BUILDERSENERGY.COM

Green From The Ground Up: Clean Energy and Construction

admin — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Clean energy and new construction should go hand in hand. A home is one of the most important purchases in a person’s life. The safety and quality of that home is paramount. While its important to think of the planet and consider products that are sustainable, it is equally important to consider the health and welfare of your immediate family. Some might consider the initial costs of green technology in building materials to be prohibitive. This is naturally a consideration but construction and finish materials developed from sustainable processing is all around a good solid investment.

There are several things to keep in mind for a green construction project. Consideration must be given to the site management, delivery of materials, and use of products. Avoid any unnecessary destruction of the surrounding growth, including trees and native plants on and around the building site. Research the best way to consolidate and distribute materials, lower the carbon footprint by having items delivered together. Question how materials are made, treated and used for the project. Ask at every step what natural materials could be used, when and how items were made. Never be embarrassed to ask the important questions and challenge old ideas.

Beyond Bills: Saving Money Can Save The Planet

admin — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Saving money is something that benefits everyone; however, there are several ways everyone can save loads of money and the planet at the same time.
Carpooling on long distance trips reduces the use of fossils fuels used to make gas, reduces pollution from gas fumes, and saves on the high cost of gas prices. For short trips, walking also reduces the cost of gas and is a great exercise. Why pay to walk on a treadmill, when you can take a walk to complete short distance errands?
Air conditioners use large amounts of energy and can rack your energy bill quicker than you may realize. On cooler windy days, open up the house winds for a natural breeze and a lower energy bill. On extremely hot days, turn your air conditioner to a comfortable setting to reduce the constant running and burning of energy.
Use both sides of every paper when writing or printing to reduce the amount of paper wasted every year. This will not only save you money, but also reduce the amount of trees needed to produce paper.
Don’t purchase plastic bottled water. An estimated 90 of plastic bottles are not recycled every year, which pollutes the environment because plastic takes thousands of years to decompose if not recycled. Get a reusable container and fill it up with water from your tap at home. Doing this will save you tons of money and help keep our planet healthy.

Five Tips On Using Less Energy At Home

admin — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Saving energy at home sounds more complicated than it is. There are some simple changes you can make to save energy, and these five tips explain some ways to do that.

1) Use Cold Water. Washing your clothes in hot water not only uses the energy required to run the washing machine and dryer, but also the energy required to heat the water .

2) Unplug electrical appliances and turn off all lights when not in use.

3) Adjust the thermostat to be slightly warmer in the summer and slightly cooler in the winter. Even a few degrees makes a difference.

4) Make sure all windows seal well and that the house is adequately insulated. Air can seep out through tiny leaks in windows or gaps in the insulation, wasting energy used to keep the house comfortable.

5) Check your filters. Changing your air filter and your lint filter regularly will ensure that you get the maximum life out of your units. Besides that, forcing a machine to pull air through a clogged filter will only make it have to work harder and use more energy.

Any household will save energy by following these tips. If you have any doubts, try it, and look at the measurements of energy used on next month’s electric bill. There will be a difference.Still bored? Click to continue: Casa Verde: 21 Eco-Friendly Home Improvements

Great Green Flooring Options

admin — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000

There are a lot of green flooring options out there and whether the room you-re redoing is going to be used for basketball practice or to watch Direct TV in there-s an option for you. Here are a few of our favorite renewable flooring options
Bamboo Flooring: Bamboo is one of the toughest woods in the world and it makes for a mighty attractive flooring option as well. Make sure you choose a renewable brand and don-t seal with toxic resin ” there are green options for that as well.
Cork Flooring: Great for kids rooms and offices, cork flooring has a little give and a lot of style. It comes in many colors and since cork is a natural product you won-t have to worry about harming the environment.
Marmoleum: Never heard of it? It-s the original faux laminate flooring and it-s perfect for everything from garages to basements. It-s made from flax seed oil and minerals and it holds up just as well (and looks better) than most old-school linoleums. Just don-t put it in your kitchen.

Shrink Your Bills And Your Carbon Footprint

admin — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Much emphasis has been placed on the combination of lowering our expenses, while remaining as green as possible. Walking this line is not as hard as you might think.

Using less energy is one of the best ways to save money, while helping our planet at the same time. This can easily be achieved by making a few simple lifestyle changes.

The easiest change of all is turning off, and/or unplugging the electronics in your home that are not currently being used. This step alone can bring about a large amount of energy savings.

Though it may be more costly, switching to more energy efficient appliances will cut your energy costs. New appliances have an upfront cost, but the amount of money you save will pay for these new items over time.

Go ahead and make the switch to compact fluorescent light. These bulbs do not cost much, and last an extremely long time. The standard bulbs that you may be currently using pull so much energy that there is talk of discontinuing production of them altogether.

It really is not hard to shrink your bills and your carbon footprint at the same time. A few simple changes will have you well on your way to accomplishing both.

It’s Not Easy Being Green: The First Steps

admin — Mon, 23 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

The decision to become more environmentally friendly might be easy in theory, but actually putting it into practice might take a bit of getting used to. Once you get started you will find that it becomes a habit, but until that point you may need to consciously think of what you are doing to the environment.

There are many ways to “Go Green”, and some are easier than you may think. Recycle! This may seem like an obvious solution, but many things are recyclable. Look online for a list of things that can be recycled and do it!

Consider using the canvas bags when you are out grocery shopping, this way you are reusing instead of constantly throwing away more bags. If you do get plastic bags, use them in small garbage cans.

Use email communication more often than written communication. This will allow less waste in the long run as everything can be stored in your computer. Along the same lines is producing double sided documents if something must be printed off. This causes much less waste, but remember still recycle the used paper.

As you can see, there are many easy ways to begin “going green”. Ask around, see what others do to maintain an environmentally friendly atmosphere. You could be on your way to helping the environment in minutes.

Bigger Isn’t Always Better: Those Energy Efficient Smaller Houses

admin — Thu, 19 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

A large portion of our population is learning how to go “GREEN.” Going “GREEN” is when you take all the necessary steps in order to make your carbon footprint on this earth smaller. There are many different things that you can do in order to help preserve our environment.
Purchase a Smaller Home
If you are in the market to buy a new home there are a few things that you might want to consider before you sign on the dotted line. Purchasing a smaller home has many advantages that you may not have ever thought about. When you purchase a smaller home you will save thousands of dollars a year on electricity and heating cost. You can take this extra money and put it into a savings account for your children. With a smaller house there is also a smaller debt and tax bill to pay. By cutting six to seven hundred square feet off of your new house you can save ten thousand dollars a year in mortgage and tax payments.
Change Your Light bulbs
Changing your light bulbs in your home is also a good way to help preserve the environment. You should change your light bulbs to florescent bulbs and try to put them throughout your entire home. The cost of florescent bulbs is slightly higher than regular bulbs but florescent bulbs can last up to seven years.