Want
to go green and don't know where to start? Pick
one thing that is important to you. Are you concerned about
your family's health? Look at ways you can eat healthier.
Need relief from rising energy costs? You can slash your
electric bill in a hurry by switching to LED lighting and eliminate
phantom loads. You'll find that once you start making small
changes and realizing the big benefits, you'll find it
easier to spot the next step you can take for an even
greater impact. The important thing is that you do something.
Anything!
Remember,
you don’t have to jump in with both feet and feel
overwhelmed in your quest to go green. Even a small step is
a step in the right direction. When you tally up all the
little steps each of us as individual makes, they add up to
a big difference.
Check
out these tips on going green and keeping a little (or a
lot) more green in your pocket.
Get
Audited (it's a good thing)
I think most of you will agree that rising energy costs are
major concern. Here's a breakdown of how we use energy. In
the average American household about 45% of the total
energy used goes to heating and cooling, 33% goes to
lighting, cooking and other appliances, 14% goes to water
heating and the remaining 9% goes to refrigeration and
other uses. So the question on everyone’s mind is “How
do I reduce the amount of energy I use, meaning the amount
you pay to the utility companies, (and here’s the big
part) WITHOUT sacrificing creature comforts?”
That’s
were an energy audit comes into play. Hire an energy
efficiency expert to come to your home or business and
assess your current energy use, perform tests using tools
and techniques such as thermal imaging to measure heat
loss, and offer recommendations where you could make
improvements. They can be found in your local telephone
directory under the heading of "Energy". This is
a more thorough evaluation than a self-audit.
A
self-audit it just that. An examination you perform
yourself. Some of the key places you’ll want to look are
around windows and doors for air leaks, make sure your
attic has the proper amount of insulation, insulate heating
and a/c ducts, fix leaking duct work, change out old
standard incandescent light bulbs for compact florescent,
cold cathode or LED lights.
Seal
Those Leaks
First, take a look at your windows and doors. You can
perform a simple door test with a dollar bill. Open the
door and lay a dollar bill across the doorjamb. Now close
the door and try to pull the dollar bill out. If it comes
out easily, you need to add or install weather striping.
You can also do this test on your refrigerator &
freezer doors to see if it’s time to replace the seal
there. Here’s another test for windows and doors and
requires two people, a hair dryer and a candle. One person
goes outside with the hair dryer and the other is inside
the window with the candle. With the hair dryer on high,
slowly move it around the outside of the window. The person
inside follows the movement of the hair dryer with the lit
candle. You can judge amount of air loss by the movement of
the flame. Caulking around leaky windows will reduce the
amount of heating or cooling you will loose.
Another
place to look for air leaks that a lot of people don’t
even think about is light switches and outlets located on
exterior walls. If you hold your hand close to the
receptacle or switch and feel a draft, install a specially
made insulating pad behind the cover. They are readily
available at hardware stores. They are inexpensive and can
make a considerable difference.
Insulate,
Insulate, Insulate
Next, take a look at
your insulation. Only 20% of homes built before 1980 are
well insulated. Most US homes should have between R-22 and
R-49 in the attic. What this boils down to is, if you have
less that 7” of fiberglass or 6” of cellulous
insulation you could benefit from more. The ZIP Code
Insulation Calculator is a very useful web-based tool. It
can be found at
and as the name suggests, you enter your ZIP code and it
will tell you the amount of insulation recommended for your
area. One of the most cost effective ways to make your home
more comfortable year round is to add insulation to your
attic, since it minimizes both heat loss in the winter and
heat gain in the summer.
Crawl
spaces are often overlooked when it comes to insulation. To
address moisture concerns, the best type of insulation to
use in crawl spaces or similar areas is a bubble wrap type.
This type of insulation looks very much like bubble wrap
you use when shipping packages, but it has a foil coating
on one side. It gets stapled to the underside of the floor
joists with the foil side facing up. Not only does it keep
cold air from coming up through the floor, it also will
reflect any heat that is lost through the floor back up
into your living space.
Ductwork
that is not insulated and runs through an unheated space,
such as an attic, basement or crawl space, and leaky
ductwork can be other major sources of heat loss.You can loose up to 60% of heated air before it
reaches the register if your ductwork is not insulated and
it runs through an unheated space. Sections of duct work
that are not properly joined together, I’m talking about
both supply and return, will leak heat or air conditioning
into unconditioned spaces and pulls unconditioned air into
the return duct work. In both cases your HVAC system has to
work nearly twice as hard, meaning it uses twice as much
energy, to maintain the temperature set at the thermostat.
One tip here: Don’t use cloth backed adhesive duct tape
to repair leaky ductwork. It deteriorates very quickly.
Instead use a foil or other heat approved tape.
Other
energy savings measures include programmable thermostats,
thermal window coverings, compact florescent light bulbs
and power strips to eliminate phantom loads.
A
programmable thermostat can save 10% per year in heating
and cooling cost. Why run your heater or air conditioner
all day if you’re not home? Lowering your water heater to
120°F can save a considerable amount of energy. Insulated
curtains or blinds will minimize heat loss in the winter
and block the sun in the summer.
See
The Light (LED lighting of course)
There’s been a lot of talk recently about LED lights. They are more expensive
than traditional incandescent bulbs, but last much longer
and use considerably less electricity. Count the total
number of light bulbs that are in the most used areas of
your home. Now divide that number by 4. The answer you come
up with is the number of bulbs you need to replace with
compact florescent bulbs to cut the amount of electricity
used for lighting in half. (Remember, lighting makes up
almost 1/3 of your electric bill). It’s one of the
fastest ways to reduce your electric bill. Just imagine the
savings if you replaced all your light bulbs with LED's.If every household in the U.S. replaced just ONE
incandescent light bulb with an LED light, it would eliminate the
equivalent of the emissions created by one million cars. If
you can't afford to replace all you lights at once, commit
to replacing one a month or as the old ones burn out. Need
help choosing residential or commercial LEDS?
Get
Rid of Your Ghosts
Another topic you may have heard recently is “Phantom
Loads”. This is electricity that is being consumed even
though an appliance is not in use. Almost anything with a
digital display (microwave, toaster oven, DVD player, video
game system) and some things that don’t(TVs, laptops and cell phone charges) all generate phantom
loads. Seventy-five percent of the electricity used to
power home electronics is consumed while the product is
“turned off”. Super thirsty phantoms, we call them
vampires, are the power cords with transformers, the
little, chunky black box. They use 20% to 50% of their
electricity when nothing is pulled into them. Putting this
type of equipment on a power strip, and turning the power
strip off when not in use, allows you to easily eliminate
phantom loads. Go for a "Smart Strip" for your TV
and video equipment. It will automatically turn the strip
off when you power off the TV.
Those
of you on metered water, you know this is just one more
bill that can add up quickly. Older toilets are one of the
worst water wasters in American homes today. Many use a
whopping 3.5 gallons per flush.
What
if you have an older toilet that’s working fine and you
don’t want to go to the expense of replacing right now. A
very low cost solution is to put a brick, or two, in your
toilet’s water holding tank. The brick reduces the amount
of water needed to fill the tank. Be sure to position the
brick so it does not interfere with the flapper valve or
float.
When
you do go to upgrade your bathroom fixtures, chose low
flush toilets, and water saving showerheads and faucets and
be sure to look for the label. It’s the EPA's new water use rating
system and is similar to the rating given to electric appliances. Many people
have the misconception that by using a water saving
showerhead, they’ll have reduced water pressure. This
simply isn’t true. By introducing air into the water
stream the pressure is actually increased. If you haven’t
looked at the wide variety of water saving showerheads
available today, you should take another look. They are not
the no-frills, utilitarian ones of the 1980s.One 10-minute shower per day with a water saving
showerhead can mean saving 10,000 gallons of water a year.
Using
a rainwater capture system can greatly reduce the amount of
water needed from your home water source for watering your
lawn, garden or landscaping. Simple rainwater capture
systems consist of a barrel at the bottom of your homes
down spout. Some have spigots near the bottom of the barrel
to attach a regular garden hose or drip irrigation hose.
More complex rainwater capture systems can be connected to
automatic sprinkler systems or even piped into the house
for flushing toilets. Using plants that are native to the
area is also a good way to decrease water use. Since they
are accustomed to regional climate changes, they require
little or no watering between rainfalls.
Indoor
Air Quality There are
a lot of he doom and gloom statistics as it relates to how
we got were we are today. But don’t worry; there is good
news at the end.
The
fact that we are getting so good at being energy efficient
has a flip side. When we “tighten up” your home by
sealing leaks and adding insulation, we are no longer
allowing the bad stuff out. The EPA recently stated that
the air inside your home or office is likely to be 3x worse
than the air outside, and we all know how bad that can be.
Almost everything we bring into our homes emits some type
of fumes. New carpet or new particleboard furniture off-gas
formaldehyde. The odor new paint gives off are actually
volatile organic compounds or VOCs. VOCs are also found in
many adhesives and can be highly toxic. Regular indoor
latex paint can off gas for up to 2 years, not just the day
or 2 that you can smell it. Why do you think the label
says, “use in a well ventilated area?”
However,
you do have options when buying new products for your home.
Take carpet for example. Look for natural fibers like wool
or jute in the carpet and backing. Also look for a green
certification label. Most of the major carpet manufacturers
now offer healthier, non-toxic product lines. It used to be
that buying environmentally friendly paint was very
expensive and color choices were limited. Now you can go
into any home improvement store and purchase low or no-VOC
paint in a wide spectrum of colors for the same price as
regular latex paint.
Poor
indoor air quality has been shown to be a contributing
factor in the dramatic increase in respiratory ailments in
this country. Diseases like Asthma and allergies. If you
were born in the 50s, 60s or 70s, think back to when you
were in school. How many kids did you know that had asthma
or carried an allergy relieving prescription drug or
inhaler to ward off “an attack”? Now think how many
people you know today that take medication for allergies,
asthma, bronchitis or other breathing problem? We’ve been
bombarded with these toxins for so long that our bodies are
no longer able to fight them off on our own. Studies show
that children are especially susceptible to these problems.
The
Chemistry Experiment Under Your Sink Household
cleaning products are another source of toxins polluting
the air inside our homes. Did you know that using aerosol
air fresheners can increase your risk of cancer of the
lymph nodes by 60%”!
There
is a wide variety of environmentally friendly cleaners
available in retail stores today. Brands like Method,
Seventh Generation and many others use safe, natural
ingredients like citrus and vegetable oils. Or better yet,
make your own from the non-toxic, safe ingredients you
probably already have in your pantry. Search the Internet
for "Natural Cleaning Recipes" and you'll find a
whole list of free, low cost, effective cleaners you can
make at home. If you are short on time or just don’t want
to make your own green cleaners, hire a “green
cleaning” service - a cleaning service with a
healthy twist. They use nothing but environmentally
friendly, non-toxic cleaners and help you detoxify the air
inside your home or office.
Breathe
a Sigh of Relief Ok, I
promised you good news. So here it is. You can take control
of your own indoor environment. First, a couple low costs
solutions:houseplants
(spider plants and ivy in particular), HVAC “tacky
filters” and natural, non-toxic cleaning products.
Spider
plants and ivy are shown to have three times the “air
scrubbing” capabilities of other houseplants and they are
very inexpensive and easy to grow. They help remove
formaldehyde and other toxins.
Replace
the filter in your HVAC system or whole house fan with one
that has a stick film that will capture the “big stuff”
like dust and pet dander. Most of these filters run in the
$10-20 price range.
Help!
They're Already Here
But what if just put in new carpet, or your furniture
is relatively new and you're not ready to get rid of it
just yet, or you just bought a new house and you're pretty
sure they used regular latex paint? You can still take
steps to greatly improve your indoor air quality. In this
situation one of the best things you can do for yourself is
invest a couple hundred dollars in a good quality air
filtration system. I’m not talking about the kind you can
buy at the big box or local hardware store. These units do
little more that filter out the big particles like a tacky
filter and most of them produce ozone, a known carcinogen.
You
may have heard thatSharper
Image recently filed bankruptcy. According to Consumer
Affairs it’s because of the class action lawsuit filed
against them pertaining to their Ionic Breeze air system,
which is probably one of the most widely recognized brand
names on the market today. If you read the fine print, the
Ionic Breeze carries a warning that says not to use the
unit in enclosed spaces if your have a respiratory ailment.
Who do they think are buying these products? Why does it
issue that warning? Because it emits unhealthy levels of
ozone.
California
recently passed a bill banning any air
filtration system that produces ozone and I think you’ll
see other states instituting a ban as well.
If
you need help wading through the mountains of information
about air filtration systems on the market today, contact
us, we can make recommendations and help you choose the
system that is right for your situation and conditions.
Water,
Water Everywhere but Is It Safe to Drink Now you
know how to clean up the air in your home. What about the
water. Here are some more doom and gloom statistics, but
just like before, there’s a healthy solution.
So
my question to you is - Do you really know what’s coming
out of your faucet? I can tell you, you’d be surprised to
find what’s still lurking in your tap water.
Municipal
water treatment plants only do a superficial job at
treating the water that is pumped into your home. They add
chemicals such as chlorine to eliminate microbes, but they
don’t address other problems like sediment and organic
matter. So in simpler terms, they get rid of the pests, but
not the pollutants.
You
might one of the 50% of Americans who doesn’t want to
drink tap water so you drink bottled water. The truth is
most bottle water is no better, and sometimes slightly
worse, than tap water. For the most part, bottled water is
water that is filtered to remove the “big chunks” (like
sand and sediment) but not the pollutants. So to get rid of
the pollutants, they zap it with ozone (we already know
that’s not good), stick in a plastic bottle, pop a lid on
it and ship it off to sit in a warehouse or stock room
until it’s sold. And it’s expensive. More expensive per
gallon than today’s gas prices. Buying 2-3 bottles of
prepackaged water per week adds up to somewhere in the
neighborhood of $225 per year! And there’s also the
concern about the bottles themselves leaching some pretty
nasty contaminates back into the water.
You
might have a reverse osmosis or some other type of whole
house filtering system. Well at least that's better than
nothing and it's fine for showering and laundry. But most
home filtering systems filter out everything – the bad
and the good. It might be contaminate free, but it’s what
I would consider “dead water” that’s been striped of
the beneficial trace minerals our bodies need.
After
drinking a big glass or a bottle of water, do you ever get
that sloshy feeling? You know, where you can feel or hear
the water splashing around inside your stomach? The reason
you’re feeling that is because the processes your water
goes through before it reaches you make the water molecules
clump together and they are not as easily absorbed by the
body. Health professionals tell us we should be drinking
more water, right? So what are you supposed to do?
I'm
In Charge
By filtering your own drinking water at home and using a
non-toxic, refillable water bottle, you control not only
the cost but also the quality of the water you drink. In
order to do this you need is a water filtration system that
reduces 90% or more of the contaminates listed in the ANSI
42 and 53 standards for water testing. I know that’s a
mouthful, but what it basically means is that you need a
home water filtration system that gets rid of all the bad
stuff like chlorine, odor, lead and VOCs and replenishes
the good minerals and nutrients our bodies crave. Taking
that "dead water" and turning it into living,
healthy water.
Just
like with the air filtration systems, contact
us, we can help you choose the water filtration system
that is right for you.
Let's
Talk Trash
If you haven't seen the 20-minute video called “” by Annie Leonard, you should take the
time to watch it. The Story of Stuff tells how “We”
here in the US have become a society of over-consumers. And
have not only have we used up our own natural resources and
are going overseas to use up other nations resources. It
also shows how we are polluting our environment and
drinking water sources with industrial by-products and
running out of landfill space with the massive amounts of
trash we produce.
Did
you know the average American produces 4.5-5 pounds of
garbage a day? That’s twice as much as 30 years ago. Let
me ask you a question. When you throw something away, were
is “away”. Think about the time it will take for that
garbage to breakdown. What if your trash company charged
you by the pound? I bet you’d come up with ways to reduce
the amount of garbage you produce pretty quickly.
Use
the principal of the three Rs when it comes to your
garbage. Reduce/Recycle/Re-purpose.
Reduce
the amount raw materials you consume by purchasing products
that have recycled content. There is a difference between
recycled and post-consumer recycled products. Recycled
paper typically is paper that is made from the left-overs
from the paper manufacturing process. It is usually virgin
paper and it diverts waste from the landfills.
Post-consumer recycled paper is paper that is made from
another paper product (ie: office paper, newspapers). The
higher the recycled content, the better. Also choose
products that have less packaging. For example, if you are
going to purchase a new mouse for your computer, choose the
one that has the least amount of packaging (meaning their
will be less to throw away or recycle once you get it
home). Take re-usable shopping bags to the grocery store
and drugstore.
Composting
is another good way to reduce household trash and it’s a
free source of nutrient rich materials to add to vegetable
gardens, lawns and landscaping.
Participate
in local recycling programs designed for paper, metal cans
and plastics
Re-purposing
something can be as simple as donating it to charity or
using old kitchen cabinets as garage storage. Think before
you throw it out. has a great retail centers in across the county. It's called ReStore, where
they sell overstock or donated building materials, paint
and furnishings. They also accept donations of these items.
is another great re-purposing resource.
Invest
in the environment and start building your personal wealth.
The green investing wave is truly just starting. Wall
Street knows it's coming and has earmarked huge sums for
investing in green companies and technologies. This is your
chance to test the waters with green mutual funds that tend
to concentrate on alternative energy or socially
responsible investing which includes stock and bonds from
environmentally responsible and sustainable businesses.
As
with any investment, do your research. Make sure your
investments are diversified. Don't invest it
all in one focus. Check out these links for more on green
investing. , and .
Green
Building as another hot topic these days. Building green
simply means using energy efficient building techniques and
mechanical systems as well as environmentally friendly
products and finishes.
Hit
Me With Your Best Site
Proper site orientation, which is simply the direction your
house faces, can have a major affect the size of the
mechanical heating and cooling system you'll need.
South
facing buildings with the proper roof overhang use passive
solar gain to take advantage of the lower angle of the sun
in the winter for heat and blocks the intense rays of the
sun, which is higher in the sky during the summer, reducing
the amount of cooling needed. During the winter keep
curtains and blinds on south and east facing windows open
during the day to capture the sun’s heat and close them
at dusk to keep that heat in longer. Reverse this in summer
months, close the curtains to block the sun during the day
and open them at night to let the cool air in.
Minimizing
the number of windows and doors on the north and west sides
when building a new house will reduce the amount of
heat loss, since these areas get less sunlight. If your
exisiting house has quite a few north or west facing
windows, thermal lined curtains or shades will minimize
heat loss in these areas.
Make
In the Shade
Did you know properly positioned tree can reduce the amount
of energy a typical house uses for cooling by 25%, by
providing shade during the hottest hours of the day? It can
also act as a wind barrier in the harsh winter months.
Consult a qualified landscape architect to achieve the
maximum benefit.
Green
Goods
There are so many new and exciting environmentally friendly
home building products available today. Things like:
countertops made from recycled paper or glass and concrete
that offer almost endless design options. Those plastic
soda and water bottles we just talked about recycling
become plastic and composite deck boards. Bamboo has gained
popularity quickly and is being used in everything from
kitchen utensils to flooring. and you can now get
insulation made from the scrap thread left over from the
denim industry. Not only does it reduce the amount of waste
going into the landfill, demim insulation is naturally fire
retardant, doesn’t emit toxic chemicals or produce
respiratory or skin irritants. Anyone who has handled
fiberglass insulation knows that itchy/scratchy feeling
I’m referring to. Denim insulation comes in bats and
installs like traditional fiberglass insulation.
Say
No to Greenwashing
When researching any product that claims to be “green”,
beware of something called greenwashing. Greenwashing is a
lot hype a company puts out about how environmentally
friendly or non-toxic their product is. When in reality,
the product itself might be natural and non-toxic, but the
company that makes the product doesn’t practice
environmentally friendly standards of operation. To give
you an example, let’s say you are interested in putting
in a bamboo floor. Bamboo is an environmentally friendly
product right? It grows fast. Reduces the amount of trees
cut down, but if the company that processes the raw bamboo
into the flooring dumps toxic by-products into a near by
river, produces massive amounts of air borne pollutants and
glues the bamboo products together with adhesives that will
off-gas toxic fumes into your house, it’s not such a
green product any more is it?
My
suggestion is do your research. Not only about the products
themselves, but also the company that produces them. If
your still unsure, contact
us, we’ll research them for you.
Since
these systems require a site analysis and more detailed
data, I won’t get into specifics here. If you want more
information about alternative energy systems, please contact
us.
A
Sunny Disposition
Earlier I mentioned passive solar for indoor heating.
Another form of using passive solar energy is solar water
heating. This is typically a system of tubes installed on a
roof or south-facing wall that absorbs the sun’s direct
rays in order to heat your domestic hot water. Keep in
mind, most solar water heaters are not designed to provide
100% of the hot water you need. It’s meant to pre-heat
the water before it reaches your traditional water heater,
reducing the amount of energy needed to bring it up to the
temperature you desire.
Photovoltaic,
or PV, solar systems are what most people think of when
solar systems are mentioned. These systems harvest the
sun’s rays to produce DC current that is passed through
an inverter to change it to AC current, which is the type
of electricity our homes use. There is a wide range of
system sizes from large scale, professionally installed
ones to do-it-yourself kits, some can provide power for
your entire household electric needs.
GE
Solar just announced a new technology that allows them to
produce PV cells at a much quicker rate, at a lower cost
and that are more efficient. Look for prices of PV systems
to fall in the next 3-5 months as these new cells reach the
consumer market.
Blown Away
Individual, smaller-sized wind turbines are becoming more
affordable.
Check out this to see if you have what it takes.
Mother
Nature Knows Best More and
more homeowner’s are opting for geothermal heating and
cooling systems, which are extremely efficient. The
principal behind a geothermal system is that is the earth
maintains a constant temperature of about 60 degrees once
you get below the frost line. A series of tubes are placed
below the frost line and a non-toxic antifreeze solution is
circulated through these lines and across a heat exchanger.
So
in the winter, instead of taking 20 degree outside air and
having to raise it 48 degrees to reach the 68 degrees your
thermostat calls for, a geothermal system takes pre-heated
60 degree air and raises it 8 degrees. How much energy do
you think that would save? It’s pretty much the same
principal for the cooling side of a geothermal system.
Instead of drawing in 90 degree outside air and having to
chill it down to 75 degrees, it takes 60-degree air and
mixes it with a small amount of outside air to raise it 15
degrees. Again saving a great deal of energy. This is a
very simplified explanation, but you get the general idea.
It
used to be that geothermal systems required a great deal of
land because the pipes were laid parallel to the earth’s
surface. Today, many geothermal systems use deep well
technology, where the tubes run perpendicular to the
earth’s surface in a hole similar to when you have a well
dug. Again, this is an over simplified explanation.
Give Me An
Incentive
Now that you are armed with all this great information
about energy efficiency, improving your air and water
quality and clean, renewable energy systems, you’re all
excited, right? So you’re thinking, wow I could save a
lot on my electric or gas bill by replacing my old, leaky
single pane windows with new, Energy Star rated ones. Or
instead of you sending the electric company a check, how
great it would be if they owed you every month? But these
greater savings require a bigger investment and it can add
up pretty quickly.
You’ll
be glad to know plenty of financial incentives exist. From
state funded rebate programs for replacing out dated,
energy hog appliances to state and federal tax credits for
bigger ticket items like small scale solar and wind
systems. You can find an easy to navigate list of Federal,
State and local rebates and incentives at .
DSIRE stands for the Database of State Incentives for
Renewable Energy.
Take
It to the Bank
The banking world is also stepping up to the plate to help
homeowners and business take another look at the long term
benefits vs. the cost of installing an alternative energy
system. Many banks now have green lending programs that
offers loan packages at a better rate and longer pay back
term than traditional home equity loans, which makes
payments more manageable for many people.
Nothing
But Net
And who wouldn’t like to have a nice credit balance on
their electric bill each month through a program called Net
Metering. Basically, Net Metering says if you can generate
more electricity than you use, the utility company is
required to buy it from you. Obviously, that’s the
condensed version and there is special equipment that is
required, but that equipment can be covered by the rebates
and incentives listed above.
Going Green
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