Florida Green Homes

Being friendly to the environment is no longer a fad or something a select few should do. People in Florida can do their share in saving the planet by building Florida green homes. You can also benefit from making your home energy efficient because you will spend less for energy bills. You can do your part in small ways by changing your home lighting system. Instead of using incandescent lighting fixtures, you should consider using energy efficient fluorescent lighting fixtures. You can find these lights in any store. They also do not cost a lot and can significantly reduce your power usage at home. Trees around your house can prevent sunlight from warming up your home during warm months. Place deciduous foliage around your property that will protect you home from the hot sun. The leaves will fall off during autumn and let sunlight heat your home naturally. You can reduce the times you need to use the air conditioner and heater. Install low-flow shower heads in your bathrooms to save water and lower your water bills. Most shower heads spray more water than what you need to take a shower. Much of the water produced by standard shower heads literally goes down the drain unused. Low cost shower heads are cheap and are easy to screw on. Skylights are also good for the environment because you can use your light bulbs less frequently. Skylights let sunlight in to provide light and warmth. You will end up using the heater less. Double pane windows on the other hand prevent heat from warming up your house by trapping hot air between the window panes. Solar power can also offer a free source of energy to heat your water and light up your house. If Florida green homes could place more solar panels on their roofs, the state would need less energy from power plants reducing carbon emissions released into the atmosphere. Read more about: Green Home in Florida

Energy Efficient Green Home

You’re finally going to do it! You’re going to build your Dream Green Home.

You already know, that making it as energy efficient as possible will save you loads of money down the road.

Use proper insulation to minimize heat loss through the walls and the roof.

Obtain recycled glass and plastics from the recycling industry. Glass can be melted and reused in the manufacturing of windows. Use recycled plastic as part of the core structural materials or for insulation.

Builders and homeowners are increasingly becoming more aware of the environmental costs of building along with the costs of labor and materials. While it might seem that initial investments have the tendency to be a little higher for building green homes, you will quickly see returns on your investment with lower energy costs and a better quality of life. Luckily, there are also plenty of ways to build green even if you are on a strict budget.

There are several ways to make your green home more energy efficient when building. For example, choose a roof for your home that is light in color. This will absorb less heat during the sunniest hours of the day, keeping your cooling costs down. Consider installing solar panels to collect energy from the sun and further cut down on your energy costs. Similarly, purchase energy-efficient appliances for your home. To keep within your budget, consider purchasing used items. While these appliances might require a slightly larger initial investment, they will save you money in the long run with reduced energy costs.

Wherever possible, limit your reliance on new materials in the home’s construction. This is cost and energy efficient. Reclaimed wood, cement and even screws are useful materials that you can use for your home. Search salvage yards, thrift stores, flea markets and even your community garbage dump for materials that you can repurpose for your green home.

People often shy away from the idea of building green because of the general misconception that sustainable building is more expensive. In a way this is true, and in a way it isn’t. The initial upfront costs associated with green building are more expensive than traditional building practices. The reason for this is due, in part, to the fact that the masses have yet to jump on board with green building. As more and more people begin to consider sustainability in home design and construction, prices for green building materials and energy efficient appliances will begin to decrease. However, even presently, the long-haul money saving opportunities associated with green building far surpass the upfront price tag. Building a cost efficient green home means appreciating and understanding the money that will be saved each year from having bought eco-friendly materials.

Consider your building materials. Understand that exotic woods generally have to be shipped via both water and land. This process emits fossil fuels and greenhouse gasses into the oceans and air through boat and truck travel. To bypass this problem, purchase wood and other building material locally. Find a nearby company that is committed to regenerating the forested land they cut down. When purchasing wood products, look for the Forest Stewardship Council logo. The FSC is a committee dedicated to sustainability in forest management.

If you’re in the planning stages of building a home, chances are you’ve already set a budget. The trick now is to stay inside that budget while still building the green.

Within the home, using renewable resources or recycled materials provides resource-efficiency. Quick-growing and highly renewable flooring and building materials such as bamboo, for example, create less stress on the environment and ecosystems. Purchasing carpets and other indoor materials made from recycled content also lessens the stress provided, as raw materials often use much more energy and deplete resources quicker than recycled materials. Certain items-carpet, building materials and rubber-are also made of unconventional materials like corn, according to the Nebraska Corn Board. Read also about Green Home in Florida.

Green homes

Hafod Housing Association have recently completed a development of affordable green homes at Cae Gleison in Bridgend. All the buildings reach a minimum of CSH level 4, and two of them conform to the Passivhaus standard. Cae Gleision in Bridgend comprises 31 houses and flats and is occupied by tenants of the Housing Association. The homes have a relatively traditional appearance but are highly energy efficient, helping to reduce costs for the occupiers whilst also reducing carbon emissions.

Man Creates Green Homes

Michael Merck is the president of West Penn Energy Services, a business that transforms business and living spaces into more energy efficient systems.

Growing up on a Beaver County farm, sustainability and organic living have always come naturally to Michael Merck.

“I didn’t even know that we were organic farmers and sustainable—there was no definition to it,” he said. “That’s the way you lived—and you can’t live on a farm any other way. It was ingrained in me.”

Today, Merck of Regent Square is bringing those core lessons from his childhood into the city homes of Pittsburgh with his own business, West Penn Energy Solutions. Merck offers consultations and contracting to help home and business owners create more energy efficient living spaces, which in turn creates comfort while cutting back on costs.

Merck and his wife, Jennifer, bought a house on the Edgewood side of Regent Square on Savannah Avenue in 2006. When he couldn’t find any companies to make his home an energy efficient one, he immediately started a business that would do exactly that.

“That’s what gave him the idea because he realized, ‘Wow, there really seems to be a need for this,’” she said.

Solar panels are attached to the roof of Merck’s home, giving them a chance to sell back electricity to Duquesne Light on an almost daily basis as the system switches back and forth between the energy from the sun, and the energy provided from the company.

The entire home is completely sealed, equipped with energy star appliances and also uses compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Renovating his own home to bring it up to full energy efficiency was just the beginning of a green energy business that has grown to include more than 50 clients in Pittsburgh.

“He started taking training courses and certification classes to start to build his name and company,” Jennifer said.

West Penn Energy Solutions offers home performance testing, which identifies opportunities for conservation in a building, solar energy installations, home performance contracting and green design and construction. Homes across the country account for 40 percent of carbon emissions nationwide, according to the West Penn website.

Merck said the solutions to creating a more energy efficient home are plentiful.

“The good news is, anyone can look at their electric bill and get a good sense of their usage,” he said. “If you’re considering solar panels, you also should have an energy audit done at the same time because there might be some really low hanging fruit and easy things to do that could reduce your electrical usage by maybe 20 percent. You can spend a couple hundred dollars to save a couple thousand.”

Merck offers a free energy audit for all clients who install solar panels in order to expose the hidden everyday inefficiencies that can be alleviated.

“Often, if people have more than one refrigerator, that second one is about 15 years old and consumes a tremendous amount of energy,” he said. “Also, with light bulbs in the house, if you haven’t updated to 100 percent compact fluorescents, I guess you must be stubborn because it’s so cost effective—it pays for itself in a month.”

Updating insulation also is another project that can cut back on costs. Merck takes a holistic approach to every building, he said.

“Clients also generally experience a quicker payback than what the energy model predicts,” he said.

Merck said he enjoys the new frontier of working in the green energy business, while at the same time, helping people protect the environment.

“You’re investing in yourself,” he said.” Read here about Green Home in Florida