Why the Green Lifestyle Saves

Going green can save.  Save more, even.  This article will show you why the green lifestyle saves more than just the environment.

Going green is a lifestyle decision that many have consciously adopted in response to the crisis Mother Nature is currently experiencing.  Man’s neglect is taking a severe toll on Earth.  If steps are not taken to preserve our planet and her resources, the future could be very dire for all of us.

If the prospect of doom is not enough incentive to adopt a green lifestyle, maybe the incentive of saving more money will work.  Going green can save you quite a significant amount of money in the long haul.

If you’d like to go green but don’t know where to start, don’t worry.  Everyone has to start somewhere.  Don’t go rushing in willy nilly.  Take baby steps and get used to living green.  If you rush in, the chances are you just might not be able to adjust well.  If you don’t adjust well, your hope of living a green lifestyle may fade away.  Living green is challenging.  You have to make a lot of adjustments to make the green lifestyle work for you.

If you take baby steps, the adjustment period is longer.  You can slowly acclimatize yourself to living green.  As you adjust, your commitment to living green will grow.  So, even if there are challenges to living green, you will be able to meet them.

Here are some steps you can take to start living green.

Change your lights.  Switch to energy saving bulbs.  Energy efficient CFLs can last up to ten times longer than traditional ones.  The light these bulbs will give off will be as bright as your old bulbs but not as costly.  This is great if you do a lot of work at night.  Turn off lights when not in use.  If you can get motion sensitive lights, go for them.  They will turn off once no more motion is detected.  Or, if you like outdoor lights, go for solar powered ones.  You won’t be spending a dime on outdoor lighting anymore after your initial purchase.  The sun will provide all the power you need to illuminate your gardens or patio.

Use a power strip.  Your home has a lot of energy vampires you may not even be aware of.  Your computer, the television set these are but two energy vampires in your home.  Plug them in to a power strip and kill all power when they’re off.  You’ll be surprised at how much energy you’ll save if you control all the energy vampires in your home.

Get a water filter or water filtration system.  Stop buying bottled water.  Tap water can be perfectly safe if properly filtered.  You lessen the number of water bottles thrown into the trash by not buying them.  Your water filtration system can save you money in the long run.  You won’t ever have to be afraid of running out of drinking water too.

Walk or bike whenever feasible.  Carpool if either isn’t practical.  Walking or biking lessens the amount of gases spewed into the air by cars.  Weight loss and a fitter, healthier you are also added benefits of both.  Now you can throw away your gym membership and not worry about ballooning weight.  That’s another way going green can save you more money.

There are more ways for you to go green.  Take time to do a little research.  Help the planet.  Help yourself.  Preserve the Earth for future generations.  And save yourself some serious dollars along the way.

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Green homes across the USA

In Washington suburbs, most new houses qualify as McMansions, but not the “Erdhaus” — a small, super tight, Dwell-like home built of compressed earth bricks.

Its German name, meaning “earth house,” speaks to its unusual exterior building material. All 5,600 of its bricks were made from the dirt on the home’s narrow sliver of a lot in Falls Church, Va.

As regular Green Home readers know, I’m also building an energy-efficient home in the same town, less than a mile away, so I’ve visited Erdhaus a few times. Its owners, German-born Andreas Bentz and Mike Nichols, both very well versed in  building green home , have been quite helpful in my own journey.

Why compressed earth? “I like the solidity of bricks. Mike liked the energy conservation aspect. It turned out to have both” says Bentz, an airline pilot who grew up in southwestern Bavaria and earned a Ph.D. in economics in England.

The result is an organic, minimalist yet striking gem of 1,460 square feet (not counting a full basement) that I’ve picked as “This Week’s Green House.” It uses rainwater collected in three large cisterns (a total of 4,200 gallons) to irrigate the landscaping and flush the toilets.

“It’s a simple system, but it works,” Bentz says about how the toilet tanks and outside hose bibs are plumbed on a separate water line. “It makes me feel good to flush rainwater down the toilet, instead of precious drinking water.”

The home, completed in February after a full year of construction, may be the most airtight home in Virginia. That’s what Chris Conway, a technical adviser for the Atlanta-based EarthCraft green-rating program, told the owners when he did the final blower door test.

“I called up my parents and said, ‘We’re 0.09,’ and they said, ‘Yeah, and…’” Bentz recalls with a laugh, adding his parents had no idea what he was talking about. Nor do most people. What does this mean?

The blower door test looks at how quickly a house “leaks” air, so the lower the number, the tighter the house. It does so by measuring air changes per hour, assuming the outside pressure is 50 Pascals higher than the inside one. If the home scores 1, that means its inside air is exchanged with the outside once an hour. EarthCraft requires its homes obtain 0.5 or lower ELR (envelope leakage ratio.)

The Erdhaus’ 0.09 means its inside air is completely exchanged with the outside every 11 hours or so. It uses mechanical ventilation to ensure the inside air remains healthy.

Bentz and Nichols acted as their own general contractors and did much of the finishing work themselves. They stained the concrete floors, painted, tiled and installed IKEA kitchen cabinetry, among other things. They blogged about their experience.

“The year it took to build the house was terrible,” Bentz told me last year. He did much of the cistern work himself, digging so much that he ended up with back pain.

“I would discourage anyone from acting as their own general contractor. There really is a steep learning curve,” Nichols says. “We probably didn’t save any money, because it took us longer.” He says they started with a construction manager, who overpromised and underdelivered, so they took over.

Yet they learned a lot. My builder Arjay West, who chairs a green building group for a local chapter of the National Association of Home Builders, toured their home with me this month. He said Bentz, who explained every operational detail, knows more about the field than most green builders.

Their home’s south-facing side has a wall of Weathershield Windows, which have a special Cardinal glass with a high solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) so it can absorb the sun’s rays. “We wanted to heat with those windows,” Bentz says. They plan to put awnings over the windows, so they don’t overheat the interior in the summer. They have no air conditioning.

Since they made the compressed earth bricks themselves, Bentz says he doesn’t know the exact insulating value of the exterior walls, but he estimates their R value at 40 to 50. (The walls have 3 inches of styrofoam over the bricks.)

Their utility bills are low. The electric averages about $40 monthly, the gas about $20 monthly (except it jumps to about $100 in winter) and the water/sewer is only $20 per quarter.

Bentz said the home cost half what custom building typically runs in the Washington area, which often exceeds $200 per square foot.

“It was more than we expected, but it was worth every penny,” says Nichols, who works in the aviation trade industry.

Nichols says Bentz grew up green, composting since he was a small child. He says he was inspired to build a green home, partly by reading Dwell magazine as well as architect Sarah Susanka’s series of The Not So Big House books.

“That’s a big part of being green — not consuming more than you need,” Nichols says. Their house has two bedrooms and two bathrooms on its main level. There’s a den and third bathroom in the basement. The house is amazingly uncluttered.

“The absolute best thing about the house is how quiet and peaceful it is,” Nichols says. He’s enamored with their new town, including its farmers’ market and its proximity to both the Metro and bike trail. He says their neighbors and the folks at City Hall have been incredibly helpful. Here is info about Green Home in Florida.

Choosing Affordable Green Home

The Blu Homes “Lofthouse.”

Green Homes Built to Order

Despite the apparent valley that our economy is heading towards some homebuilding companies are still doing business as usual. This new line of modular homes by Blu Homes caught my eye the other day. Called the “Lofthouse,” this fusion of the traditional and modern in a “precision-built green home” can be tweaked in the ordering process to invoke the New England barn-style home or be dressed up in contemporary clothes, e.g. bigger windows, sans shutters (shown left). The company claims their homes offer 50% energy savings over same-sized stick-built homes, in part thanks to the weather-controlled factory building conditions and also to the emphasis placed on environmental performance and healthy living. With sturdier construction and a shorter construction time, it still baffles this writer that the modular home industry hasn’t seen greater gains. But then, who has in this climate? Would you buy modular? Read more here about Green Home in Florida

Green Home Giveaway moves

The next HGTV Green Home Giveaway will be located in the idyllic setting of Serenbe in Chattahoochee Hills, Ga., a rural, eco-friendly community located near Atlanta.

Serenbe is a 1,000-acre development featuring homes as well as unique shops and award-winning restaurants. Serenbe merges sustainability principles with the design philosophies of walking neighborhoods. Viewers can enter for a chance to win the approximately 2,300-square-foot home in Serenbe when the HGTV Green Home Giveaway opens for entries next year.

“The 2012 HGTV Green Home will demonstrate a new dimension of green living that we haven’t showcased with our previous homes,” said Jack Thomasson, HGTV House Planner, in a press release. “We’ll show how you can live harmoniously with nature, in a more rural and organic setting, but still have a connection to contemporary architecture and the latest in eco-friendly products and practices. It’s a farm-to-table environment with all of the modern conveniences you’d ever want. Quite literally, it’s the best of both worlds.”

Designed by Kemp Hall Studio and built by FrontPorch Builders, the home is a modern family farmhouse with a design inspired by southeastern culture and regional architecture. The material palette for the three bedroom, 2.5 bath family home is derived from historic precedent — perfectly showcasing a nostalgic connection while exemplifying a timeless style that is a seamless blend of old and new.

“My family and all of our neighbors always want to shout from the green rooftops about how Serenbe is the ultimate balanced community — healthy, stylish, culture-rich, nature-rich, friendly, in the country on the edge of the city,” said Serenbe founder Steve Nygren in the release. “We are delighted that HGTV shares in our excitement over this great place and we can’t wait to welcome the HGTV Green Home to Serenbe.”