Putting Our Greenbacks Into Green
The Whirlpool Duet clothes washer is
among the most energy- and water-efficient
washers out thereWell, we finally did it. After 16 months of looking, my wife Michele and I bought a house! We move in at the end of this month. It seems fitting that the family we are buying the house from is moving into a new green home featured in the San Francisco Chronicle ("When your ship comes in, prefab house could be on it"– Saturday, April 21, 2007, p. F5). Our green (money) is supporting another family s green home.
But I'm feeling a bit of pressure as someone who writes and edits articles about energy efficient, healthy, sustainable, and affordable home construction and renovation to make my house especially green. Maggie Forti, Home Energy's circulation manager, told me that I have to be greener than Gore. But we both agreed that I could never be greener than Steve. Steve Greenberg is a Home Energy technical editor who just installed a second solar electric system on his house to power his electric car–a car that he rarely uses because he bicycles everywhere.
Our home-to-be is just a little more than 1,000 square feet and is already well insulated; except for the ever-present recessed-can lights in the ceiling that leak air into the attic. New homes in California average about half-a-dozen recessed-can lights in kitchens alone! We can add attic insulation and reflector compact fluorescent replacement lamps to take care of that problem. We've bought an Energy Star clothes washer. If we want to be anywhere near as green as Steve, we d have to dry our clothes on a line in the back yard.
The lawn has a drip irrigation system, and that's good. In an earlier blog I wrote that California uses 10% of its total energy resources to move, treat, and heat water. I underestimated. It is actually closer to 20%! And with the lack or normal rainfall this winter and forecasts for the same next year, water will become an even bigger environmental issue. There may be xeriscaping in our future. Xeriscape landscaping is suited to hot-dry climates and includes using native, drought-resistant plants that require a minimum of watering.
Owning a home. This is where the rubber hits the road for this environmentalist– any advice from you fellow green homeowners out there in QUEST blog land?
Jim Gunshinan is Managing Editor of Home Energy Magazine. He holds an M.S. in Bioengineering from Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, and a Master of Divinity (MDiv) degree from University of Notre Dame.
4 Comments
We retrofitted our home during 1990-1996 (R-100 ceiling, triple pane windows, tile floor, fully insulated garage, caulking everywhere, gaskets behind outlet and switch plates, storm liners on curtains). No PV or solar hot water. Our PG&E bill has averaged less than $30 per month year round. I did most of the work myself because either contractors don't or won't understand and they wouldn't know what to do. Home = 2300 sq ft.
Our Energy Efficiency Index is 1.0 or less per month. We have a drought-tolerant, native plant front yard that needs pruning only once per year in autumn.
Thanks Scott for the encouragement! $30 per month average is pretty amazing. I have met a few contractors who are excellent. One is Sustainable Spaces in San Francisco and another is Applied Home Performance in Marin. I might have one of them come look at my house and give suggestions after we've been in the house for a while.
With such a tight house, how do you get fresh air into the living spaces? Also, what is the Energy Efficiency Index?
Jim mentioned his Energy Star washer. Did you know there are Energy Star homes, appliances, and lights? Look for the Energy Star logo in stores/new homes, or go to the Energy Star website, http://www.energystar.gov . The Energy Star logo means a home/appliance/light is much more energy-efficient than the average.
Energy Star is a joint effort of U.S. EPA and the Department of Energy.
Hello David. Yes, I am familiar with the Energy Star programs. Builders use the Energy Star Homes certification of new homes for marketing high-performance homes. The Home Performance with Energy Star program is for exisiting homes. The certification adds value to a home that is being sold. And a buyer can even increase the amount of a mortgage on a home through an Energy Efficiency Mortgage, which credits furture savings and adds to a home's value because of energy efficiency upgrades (seewww.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=bldrs_lenders_raters.energy_efficient_mortgage).
For our house, I'd like to have an energy audit by a home performance contractor, after we've lived in the house for a while. The payback will be a better-performing, healthier, more comfortable, and efficient home. Which retrofits will we go for? Don't know yet!