Green Constuction Blog

If your doing research about how to build a green home then siding is a concern. There are not a lot of reasonably priced options to choose from when it comes to green siding. But Certainteed has introduced a siding that qualifies under the LEED, NAHB programs and is ICC code approved.

Their fiber cement siding uses fly ash, which is a nasty byproduct of burning coal that is caught in the stacks of power plants. So they are taking an otherwise wasted byproduct and incorporating it into this siding. They are also incorporating wood fiber from managed forest as well as more than 30% pre consumer recycled materials. All of this combines to make a green siding that is well worth considering.

Comparing this to James Hardie siding is a no brainer. They only claim to have recycled content in their products and be commited to reducing landfill waste by half.

Many people begin their quest for living green by changing their diet.
While this is a wonderful first step, the room where your food is
prepared is a next important step in the process of making your home,
and therefore your life, environmentally healthy.

One of the easiest and most logical green choices you can make in your
kitchen, is the stocking of utensils and cookware that will last for
years instead of days or months. Disposables should be left to catch
dust on store shelves (maybe that way the manufacturers will produce
less and less!). Choosing the most lasting of materials for your
kitchen means you need to invest in stainless steel or cast iron pots
and pans. While Teflon is great and easy to clean, it also lasts a much
shorter length of time. (This is not to mention the debate over whether
its surface is hazardous to human health, or not.) Also, cups and
utensils should be chosen for quality as well. Wooden spoons will rot
over time, plastic will turn or melt. You should choose high quality
metal utensils. Your knives may be one of the most expensive
investments in your cuisine, but you will appreciate their use and
lasting quality when you are able to simply sharpen them by hand.

The heat you use to prepare your food can either be from electric or
gas, as both are arguably equally detrimental to the environment (as
they both have their source of fuel from fossil fuels). If you are
going with gas, you should shop for a lower BTU output stove (as it is
more energy efficient). If you choose electricity to heat your
enchiladas, you should look at the newer induction elements. These are
the most efficient of stoves and use the transfer of electromagnetic
energy directly to your cooking pan. This leaves your stove top
absolutely cool. This is not only a safety bonus, but it does not
overheat your kitchen (which leads to you using less energy to cool
your home).

While you may be all gung ho about converting your cooking space into a
den of green friendly appliances, you will not want to go out and buy a
new dishwasher, trash compactor, etc. unless your old one is ready to
be recycled. Waste not, want not. If it is time to bid your current
appliances farewell, then you are going to want to replace them with
the most energy efficient models on the market (within your financial
means). There are dishwashers that use so little water that they even
beat out washing by hand. Look for the Energy Star rating of appliances
when shopping. It will tell you, beyond hype, just how energy efficient
your appliance is.

When it comes to your food, you should buy local and buy in bulk. This
helps support your local community and also keeps you from making
unnecessary trips up and down the highway wasting valuable natural
resources. Also, when cooking, you should cook in bulk. This will save
you time and energy in the future by simply freezing the excess food
for another day.

Good luck in all of your green endeavors!

One of the biggest waste of natural resources in a home is the use of water, then sending down the drain to the city for processing. This is a huge burden ecologically on our environment and creates unhealthy creeks and rivers for fish and wildlife due to all the chemicals and drugs that are present in the water.

There are some things that can be done to significantly reduce this waste and cut down on your water bills. Installing a gray water system can off load 50% or more of a homes water waster. Gray water is defined as water used for washing items such as clothes, dishwasher, and showers/tubs. Black water is much more difficult to clean and comes from toilets and garbage disposals, unless an advanced treatment installation is planned this water must go to the city for processing.

A simple gray water system needs a secondary set of pipes that run to a cistern or storage device and can be used to flush the toilet or water the yard. The main issue that if the gray water is to be stored it must by filtered to remove any microorganisms that may have contaminated it. This can create a costly system. The simplest system is to just use the water to irrigate gardens and plants. As long as the gray water does not contact the fruits or vegetables it is fine.

We all want to help out but the question is how without growing broke. Going green requires a commitment and if your really committed you have to replace everything in your house. Well I don’t know about you but I don’t have 50K in a bank to spend on a new car and appliances. So here are my top 10 cheap tips to help you go green.

• Change out those old incandescent light bulbs.  If you’re like me you have about 30-40  in your house. Upgrading to CFLs will cost under $50 and will reduce your bill 10-20% a month. That is a no brainer.
• Reduce your water footprint. If is is Summer water less often and soak instead of spray, which will dramatically reduce evaporation. Cut back on showers to every other day and make them snappy. Only run full loads of laundry and dishes. If you really want to green it up only flush on #2 unless the odor is too much for the nose.

• Unplug or turn off that power strip powering everything in your entertainment center and computer. Even when those items are “off: they are still on standby. Standby accounts for 5-15% of a homes energy usage. Typical items such as a TV can use 5-10 watts in standby.  Here is a sample list of standby usage.

1. Fax machines: 4.7 - 11.6 W
2. VCR’s: 2.0 - 6.6 W
3. TV’s: 0.6 - 12.7 W
4. Scanners (flatbed): 8.3 - 14.2 W on standby; 0 - 5.1 W switched off
5. Printers (inkjet): 1.6 - 8.6 W on standby; 0 - 8.4 W switched off

• Set your air 2 degrees higher in summer and 2 degrees lower in winter. This cuts down on your electricity usage and saves you green to the tune of 10% off your electric bill in Summer.
• Wash your clothes in cold water. This reduces your gas or electric heating bill.
• Lower your hot water heater 5-10 degrees. This will reduce your gas or electric bill 3%.
• Use a toaster or microwave in Summer when ever possible to reduce heat in the house from the oven. This will reduce how hard your a/c works to keep the house cool.
• Recycle. Most cities are now offering curb side pick up. To not take advantage of this is almost criminal. 75% of the items thrown away in a typical house can be recycled and dramatically reduce landfill and manufacturing cost.
• Seal those windows and doors. Make sure all your windows are properly sealed ( use a candle on a windy day to see if there are air leaks). Install weather stripping around doors and windows to seal them up.
• Give up those cheap plastic bags and start using your own. These things should be outlawed. They end up everywhere in the environment and never break down. Whole foods has great bags that cost $1 and are perfect for groceries and anything else you can carry in them.

If you live in the typical American home you have shingles. Most of today’s homes have ashpalt shingles which is a residue formed after the distillation of petroleum. This is mixed with sand and other materials to make the modern shingle. It is definitely not green and they only last 15-30 years. If you live in the hot Sun that number drops even lower. They then have to be torn off and replaced which creates a lot of landfill waste and is definitely not green. Currently very few states offer asphalt shingle recycling. There are alternatives to this.

Picking a roof with a much longer life cycle is a great way to cut down on landfill. Metal roofs are one option. There are many types of metal roofs such as standing seam that will last 50 years and more. These are made from aluminum, steel, or copper. Once they have lived out their lifecycle they can be torn off and recycled. Some manufacturers have started offering products made from recycled materials which further contributes to the greenness of the product.

Tile roofs are another option for roofing and are made from natural materials with a very long life expectancy of 60 years and more. The do tend to be heavy and require special bracing to accomodate them so are not ideal choices in many areas.

Radiant Barrier is a great option to keep your home cool in Summer and warm in Winter. It works the same way wrapping a potato in foil works. It slows the transfer of heat from the roof to the attic space. This can result in dramatically cooler attic space in Summer. We have installed this in our own space and notice that even on the hottest Summer days the temperature is a manageable 98 degrees. Most attics will tend to get into the 120-140 range.

Radiant Barrier Foil installed in an attic

Radiant Barrier is in its simplest form aluminum which is an excellent reflector of Infrared (IR). Infrared Heat is what really makes an attic hot in the Summer. Up to 95% of this heat can be reflected back out if the radiant barrier is correctly installed.

There are 2 kinds of radiant barrier. Radiant barrier paint is the first type and is sprayed under the roof on the back side of the decking. If properly installed you can see 75% reduction in IR heat. But it is a messy and difficult product to install. The second type is Radiant Barrier Foil. This product ships on rolls and installs under the rafters which also creates a dead space of air between the rafters and the roof. It is simply stapled on and the seams are taped. We have installed this product and seen a 10% drop in our cooling bill in Summer as a result with a pay back of only a few years.

If you are installing a new roof, they now make radiant barrier plywood which installs the same as standard plywood. It cost about $5 more per sheet which will add a few hundred dollars to the roof bill, but once again will pay for itself quickly.

Insulating a house is very green. To not do so is not only irresponsible, but very costly. New homes usually are pretty well insulated but tend to use products that are not very green. There aren’t very many choices when it comes to insulation of a standard home. Off the shelf products are basically limited to rolled fiberglass, foam and blow in fiberglass or paper.

Recycled Newspaper

The greenest of these is the recycled newspaper, which you can get at any Home Improvement store. It is simple to install and can be blown in an attic, or as we did, retro insulate walls of an older home. It does have a few issues though. It tends to have ink dyes from the recycled newspaper and it is treated with fire retardant.It is also quite messy and leaves a fine dust everywhere, so covering furniture in a retro install is necessary. But the cost savings are quite real.

Fiberglass

Fiberglass is the most popular insulation and has a couple of advantages over paper. It is not flammable, and it is mildew resistant. But it tends to cost more, and of course makes you itch. It is also harmful to your lungs and a possible carcinogen. But it does have its place in the market. The manufactures are even making these products more green.  CertainTeed’s and Owens Corning’s insulations are certified by the GreenGuard Environmental Institute for low emissions of formaldehyde and other pollutants.

Spray polyurethane foam
Low-density SPF is quick to install, and it doesn’t emit harmful off-gasses. Icynene is a water-based spray in insulation. It promises a tighter home with less dust and mold thus ensuring better indoor air quality.  This SPF can cut yearly energy costs upwards of 35 percent. There are several new SPFs on the market that are green such as BioBased Systems’ soy insulation. This soybean oil-based polyurethane is very green and also easy to install. But any SPF is going to cost a lot of green to install.

We recenlty got a question about the greenness of Granite and Silestone Countertops. Both are attractive options for countertops and are very popular at the moment.  Silestone and Corian are clearly not green simply becuase they are made out of resins which is a chemical reaction between acetone and hydrogen cyanide which results in acetone cyanohydrin. This is heated with methanol and sulfuric acid and becomes a monomer called methyl methacrylate monomer.This continues until a nice resin is created for countertops, all of which creates all sorts of nasty off gasing and non green products.

Granite on the other hand can be said at first glance to be a natural material and might seem to be green.  But further digging reveals a few things. Granite comes from mountains and results in huge expanses of destroyed terrain. The granite is dynamited out of the mountain in huge blocks and then sliced into slabs and polished for kitchens. The destruction of mountains is not renewable and definitely not green.

They are everywhere. You can’t walk into a store without seeing CFLs on the end caps and on each aisle. They are being pushed down our throats as an amazing way to save money. But, recently it has come to our attention that compact fluorescent light bulbs have mercury in them. The manufacturers say its a negligible amount.  The EPA estimates that each bulb contains just 5 milligrams. That seems like a small number, but is it?

Lets compare Mercury numbers in CFLs to other items that have made the headlines recently. Canned light tuna has an average of 0.12 parts per million (ppm) and canned albacore tuna has an average of 0.35 ppm. Now granted we don’t eat light bulbs but 5 mg is a lot more than .35ppm. Teeth fillings is something that came up in US Congress. The average filling contains 3.2 grams of mercury.  Now that is a large number. There is almost 700 times more mercury in one filling than in a CFL. So the average person would have to use 700 light bulbs to equal the content in on filling.  That is more than a lifetime supply for a large house. Of course the best comparison is a light bulb to a light bulb. The older incandescent bulbs have no mercury in them to speak of. So we must go back to the filthy power plants that send us electricity. That is where you can see the difference. According to the EPA a 60 watt bulb uses 4.5 times the energy of a 13 watt bulb and that difference causes the power plant to make more mercury containing noxious gases to keep it lit. Over the  equivalant life of that 60 watt bulb it comes out to be roughly 6 milligrams.  Now the EPA states that many of the light bulbs out there are around 1.2 milligrams of mercury, but that is not the norm yet.  Essentially a CFL results in 15-20% less mercury in the environment than a regular bulb over time. If that CFL is properly disposed of and does not break then that number will be a lot lower.

If you are wondering where to recycle CFLs, Home Depot takes them. You can also go to Earth 911 and do a search for CFLs with your zip code to find other locations near you. In short, while the CFLs are not the perfect answer they are a better alternative than conventional bulbs. The long term answer may lie with LED lights.