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While the cost of fixing wet basements and adding bathrooms can add up quickly, energy upgrades can be folded in without putting projects out of reach. In fact, they don’t really cost that much more because they’re integral to the decisions and choices made in the renovation process.

If you consider your renovation from a whole-house approach, you might find that you can add modern conveniences (an extra bathroom, bedroom, or office space) and comfort without building an addition, and reduce energy costs in the process. The base­ment and attic are already built; you just need to use them. By adding rooms in the basement and attic, you often can reconfig­ure the floor plan to accommodate an extra bathroom, a larger kitchen, or a master suite.

Replacing the furnace, the boiler, or the HVAC...

■ BY BETSY PETTIT

In America, there are around 58 million houses that were built before the last energy crisis. Because these pre-1970s houses have little or no insulation, they are all ripe for energy-efficiency improvements. Houses eat up 20% of the energy used in this coun­try and account for 21% of the carbon diox­ide that contributes to global warming. This adds up to a huge opportunity.

America’s old houses can be made much tighter and can even approach net-zero energy use. Here, I’ll highlight three houses that my company, Building Science Corp., has renovated. Each house had different limitations and learning curves. I share one of the houses with my husband and business partner, Joe Lstiburek, and two of them have been used as our office space.

Renovating an old house is an expe...