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?
