Simple Steps to Decreasing Your Environmental Footprint
1) Packaging a Punch:
Cut Online purchasing. I know, I know with one click of the mouse your item(s) seem to show up nearly the next day. It’s soooo convenient, I get it! Well here’s the but, there is plenty of entropy (packaging material) that’s walloped in that box – and the box too, not to mention the delivery truck fuel/manpower. The eco-cost is high, if you plan your trip to get an item with other necessities you’ll drop your footprint, and you won’t have to wrap up all that cardboard for recycling day.
2) Chopping the Logs:
Cancel the Catalogs : Still getting catalogs from a store that you no longer have an interest in? Surf the net instead to find the store your cute pair of shoes are at, and cancel the catalogs. Recycle the ones you do have, American’s throw out up to 1,300 lbs of catalogs (each) every year.
3) Trash the Bags
Paper or Plastic – how about fabric? Most plastic and paper bags from the grocery store have a sprinter pace life of 54 seconds or less. Get one of those nifty canvas bags for your shopping trips, and clean out the corner cabinet where you stash your trash bags.
4 ) This hot coffee is HOT !
Burning cardboard, or paper produces particulate matter in the air that we breathe. Wood is a better choice, or now there are JAVA logs. Which are made out of wood particles and you guessed it COFFEE. This reduces the particulate matter in the air too.
5) Hang Out
Use a multi-tiered system to cool your house. Have a 2 foot roof overhang so there’s more shade. Install a Radiant Barrier under the plywood for your roof (looks like aluminum foil) this can deflect up to 30% of the heat sun during the day, and doesn’t cost much more than the foil in your kitchen already. This will send the heat from the sun back out through the roof instead of being absorbed into you attic air space. Install whole house fans that pull the hot air out through the attic
6) Run Hot and Cold
Hydronic Air Handler – Heat Recovery Ventilation – purifies the air then pumps it heated through the house. Can allow you to create a true hybrid system utilizing a boiler as the central heat source. In many retrofit or new building construction applications, various types of heating are desired, such as radiant, baseboard, or warm air along with the need to provide cooling to the structure. Utilizing separate equipment for each application is costly and requires more space than allotted for the various mechanical equipment. In an integrated hybrid system a boiler is utilized as the heat source for all heating requirements, including radiant for hard surfaces such as tile, driveway snow melt, a loop of hot water baseboard or a ducted system for warm air via the air handler. Versatility is unlimited.
Since the boiler is being used as the heat source, various supporting equipment, including an indirect water heater, pool or spa heater can easily be integrated with this type of system.
Another use for air handlers is to provide supplemental heat to a radiant system. There are several reasons why the contractor may want to provide supplemental heat. If a system is designed as an on/off system then it takes time to drive up the temperature in the slab. Using a two stage thermostat, the air handler will provide heat to make the space comfortable until the radiant has ramped up and can then take over.
7) It’s Soy Good!
Soy Based Foam Insulation – Saves on energy bills and has no VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds). Until recently, most polyurethane products utilized only petroleum or petroleum derivatives; now you have a choice … an environmentally friendly alternative. The foam is manufactured from renewable soy beans. Among its best features is that it expands to 100 times its volume to completely fill every space and void creating a barrier and thermal seal. The thermal seal keeps your heating and cooling costs low. The barrier keeps pollutants out of your home and greatly reduces noise pollution. As an inert substance Soy-Based Spray Foam Insulation retains its structural integrity for the life of your home. It is not effected by moisture, mold, insects or rodents.
8) I got an E?
Install Efficient Windows : Low-E and solar control low-E (also called spectrally selective) coatings can be used to boost the energy efficiency of windows. Low-E double pane windows, most common in cold and moderate climates, are more energy efficient than clear windows because the low-E coating reduces heat loss through the window.
Solar control glass, also called Low E2, is a good glass for hot climates because, in addition to improving the insulating ability of windows, it also limits solar heat gain by blocking passage of infrared and some ultraviolet rays. Solar control glass allows a higher level of visible light to pass through a window with less solar heat gain reduction than tinted window coatings.
An NFRC label on the window will contain the information regarding the glazing features of a window – U-value, Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC), and Visible Light Transmittance (VT). Generally, the lower the U-value, the better the window performs at preventing heat loss (or gain in hot climates). U-value is equal to the inverse of R-value. SHGC is the fraction of sunlight which is admitted through a window and released as heat indoors. It is expressed as a number between 0 and 1– the higher the number, the more solar heat the window transmits. VT is the portion (between 0 and 1) of the sun’s visible light that is transmitted through a window.
9) Beating the Heater…
Install an On-demand Water Heater – Tank less hot water heaters reduce energy use while making hot water available whenever you turn on the tap. Most water heaters heat 30 to 70 gallons of water and keep it hot until it’s needed. When you open the tap, hot water flows through the pipes and cold water enters the tank to be heated. But when you’re not using hot water, it’s being maintained at 120 degrees Fahrenheit (or more) — all day and all night, increasing your energy bills but not contributing to your comfort. Wouldn’t it be great if you didn’t have to keep a tank of hot water available to use the next time you open the hot water tap? A tank less or on-demand water heater makes it possible.
10) It’s not just shiny it’s Radiant!
Radiant barriers are materials that are installed in homes/ buildings to reduce summer heat gain and winter heat loss, and hence to reduce building heating and cooling energy usage. The potential benefit of attic radiant barriers is primarily in reducing air-conditioning cooling loads in warm or hot climates. Radiant barriers usually consist of a thin sheet or coating of a highly reflective material, usually aluminum (actually it looks like thick aluminum foil) , applied to one or both sides of a number of substrate materials. These substrates include kraft paper, plastic films, cardboard, plywood sheathing, and air infiltration barrier material. Some products are fiber reinforced to increase the durability and ease of handling.
11) Raindrops keep falling in my barrel
Harvest Rainwater – Collect the rainwater from your down spout. The water can easily be put to use watering your lawn or garden. One 55 gallon barrel can save up to 2,500 gallons a year for “regular” rainfall. There are simple systems out there that are already assembled. Or if you’re handy, save a even more money, buy a barrel and the parts and assemble yourself. There are dozens of websites on how to assemble your own barrel. Make sure you get a barrel from a local vendor so you can be even more green. Worried about the overflow? There are diverters, and inchworms to the rescue so you won’t be soaking your foundation.
12) I see the LED at the end of the tunnel
Use LED lights – they cost more initially but some are guaranteed to last for up to 24 years. CFL’s cut down on carbon emissions too, but the light from LED’s is more natural looking.
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