Make Your Home a Green Home
by Liz Morrison
Going green. We hear that term bandied about in the media all the time, but what does it actually mean? If you’re a homeowner, it means making environmentally friendly decisions when it comes to purchasing things for your home. And if you’re considering a remodel, it means choosing energy efficient, low water usage appliances and lighting. It also means improving indoor air quality, using recycled, sustainable or even used building materials, and producing less waste in the process.
Following are a few tips to help you create a more environmentally friendly home, whether you’re doing a complete remodel, or just thinking about a few improvements.
Insulation
If your home isn’t properly insulated, you could be spending much more then you have to on monthly energy bills. Although your savings will vary depending on several factors, including the size of your home, your lifestyle and your particular climate, adding insulation could reduce your energy costs by 20 to 30 percent and reduce CO2 emissions by 140 to 2100 pounds per year. Key areas to insulate are attics, basements, crawl spaces, under floors, and between walls.
Weather Stripping
Adding caulk and weather stripping to plug air leaks around doors and windows is another way to save energy. Caulking costs less than $1 per window, and weather stripping is less than $10 per door. These steps can save up to 1,100 pounds of CO2 per year for a typical home.
Upgrade Windows
Replacing all your ordinary windows with argon-filled, double-glazed windows saves 2.4 tons of CO2 per year for homes with gas heat, 3.9 tons of oil heat, and 9.8 tons for electric heat. Innovations such as low-emittance (low-e) glass, improved frame materials, and warm edge spacers make the difference in energy efficient windows. Coatings on low-e glass help keep warm air out in the summer, and reflect damaging ultraviolet light to the outside. Upgraded window frame materials, including wood composites, vinyl, and fiberglass, provide improved insulation.
Energy Star Appliances
Energy Star is a government program that offers businesses and consumers energy-efficient solutions, making it easy to save money while protecting the environment for future generations. Appliances that have earned the Energy Star seal of approval use less energy and are environmentally friendly, meaning they produce fewer carbon emissions. You’ll find all kinds of household appliances in the Energy Star family, from every type of kitchen appliance to washers and dryers, TVs, DVD players, music players, battery chargers, furnaces, air conditioning units, de-humidifiers, variable-speed pool pumps and filters, and water coolers, just to name a few.
Sustainable Building Materials
Sustainable building materials should be selected whenever possible. Sustainable, low-impact materials are:
- Non-toxic
- Recycled and recyclable
- Renewable
- Locally produced
- Standard sizes, modular, pre-cut (reduces waste)
- Certified wood, meaning wood that comes from forests managed in accordance with strict environmental and social standards
- Durable and long lasting
Lighting
By using compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), you can expect to save an average of $36.00 per bulb over incandescent bulbs. You’ll pay a little more for CFLs; however this cost is matched in energy bill savings after using the CFL for 500 hours. And where incandescent bulbs last between 500 and 2,000 hours, CFLs can last up to 8,000 hours. Plus, something as simple as changing out your light bulbs can have a significant impact on the environment. If every home replaced one bulb with a CFL, it would be equivalent to taking one million cars off the road.
Heating and Air Conditioning
Installing a programmable thermostat will give you the flexibility to program several different settings that work with your lifestyle. For example, you can set your heat or air conditioning (AC) to reach a certain temperature when you wake up, when you leave for work, when you come home, and when you go to bed. This way, the heat or AC won’t be running constantly while you’re away or sleeping. And many programmable thermostats allow you to set separate programs for weekdays and weekends. It’s also a good idea to have your furnace or AC compressor checked regularly. If either is older than 20 years, you could save a significant amount of money on your energy bills by upgrading to a newer, more energy-efficient model.
Irrigation
Consider a synthetic lawn: in addition to conservng precious water, the expense may be offset in your savings of water and maintenance costs. But if you prefer a real grass lawn, purchase a sprinkler system with a rain-detection device so the water will automatically shut off if the lawn is irrigated by rain. Make sure your sprinkler heads are in good working order to avoid leakage. Also, check to see that the sprinkler heads are set properly and are pointed to the right areas. Often times they’re set too high or in the wrong direction and you end up watering the sidewalk or the driveway instead of your lawn. Set the timers properly to water either early in the morning or late at night to allow for maximum absorption. Watering during midday is wasteful since most of the water will evaporate from sun exposure. And, set your timers to water each area for just the amount of time needed. Many lawns need only five to 10 minutes per day.
Recycling
Make a habit of recycling paper, including newspapers and junk mail. You can also recycle aluminum cans, and glass and plastic bottles and containers. Most local neighborhoods have curbside recycling, but if yours doesn’t you can find out more about how to recycle by visiting the County of San Diego website.
Having a better understanding of energy use and environmentally friendly materials will help you reduce your carbon footprint (the amount of carbon dioxide you produce), reduce your energy costs, and help control global warming.
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