greenHo.ws

The National Association of Home Builders has a great publication available to the public for free. It is the Model Green Home Building Guidelines. While the primary audience is home builders it is also a valuable read for the average consumer. There is also a checklist available that is kind of the “Cliff Notes” version of the guidelines.

The Guidelines are a good way to get a quick overview of the key areas involved in green building practices. There are 6 main areas that the guidelines cover; Lot Preparation and Design, Resource Efficiency, Energy Efficiency, Water Efficiency / Conservation, Occupancy Comfort and Indoor Environmental Quality, Operation, Maintenance and Education.

In summary, the Guidelines can give you a jump start on understanding the key parts of green design and the associated construction processes. Best of all – it’s free.

NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines

We’ve been trying something new for about a month.  Publix sells "reusable grocery bags" for around $1 per bag.  The same or very similar bags are also sold at Target, Wal-Mart, and Whole Foods and appear to differ only in color and logos. 

My wife picked up 10 bags at Publix about a month ago, and I have been pleasantly surprised at the results, in spite of the initial cost.

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You may have missed us over the last few weeks as vacation time rolled around and we really took advantage of it.  To kick back off, I put together a few real life tips from our trip to the beach of little things that can help make your vacation just a little greener.

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Wow, eco-tourism looks fun, interesting, and educational.  You get to travel a long way, get a great view of minimally touched nature.  If you do it right, you get to feel good about not leaving any trash behind.  But all that travel generates a lot of pollution getting there.

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There has been buzz over the last few months as news hit about how much power is used by new technology TVs.  Specifically, plasma and LCD TVs constantly use power and significantly more power than traditional tube TVs when turned off.

There have been lots of tips out there on how to handle this, like unplugging the equipment or using a power strip.  But there are some factors to keep in mind when taking these actions.  Here’s a short guide on how to green your electronics and entertainment center power consumption.

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There are a number of things that you can do to save energy that are either free or very low cost. Most are simple, easy to do items that can save a noticeable amount of energy.
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Not all “going green” efforts have to be giant projects to help the environment. Small changes can add up to a big impact. I’ve pulled together a list of small, simple and quick changes that you can implement.

· Change your HVAC equipment filters on a regular basis – this allows your furnace / air conditioner to work more efficiently and helps keep the air in your house clean.

· Swap out your incandescent lights for Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL) or LED lights.

· When boiling water or cooking “liquid” meals, cover the pot. This will allow the item to heat quicker and use less energy.

· Vacuum your refrigerator / freezer coils – this will help keep your refrigerator / freezer operating at it’s peak efficiency.

· Install low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators.

· Only run your dishwasher or cloths washer when you have a full load.

· If you have a reasonable amount of dishes (more than just a few) using a dishwasher uses only half the energy, one-sixth of the water and less soap than washing by hand.

· Close your window coverings in the winter at night and during the day in the hot part of summer. Install a dimmer switch on frequently used lights. Dim your lights by a quarter, you increase your energy savings by 20 percent; dim them by half, increase your savings 40 percent. You also extend bulb life up to 20 times when you dim a bulb halfway.

· Lower the temperature on your water-heater, it’s safer and saves energy.

· Bring tote bags to the grocery store rather than using their bags.

Remember, little things can add up!

With summer time coming, I thought this would be a good time to start planning. With drought in many parts of the country, it’s not going to be easy to stay green this summer. It will be worth it to try though!

Action 1: water the lawn less. We told you about this a few weeks ago in 6 Tips for Saving Water on the Lawn. The key message is to keep your lawn healthy and it will need less water.

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Along with trying to live “greener” I’ve also been working on personal growth-or rather the opposite. It isn’t news or even much of a revelation but losing weight means that I can set the thermostat a few degrees higher. Since I live in Florida, this should affect about 320 days of the year that I seem to run my AC. I don’t have any figures yet on energy usage but I’ve started tracking my overall consumption. My electric bill does come with a graph showing consumption versus the the past 13 months. So far the trend is down-both on the scale and the electric bill. And blood pressure.

I’m using Weight Watchers’ Online to track what I eat. It works for me but might not for everyone. Find something that works and stick with it. Please note that I am NOT recommending that our friends and readers from Chicago, Minnesota and Canada bulk up to save fuel!

Thanks for reading.

Soon to be “Skinny Vinnie”

This week we’ve told you about three easy home projects and some quick hit actions to increase your green-ness. All of these are very much in line with our philosophy of “being green doesn’t have to be hard.” Keeping with the theme of the week, here’s another area to consider: don’t buy software in a physical package.

Most software is sold to corporations, who get software electronically. In other words, they download it directly from the source and distribute to employees over their local networks. Consumers buy less software, but most software sold to consumers comes off the shelf in a box wrapped in plastic and delivered in a truck.

Basically, this is one area where big corporations are doing a better job at being green than the average person. Not that big business is perfect in this area, but they are ahead of the typical home user. Let’s change that.

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I’m not sure if there is any product or item that is the ultimate “green” one but baking soda probably comes close baking soda is a naturally occurring substance and using it for everyday tasks such as; baking, cleaning, and deodorizing will not harm you or the environment.

Here is a list of a few uses for “super green” baking soda.

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There is so much news about how to save energy, be green, and use fewer resources in general, it’s hard to know where to start. So, to pull a few tips together, I perused a few green sites, racked my brains, pinged a few friends, then finally asked my wife for a few good and relatively new ideas.

I got lots of ideas. Before I share the new ones, here are three popular ideas that are not new, but always worth repeating. Hopefully you’ve heard them before:

1. Swap your old technology, incandescent light bulbs out for new CFL light bulbs. There is lots of information about CFLs on Wikipedia and a nice writeup on Consumer Reports.
2. Minimize shower time. We’ve all heard the jokes about “shower with a friend,” which never gets old. Reality is that even with low flow showerheads, showering still uses a lot of water. So, keep it short or share it with a friend.
3. Get a ride from someone or offer to drive. This is especially true in bigger cities where traffic is insane (Atlanta), but holds true everywhere. Even if you live in a smaller town, remember that pollution adds up.

These first few are a nice start with lots of information widely available. Here are five more ideas that are much less publicized:

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Interesting tidbits from the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department.

Green Building

In New Mexico a 2,000 square foot home that is LEED Silver certified, which means that it is at least 40% more energy-efficient than a standard built home, can qualify for a $10,000 tax credit!

Solar

The New Mexico Solar Tax Credit will pay up to $9,000 for state residents and they can also receive up to a $2,000 federal tax credit.

Hybrids

Prius buyers rejoice, any New Mexico resident that buys a hybrid vehicle with a EPA rating of at least 27.5 MPG can save between $600 - $1,000 in addition to their allowed federal tax deduction.

You can feel good and save money.

For details check the following website:

New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department