Green Open House - ca. 1818 home retro-fitted with modern green building systems
The NESEA (Northeast Sustainable Energy Association) is hosting an open house on Saturday, October 4, from 10 am to 4 pm. The organization has coordinated with home owners and facility managers to provide access to numerous green buildings. Visit the site to see if there is an open house in your area and drop in to ask questions and see the installations that make new and remodeled homes more energy efficient. Just click on the map search, enter your zip code, and click GO. You can also search for projects that involve a specific type of green feature, like a geothermal heat pump, grey-water collection, or LEED rating in the drop down menu at left. I’m going to visit a home built in 1818 in Andover, MA that exhibits grid-tied Photovoltaics, a geothermal heat pump, a tankless water heater, and an alternative fuel vehicle for daily use.
Excellent: people are catching onto the benefits of investing in radiant heating systems. This video gives us a good idea of how radiant floors are installed. They cost more than your standard forced air system, but in the long run, your home will be more comfortable (warm floors heat interiors more evenly and are nice to walk on without slippers or socks) and will not have dust, mold, mites and other allergens that forced air systems send through the air in your house. This greatly benefits people with respiratory ailments such as asthma or emphysema as well as allergy sufferers.
Cleaner air, more comfortable temperatures throughout your home. So why does anyone bother with any other system? Cost is usually the inhibitor here. I found this info on radiantheat.net:
“ A typical force-air furnace system for a 2,000 sq. ft. home will cost you between $3,800.00-$4,500.00 versus a hydronic boiler system costing about $4,000.00-$5,000.00. The average life expectancy of a forced-air furnace may be between 10-25 years where the average boiler system can last between 30-45 years. The cost of filters and other maintenance including, bearings, belts, fans and motors for forced-air systems can dramatically increase the amount of your investment from a service standpoint. Radiant heating systems are less maintenance and more efficient which means less cost to operate.”
When you take into the account that with a radiant system your energy bills will be reduced, the value of your home is increased, and your indoor air quality is improved, the upfront costs should no longer an inhibitor; it should be seen as a worthy investment that will pay back the cost difference plus in the long run.
Applying Earthen Plaster 'building without borders'
Building Green TV has a great video clip with information on earthen plasters, the primary sealant for straw bale construction. These plasters are available in several finish colors, eliminating the need to paint the house upon completion of plastering. Some plasters are all-natural and contain no toxic ingredients (something we definitely recommend that you look into when your builder is specifying which plaster you use). I also highly recommend, if you are researching straw bale homes, you pay attention to Building Green TV’s excellent resources. Check out the earthen plasters clip here.
Okay, this is the first quote of the week, but I’m going to try to keep it up. Traditions gotta start sometime, right? It’s a chance for me to be relatively informal, not that formal informational posts aren’t fun, too. This quote reinforces the theory that monetary incentives help us go green.
JTucker53 asks: I’ve worked hard to get my lawn green year after year. I take alot of pride in it. I think it just looks nice. Can you give examples of yards with out grass that look good, too? Thanks.
Hi Tuck. Thanks for the great topic. Aesthetically pleasing (aka beautiful) yards that do not have a blanket of lawn, or have only a small little blanket of lawn are everywhere. Eartheasy.com has a great explanation of what xeriscapes are. I’ll sum it up.
“Xeriscaping refers to the conservation of water through creative landscaping,” and, “Xeriscapes do not have a single look - almost any landscaping style can be achieved. The principles can be applied to all or part of a yard, in any geographic region of North America.”
Toucan Landscaping’s Desert Xeriscape has minimal lawn area, just enough to allow you to let your toes squish in the green. Think about how much lawn you really need to get what you want from it.
A company called Toucan Landscaping has done a great job in areas with extreme drought. But you don’t need to be a desert dweller to have a yard that conserves water (or more exactly, avoids excess watering). Choosing plants that are native to your region is the best way to be sure they will thrive. Afterall, it is their natural environment! You shouldn’t have to water plants that are native species. You can find species that are native to your area at the link to the Native Plant Database mentioned in my post “5 Ways to Go Green in Your Garden“. At your local USDA Cooperative Extension System Office you can also find more useful information on xeriscaping and other responsible landscaping practices.
Happy Gardening!
Beautiful Xeriscape: landscaping that needs little, usually no additional watering. Just the good ol' rain'll do.
I’m always looking for simple ways to cut down on the non-green things that send me for a little guilt trip now and then. I’ve listed ten things I do during the week that help cut down on car trips or reduce my carbon footprint in various ways. They’re easy enough for anyone to do, so I thought I’d share:
Take a walk or jog around the neighborhood
instead of driving to the gym.
Plan recipes with ingredients that are in-season
(cuts down on the need to ship food far distances).
Tune up the car, fill the tires with air (eliminate
excess forces working against your engine’s fuel
efficiency).
Open the windows and shut off the a/c when
bearable, like early morning and later in the
evening. Or keep the temp at something more
moderate, like 70 degrees, and wear less
clothing. On the other hand, if it’s cold outside,
bulk up on the sweaters and fleece pants/socks
and set your thermostat to 65.
Buy a Brita filter pitcher or screw-on tap filter
to reduce the amount of water bottle containers
you throw away.
Buy cereal in bags not boxes (further reduce
packaging waste).
Keep a few extra canvas grocery shopping
bags tucked away in your car for unexpected
trips to the market.
Time your showers and try to spend less
time in there (minimize the time you leave
it running to heat up).
Extra room in your freezer/fridge?
(Especially an extra freezer - those are
sometimes pretty empty.) Fill the excess
room with old milk jugs filled with water.
This helps keep the fridge a constant
temperature and will minimize the demand
for electricity to continuouslykeep it cold.
Turn off your computer at night! I know,
it’s hard to remember. It’s hard for me. At the
very least, you can assure you are saving
energy every time you leave your computer
running by downloading Verdiem’s free
PC energy-saving software. It tells you
how much money you save relevant to the
time settings you choose to put your
screen and hard drive to sleep.
Reader comment: Damjan suggests using Green Pulse instead of Verdiem’s Edison
because it “doesn’t just set your computer’s
power schemes”. Thanks!
Toucan Landscaping’s Desert Xeriscape has minimal lawn area, just enough to allow you to let your toes squish in the green. Think about how much lawn you really need to get what you want from it.
