installing certain energy-efficient appliances like solar panels, dryers, ovens and water heaters.^[12]

In addition, your insurance company can help you upgrade your home to add eco-friendly features if your policy includes a green endorsement such as those offered by Allstate, The Hartford and Travelers.

Keep in mind that, even if you have a green endorsement, your insurance provider will likely only pay for eco-friendly upgrades after a covered loss, meaning you won’t have much control over when you can update your home’s features. You should also remember that, if you don’t have an appropriate endorsement, your insurance company won’t pay for any replacements that exceed your policy limits.