A Green Seal of Approval for Your Home

Provided your home meets a minimum threshold for energy efficiency, you may be eligible for certification under a range of national and regional energy-efficiency certification programs. Even if you don’t already meet required thresholds, a few inexpensive improvements may be all that stand in your way.

Certification through programs such as ENERGY STAR, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Green Building Program, LEED for Homes and others can show potential buyers that a home promises significant utility cost savings over homes without certification – a major selling point in today’s economy. Certification also helps ensure that homebuyers and sellers alike are making greener choices that reduce overall environmental impact.

Read on to learn more about a range of energy-efficiency certification programs and how to participate.


ENERGY STAR

To qualify for certification under the ENERGY STAR program, a home must meet strict guidelines for energy efficiency as set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Homes must be at least 15 percent more energy efficient than homes built to the 2004 International Residential Code (IRC), and typically include energy-saving features that make them as much as 20 to 30 percent more efficient than standard homes. Some of these features include effective insulation, high-performance windows, tight construction ducts, efficient heating and cooling equipment and energy-efficient appliances.

According to ENERGY STAR, homes certified through its program use substantially less energy for heating, cooling and water heating, resulting in average savings of $200 to $400 annually. Additional savings on maintenance can also be significant, and ENERGY STAR homes are eligible for financing through energy-efficient mortgages.

The EPA reported in July 2009 that nearly 17 percent of new homes built in 2008 earned the ENERGY STAR label, up from 12 percent in 2007. According to the EPA, American families living in ENERGY STAR homes slashed more than $250 million in annual utility bills in 2008 alone, saving enough energy to avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 29 million cars.

NAHB Green Building Program

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) launched the National Green Building Program in February 2008 – an education, verification and certification initiative for builders located anywhere in the United States. For a home to qualify, an independent home energy rater must verify that it adheres to the NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines and the ICC 700-2008 National Green Building Standard, which award point values across a range of categories, including lot and site development; resource, energy, and water efficiency, indoor environmental quality and homeowner education.

The NAHB website features an interactive scoring tool that helps homebuilders and homeowners alike guage how a home will score according to the Guidelines and Standard. The scoring tool also provides continual feedback, helping those who use it to understand what steps they can take to make a home more green.

Both single- and multi-family homes, including renovations, are eligible for certification through the NAHB program. To locate an accredited National Green Building Program verifier, use the state-by-state listing on the NAHB website or call the National Green Building Hotline at (877) NAHB-GRN begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (877) NAHB-GRN end_of_the_skype_highlighting.



LEED for Homes

LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a rating system created by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in 1998. LEED ratings measure the overall performance of homes in the following eight areas:

1. Innovation and design process
2. location and linkages
3. Sustainable sites
4. water efficiency
5. Energy and atmosphere
6. Materials and resources
7. Indoor environmental quality
8. Awareness and education.


There are four levels of LEED ratings – certification, silver, gold, and platinum – awarded according to the number of points a home earns in each of the above eight categories.

Participation in the LEED for Homes program requires third-party inspection and verification through LEED for Home Providers and Green Raters. LEED for Home Providers are organizations selected by USGBC to provide certification services in local and regional markets, and Green Raters are individuals who work as part of the Home Providers team to perform field inspections and performance testing. The USGBC maintains an updated list of providers on its website.

New homes, renovated homes, and multi-family homes that meet LEED standards can be marketed and sold as LEED-approved, which can significantly increase their resale value.

(Better Homes & Gardens-Live Green)

5 Things that will Drastically Cut your Electricity Bill

One of the first steps that you should take in an economic slump is finding all the areas of fat and cutting them. I don't mean going on a diet, well I sort of do, a utility diet. Do everything that you can to control your fixed expenses. That means downsizing your living space, transportation, cable bill, water bill, and electricity bill. Cutting your electricity bill can have a dramatic effect. Here are some quick and easy ways to downsize your electricity bill really fast:

Plug everything into power strips and turn them off when you leave everyday.

Control your thermostat and dress for economic success, which means heavier pajamas. Get under the blankets at night and turn the heat off if you can. You save $114 annually by adjusting your thermostat three degrees.

Use candle light. It's so much more relaxing and it doesn't take any energy at all. If you're just sitting around watching television turn off the lights and enjoy some soy candles.

Don't buy a television for every room. They suck up way too much energy.

Use the most energy efficient appliances in the kitchen like the slow cooker instead of the stove. When compared to a conventional oven which uses 2.7 pounds of CO2 for one hour of use, a slow cooker uses .9 pounds of CO2 for seven hours of use. If you have the money, buy energy efficient appliances.

Recycling: Energy

The world's electricity demand is expected to double between 2000 and 2030. The greatest increase will occur in the developing world, and the most rapid growth will occur in people's homes. (Worldwatch Institute, 2007)

Electricity production is the leading cause of industrial air pollution in the United States, and is responsible for 40 percent of the nation's carbon emissions that contribute to global climate change. (Worldwatch Institute, 2007)

At most, 35 percent of coal's energy in a power plant converts to electricity. The remaining two thirds is lost as waste heat, benefiting no one and often harming surrounding ecosystems. (Worldwatch Institute, 2007)

Heating

Almost half of the average home's energy consumption is used for heating. (EIA, 2007)

Improperly sealed/caulked windows can account for up to 25% of total heat loss from a house. (Environment Canada, 2007)

Lighting

Lighting consumes up to 34 percent of electricity in the United States. (Worldwatch Institute, 2007)

Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) are an energy-saving alternative to incandescent bulbs — they produce the same amount of light, use one third of the electricity, and last up to ten times as long. (Worldwatch Institute, 2007)

If every household replaced its most often-used incandescent light bulbs with CFLs, electricity use for lighting could be cut in half. (Worldwatch Institute, 2007)

Where electricity is produced from coal, each fluorescent lightbulb used prevents 1,300 pounds (nearly 600 kilograms) of CO2 emissions and 20 pounds of sulfur dioxide from being pumped into the atmosphere. (Worldwatch Institute, 2007)

Appliances and Electronics

If you need to warm up or defrost small amounts of food, use a microwave instead of the stove to save energy. Microwave ovens use around 50 percent less energy than conventional ovens do. (California Energy Commission, 2006)

A refrigerator built 20 years ago uses 70% more energy than today's energy-efficient models. (Environment Canada, 2007)

Today's dishwashers are about 95% more energy-efficient than those bought in 1972 — your old dishwasher may be costing you more money in energy bills than it would take to buy a new one. (Environment Canada, 2007)

Many idle electronics — TVs, VCRs, DVD and CD players, cordless phones, microwaves — use energy even when switched off to keep display clocks lit and memory chips and remote controls working. Nationally, these energy “vampires” use 5 percent of our domestic energy and cost consumers more than $8 billion annually. (Alliance to Save Energy, 2005)

Turn the Lights Out!

I remember growing up and not understanding why my parents made such a big deal about us leaving one or even two lights on in the house when we left. Some part of me thought that maybe a light bulb could explode and start a fire or something ridiculous like that.

It wasn't until I got my own apartment and realized how outrageous an electricity bill can be (for a one bedroom) that I began to understand. It's the little things in life that add up. Like when one person doesn't put their dishes in the dishwasher or one person doesn't wipe off the counter after making a mess. That one leads to another that leads to another and before long you have entirely filled up sink of dirty dishes and a countertop covered in ants and roaches. Ok, ok, so that's a bit extreme, but hopefully you get the point.

Between lights, electronics and appliances, electricity accounts for almost 40 percent of the average home's energy use! But there are ways to cut back in each category without sacrificing and turning into an extremely anal live-by-candelight home owner.

By changing 10 bulbs and replacing three major appliances with energy-efficient models, you can save hundreds of dollars per year!

A survey in Consumer Reports reported "that many Americans are already taking advantage of those savings. Almost two-thirds have replaced incandescent lightbulbs with a CFL or LED. As for appliances, 34% have upgraded to an energy-efficient model. It doesn't make sense to pitch a perfectly good appliance or electronic item, but if you're in the market for a new one, the type you choose can make a big difference. (For example, side-by-side refrigerators use more energy than top-or-bottom-mounts, top loading washers use more electiricyt and water than front-loaders, and plasma TVs use more lectricity than LCD sets)

Easy, low-cost solutions: Plug electronics into power strips with built-in senors that automatically shut off devices that aren't in use. Set your computer to hibernate. Use LED or CFL lights in place of your old regular bulbs (More about this in our next blog). Turn off lights when you leave a room."

BY JENAE TANKERSLEY