9 Green Ideas To Help Improve Your Minneapolis Duplex’s Cash Flow

As we’ve seen and heard in the news and likely heard from our agents, rising insurance rates are the result of countless claims filed by property owners in response to more frequent and catastrophic weather events throughout the nation.

And while shopping insurance policies may offer some near-term relief, we need a plan to help slow climate change or, at the very least, help us feel like we’re doing something to help correct the problem.

So here are 9 ideas to help reduce the carbon footprint at your Minneapolis or St Paul duplex:

1. Perform Eco-Friendly maintenance and use sustainable building materials. Choose products like wood, bamboo and recyled plastics for flooring.  Use low Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) paint during your turnovers, which takes fewer coats and doesn’t pollute indoor air quality like other paints.
2. Install energy-efficient appliances. This will help reduce utility bills.
3. Insulate with environmentally-friendly insulation rather than fiberglass. Again, this helps with utility bills.
4. Replace your gas boiler with an electric one. Unlike their gas counterparts, they emit no carbon dioxide or other pollutants. Better yet, they are more energy efficient. Nine states (not Minnesota) and most European countries have already pledged to phase out the sale of fossil fuel-based boilers and furnaces in the coming decades. Sooner or later we will too.
5. Provide recycling and compost bins for tenants. Then educate them how to use them. (This seems to be an ongoing process.)
6. Use sustainable landscaping. For example, use plants native to the area and that are drought resistant.
7. Employ water conservation measures. Install low-flow toilets, showers and faucets.  This will also help lower your monthly water bill.
8. Install and use renewable energy sources. Not only will you receive a substantial tax benefit, but there are ways of billing your tenants back for using the energy your building produces.
9. Offer incentives for sustainable behavior. If you pay the utilities at your duplex, you may find incentivizing tenants to reduce their consumption is not only better for the planet, but better for cash flow as well!

And if you’d like to figure out what the carbon footprint of your multifamily property is, click HERE.