A Live Green, Live Smart™ Paper
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Environmental conditions around the world have deteriorated. Issues which once seemed regionally distinct are now being recognized as having a global impact.  The threats to society of diminished air quality, persistent drought, lack of clean water, and destruction of agricultural lands have begun to influence the social consciousness of both rich and poor nations.  

That has led to an important turning point.

Policymakers and opinion leaders are beginning to reckon with global warming.  Debates have moved from skepticism and denial – in the United States, in any case – to acknowledgement of the environmental problems. What has followed is a slow but inexorable movement toward policies directed at replacing our carbon-based economy while reducing energy consumption.

The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provides overwhelming evidence that we are in a state of global warming and climate change which will have a profound impact on human lifestyle and culture. And while governments deal with major regulatory issues and trans-national agreements, we have the knowledge and ability to make good eco-friendly choices in our everyday lives.  

Reducing Your Carbon Imprint Where You Live

One area, clearly, where consumption can be curtailed is in the housing market, especially in the developed world, and particularly in the United States. America has more than 115 million existing residential shelters – single family homes, apartments, condos and mobile homes.  All of these dwellings will require repair, remodeling, and updating to accommodate the hundreds of thousands in need of housing every year – and whether they are rehabilitated or disposed of, there are carbon costs involved.

And those homes also need the usual trio of services that provide the bulwark for energy consumption in households in the developed world – heating, cooling and lighting. Conventional building and energy efficiency codes are not sufficient to offset the carbon and pollution contributions of more residents or of more and larger buildings and their accoutrements.

In the United States two thirds of all lumber is used for building structures.  The average square footage of the American home has increased 2.3 times during the period between 1950 and 2004, from 983 square feet to 2,349 square feet.  With increasing size, the amount of materials and land needed also increase to construct “McMansions” in the suburbs and even in cities, where they replace tear-downs of more modest proportions.  Even housing of traditional size requires materials, transportation of those materials, and products that use sand, gravel, water, and chemicals for both the structure itself and the infrastructure that supports it.

Household operations account for one third of common air pollution, and one fifth of toxic air pollution and common water pollution. The running of the home contributes a larger percentage of greenhouse gases per household than transportation; 35 percent versus 32 percent. Electricity for residential structures accounts for 36 percent of the nation’s total electrical use.  

Despite more efficient heating and cooling units now available, consumption continues to climb as the blueprint of homes increase. And the digital age – phones, computers, iPods, the Internet, videogames – all rely on electricity to function.  In most of the world – including the largest consumer, America – electricity means coal mining, transport, and burning.  Fossil fuels in the form of coal, petroleum, and underground natural gas are all finite, and all contribute to pollution that results in global climate change.

Patterns of Energy Consumption

Energy use has risen to accommodate a growing number of products requiring it.  Though the amount of energy used by individual new appliances has declined over the years, the number of appliances in American households has increased. For example, federal statistics show the average family now has three to four television sets; nearly 20 percent of children age two or younger have a television in their bedrooms.  Just consider the energy use of those sets alone, and then add all the other modern appliances to the equation.  

The following list should not come as a surprise to anyone who owns a single family home. In 2005, the average family paid $1,900 annually for energy. That amount is much higher in more populous states, and those in cooler climates. One source –temperature control – accounts for half of the average bill, according to the federal government’s “Energy Star” program.

The government suggests the following breakdown for single family homes; data for multi-family dwellings does not differ greatly. 

• Heating and cooling, 49 percent.
• Water heater, 13 percent.
• Lighting, 10 percent.
• Other, 8 percent.
• Electronics, 7 percent.
• Clothes washer and dryer, 6 percent.
• Refrigerator, 5 percent.
• Dishwasher, 2 percent.
  

Think of these percentages of energy consumption not just as dollars spent by a household, but as a carbon expense to the planet.  

Green Shelter Myths

When given reliable information about the global environmental effects of our current carbon gluttony, people want to change to more sustainable lifestyles.  The general concern among homeowners when presented with information and encouragement to go green is simple – what’s the cost? To a small degree, that’s a genuine sticking point – were we all to change overnight to a carbon-sensitive lifestyle, the conversion costs would be significant. But to a larger degree, the typical homeowner can do plenty to approach their homes in ways that create greater energy efficiency and receive the added benefits of often cleaner indoor air – and, in the process, ease the growing pressure energy consumption and pollution puts on the family pocketbook.

There are other issues that arise when consumers commit to a greener lifestyle, and these problems usually focus on cost, performance, difficulty in locating green products, third party certification and other green consumption.

Let’s take a look at each one individually.  

Green is expensive. You don’t have to live in an Architectural Digest home to achieve a decent level of green, Despite the media obsession with showing off weirdly designed homes in the middle of nowhere – the forests of Minnesota, the Montana outback, the Los Angeles hills – which have little relation to the average family’s income or desires, the reality is that being green can be pretty uncomplicated. It can be about buying the right kinds of paint, compact fluorescent light bulbs, turning off lights, installing radiant heat, adding non-toxic insulation and so forth.  

The operating cost of these modest changes, over time, will be inexpensive and paid for in energy savings while reducing your household’s carbon footprint.

Green products fail to work well and are tough to find. Low flush toilets, compact fluorescent bulbs, Energy Star appliances, low VOC paints and soy-based insulation are no longer exotic innovations and all have excellent track records. Go into any Menard’s, Home Depot, Lowe’s or your local hardware store and you cannot escape products touted as “green.” Since the field is still evolving, however, we caution care when purchasing green products. Look for reviews, check the BuildingGreen.com and other sites for performance information.  

A green retrofit or new green home will be difficult and complex to build. This is a powerful myth because it was once true. But that is no longer the case. Contractors are moving toward using green products and architects are studying ways to make their buildings and additions energy efficient and composed of recycled and renewal content.

Certification is required for all green projects. This is certainly not the case, though consumers can, if they wish, try to achieve certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification program, the best-known green housing effort in the country. A green project requires no paperwork, certifications or anything else – just a desire by you and your family to make a minimal number of lifestyle changes and study more closely the choices you make when buying products related to remodels, additions, new homes or existing homes.

Green is about buying green products.  On the one hand, as noted above, the answer is yes, you should by green products. On the other hand, you need to actively reduce your energy consumption and carbon imprint by recycling and reusing what already has been created: new stuff requires new energy consumption. For example, green conscious remodelers and home buyers often look to buy at least some items at reuse centers and antique stores.    

Retrofitting Existing Homes

When retrofitting an existing home or multi-family homes the goal of energy reduction starts with attempting to reduce the largest sources of energy use.  Several strategies apply to energy reduction. They can occur over a number of years due to cost, or within a tight time frame. Energy reduction strategies, when combined with green remodeling techniques, can result in higher indoor air quality, mold reduction, improved insulation and improved energy efficient heating and cooling.

There are simple, and complex, strategies for reducing energy use -- and therefore your own carbon imprint. We will have broken the strategies into a series of improvements you can make. A key to reducing your bill is to buy Energy Star certified appliances. Good manufacturers seek the Energy Star seal of approval for their products, and they are widely available at retailers.

Energy Audits

One key to thinking green in an existing structure is to get the kind of expertise that can give you a better understanding of your home. Get an energy audit. Utility companies often subsidize independent audits and the issues they raise will often result in a huge payback for homeowners. In many cases, energy audits reduce a homeowner’s energy consumption from 25 to 30 percent.

Energy audits take around two hours and assess the following: the heating system and water heater, air tightness of a home (through the blower-door test), energy bill analysis, ice-dam problems, insulation levels, basement dampness, air dryness and the home’s shell.

Through the blower-door process and the use of infrared cameras an energy auditor can identify leaks and offer expert advice on fixing and filling them. Often, leaks are found around doorsills, windows, light switch mounts and other openings.

From the energy audit consumers will learn what repairs they will need to make, and what appliances they may want to replace, in an effort to become more energy efficient.

Green Strategies and Products

A series of other steps can be taken, too, to green your home. What follows are some suggestions categorized by price, though keep in mind these are just estimates.

Inexpensive

The following list contains strategies that will cost less than $400 each and are simple to implement.

• Buy a programmable thermostat. They cost from $50 to $115 and return a savings of $190 their first year of service. Keep in mind, however, that the federal government recently decided to take programmable thermostats off the list of Energy Star appliances because too many consumers failed to program them correctly. Some studies showed consumers used more heating and cooling with programmables than when employing traditional thermostats. Perhaps manufacturers will take another look at their ease of use.
• A tune-up of heating and cooling systems. The cost, around $200, should pay for itself within a year and a half.
• Replace air filters in those same systems.
• Buy low flow faucets, showers and toilets. Even low flow toilets, the most costly of these fixtures, can be purchased for around $300.
  

Moderate

These strategies cost more but reduce your carbon imprint – and your utility bills – considerably over a number of years. Remember, donate your old appliances or get rid of them in an environmentally appropriate way. Most cities have laws regarding appliance disposal. Follow them. You’re likely to have to pay a modest fee for the disposal.

• Seal your air and duct leaks. Together, this might cost $1,000 in total, but it should pay for itself within three years.
• When you purchase a new refrigerator, new models will use 10 percent less energy than federal standards and 40 percent less than 2001 models.
• Consider a new dishwasher, which saves 800 gallons of water a year and 25 percent less energy than the federal standard. Dishwashers, incidentally, use less water than hand-dishwashing in most studies.
• A new Energy Star clothes washer, around $300, saves 50 percent energy over conventional models.  
  

Expensive

The more expensive options often have the largest payoffs in the long run. They will cost the most upfront, in other words, but have a longer sustaining payback.

• Install a new HVAC, energy efficient system.  
• Consider a solar-powered water heater that will be placed on your roof and even in northern climes can provide 50 percent of your hot water needs annually. Many utilities offer rebates of as much as $1,500 when you buy one.
• Another water heat option, tankless water systems, only heat water when the faucet gets turned on. Initially more expensive than traditional tank systems, the tankless saves money.
• Replace your aging windows with energy efficient models. Nothing rings up a remodeling bill like new windows. They can average more than $1,000 each, depending on the size and brand. The payback may take years, but they will keep the house warmer in winter.
• Install a radiant floor heat. This is easier said than done in existing structures, where the floor would have to be removed and replaced. Radiant heat can be air-heated, from electric cables or from liquid systems, the most popular in part because it uses so little electricity.
• Replace, or add to, your insulation using soy-based or cellulosic materials. The materials are more benign than traditional fiberglass-based insulation and work just as well, according to field reports.
• Geothermal heat pumps, which run coils or a pipe laid the ground in your yard, can save homeowners 30 to 70 percent on heating and 20 to 50 percent on cooling costs over conventional systems. Air source heat pumps, using air instead of the ground, offer another option, though they save less money than geothermal heat pumps.
• Solar offers homeowners a variety of uses. They work even in northern climates, where power can be captured on brilliantly sunny winter days.  Solar panels can be used for hot water heat and daylighting; photovoltaic panels produce energy that can be installed on off-the-grid homes or in neighborhoods where the homeowner sells electricity generated by the panels to the local power company.
• If you live in a rural location you can generate power from a wind turbine. For most people this option is off the table but they support wind power by buying wind credits from their local utility.
• For dealing with storm water runoff homeowners have an excellent opportunity to reduce runoff to streams and water bodies – by employing grey water filtering systems or rain gardens. Grey water filtering uses a trench and a filtered water system to cleanse stormwater; rain gardens store water run off in a depression located at least 10 feet from a home and gets filtered through plant roots, shrubs and other vegetation.
• Be a pioneer and buy LED lights. They use substantially less power than compact fluorescents – two to three watts per bulb! – and last just as long, if not longer.

Designing A New Green Home

In many cases, it seems to be easier to build a green home from scratch than to retrofit an existing structure.  A new home offers you an opportunity to select appropriate materials and high efficiency mechanical systems, to incorporate landscaping strategies and the structure’s orientation on the land to take advantage of the sun.

Many of the same mechanical systems noted in the prior section on remodeling can be deployed in a new home, of course. The Web and dozens of books go into great detail on constructing a green home. We have collected a few principles of green homes simply here to spark interest. There is a large universe of advice and information. Here’s your primer, broken into categories.

Siting A New Home

• Attempt to minimize the walls of the home that face east and west because they receive the brunt of the summer sun. Windows and facades on these sides should be shaded with trees and porches.
• Place removable overhangs on south facing windows to minimize the summer, while allowing in the winter sun.
• Use operable windows equal to at least 7 percent of your floor space. Casements are particularly good since they allow you to open the entire window to the outside.
• Install an attic fan to push out hot air.
• Place windows across from one another to create ventilation. Use energy efficient (low-E) windows that have glass filler between layers and composite frames.
  

The Foundation and Yard

• Insulate foundations since that will provide a chance for a finished basement.
• Use native plants, reducing need for herbicides, fertilizers and other lawn and plant applications.
• Consider rain gardens for sites with potential water issues. The rain gardens must be around 10 feet from the home.
• Site trees to filter the sun and break the wind.
  

The Exterior

• Consider a covered entry at your front door to prevent water problems.
• Water-and-termite resistant fiber cement siding is more efficient than vinyl.
• Fiber cement and steel roof coverings lengthen a roof’s life and reduce energy costs. New asphalt shingles, concrete tiles and other innovations work better than traditional shingles, too.
• An engineered wood product such as oriented strand board (OSB) increases durability and requires few trees for production.
• Use recycled plastic lumber and wood composites for decks, fences, and porches.
• Employing factory built components, such as trusses, reduces jobsite waste.
• Try longer eaves rather than gutters to control water run off. It disperses it more widely than gutters.
  

Interior

• Use natural wood floorings, wood-like laminates, low volatile organic compound (VOC) carpets and paints. Linoleum, a sustainable product, works well, too.
• Use shower and sink aerators to reduce water usage, as well as low flow toilets.
• Consider geothermal heat pumps, tankless water heaters, radiant heat and Energy Star appliances.
  

Of course, there are myriad other details in creating a green home. And you do not have to do it all at once: although that strategy may cost fewer dollars in the long run than a piecemeal attempt at a green home, making changes as you are able to finance and complete them is a good investment in dollars and in planetary well-being.

Conclusion

As the final section of this white paper shows, being green does not have to cost a great deal of money. Making many of the adjustments mentioned, in fact, will likely cost a minimal investment for a fairly rapid payback. Not every individual or family can install solar panels on their home or a geothermal pump system but all of them can walk a little more, drive a little less, recycle a little more, use less heat in winter.

For readers who are planning a remodeling project, an addition or a new home, it seems neglectful not to consider using green materials. The cost of these materials continues to fall dramatically. A green remodel may cost only 1 to 2 percent more than a traditional one. A green home comes with a premium that can be recaptured over a number of years, and if energy prices rise more rapidly, that return on investment will shorten.

They have the benefit, of course, of providing you a healthier interior environment and a sense of contribution to containing the biggest challenge the global community will face this century, global warming. As the cliché goes, you can be part of the problem, or part of the solution. And being part of the solution does not carry an onus burden on our society or great discomfort. It’s time to start reconstructing our lives for a different economy, a different environment and a different world.


Prepared for Live Green, Live Smart by Frank Jossi.






Sources

Energy Star Program: www.energystar.gov

Green Home Guide: www.greenhomeguide.com

HGTV: www.hgtvpro.com

The U.S. Green Building Council: usgbc.org

Energy Efficient Rehab Advisor: rehabadvisor.pathnet.org

Green Communities: www.greencommunitiesonline.org