Published on May 11th, 2008
Like this post? Subscribe to our RSS feed and stay up to date.
The iconoclastic owner of the San Jose tract home featured in this article takes exception to the notion that green is expensive. Green, to him, is rooted in conservation of all resources, not the least of them being money.
Frank Schiavo’s compact, tract-built, three-bedroom ranch-style home in a modest San Jose neighborhood demonstrates that remodeling to create a cutting-edge green home is neither difficult nor expensive. Heated with sunlight and cooled by night air, his home is comfortable, quiet and tasteful, filled with light and local art. With only modest investments in a sun room, extra insulation, new windows, a very small array of rooftop photovoltaic and solar hot water panels, his electricity bill for the coldest, cloudiest months of the year averages a few dollars a month. His gas bill is even more modest.
What’s most impressive about Schiavo’s house isn’t that it’s so comfortable and practical for him to own, it’s that it demonstrates that lofty resource conservation goals can be achieved on a modest remodeling budget.
Read the rest of this entry »
Published on April 30th, 2008
Editor’s note: As part of our new content partnership with Low Impact Living, we’ll be bringing you tips and tricks from their massive and growing archive of products and projects that can help you save energy, water and money around the house. Today, LIL blogger Jason Pelletier takes a look at tankless hot water heaters. This post was originally published on Monday, April 28, 2008.
Tankless hot water heaters are becoming a must-have appliance in homes these days. They purport to offer many benefits - instant and endless hot water, less wasted space, and a smaller carbon footprint as well. They can even be used to power radiant underfloor heating that is a luxury found in many green homes.
But are they truly the best option? What can you expect from one, and what do you have to worry about with installation? Finally, are there other options available that offer the same benefits without some of the challenges? We’ll try to cover most of that in this piece.
Read the rest of this entry »
Published on April 28th, 2008
When the Internet extended its wiry tentacles to the small town that I grew up in, I had no idea what it was. I pictured it being a room full of wires and lights, like a super computer android version of a phone operator.
As I matured, I realized it wasn’t that at all, but a more mystic existence of floating pockets of digital information in constant flux, existing in digital clouds that were suspended just above the atmosphere.
Of course, neither of those images is or was correct. But as it turns out, I was closer to the target with my first guess. Massive server rooms take up space and energy all over the world, storing the information and websites we web junkies feed on for survival. Luckily, they are starting to go green.
Digital Realty Trust, Inc., a technology real estate company, has taken a bold step into the green world by renovating a 90-year-old printing facility in Chicago. They have turned the plant into the world’s first LEED gold-certified data center. Not only is this a paradigm shift for future data centers—it may change the way LEED building companies approach renovations.
Read the rest of this entry »
Published on April 3rd, 2008
The Meyer Company of St. Louis, Missouri, is quietly undertaking a green building experiment called Patrician Place, the results of which could have far reaching implications in the field of green building. In partnership with the St. Louis County Office of Community Development and Architect; Garen Miller, Inc., The Meyer Company is building ten homes under three different green building programs, gauging the energy efficiency of each. After a year of testing the energy efficiency of the homes of Patrician Place, an affordable housing development for lower income families, St. Louis County will have a benchmark for future housing projects. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on March 17th, 2008
In terms of energy efficiency, windows are one of the biggest contributors to heat loss from buildings. However, a new window technology being developed by Guardian Industries could allow for windows that can provide insulation values comparable to a standard insulated 2×4 stud wall, with a new double-pane glass and a vacuum between the panes.
A thermos keeps hot beverages hot and cold beverages cold by separating the contents from the outside world with a vacuum. Heat is conducted by three modes, conduction, convection, and radiation. A vacuum prevents conduction and convection, and a reflective coating serves to reflect radiated heat back where it came from. The Guardian VIG (vacuum-insulated glass) works the same way, with a vacuum between two panes of glass, and a low-E coating to prevent radiant heat from escaping.
Read the rest of this entry »
Published on March 15th, 2008
The IRS has had tax deductions in place through the Energy Policy Act of 2005 which allow taxpayers to deduct the cost of energy-efficient equipment installed in commercial buildings they own. But publicly-owned buildings aren’t taxed, and therefore, there is no additional tax savings to the building owner. However, the law allows the designer of the energy-saving portion of a public building to claim the tax credit.
Read the rest of this entry »
Published on January 2nd, 2008
Most of the country is paying for heat right now. Being on the Gulf Coast, I wasn’t until this week - but with temps dropping into the twenties Fahrenheit, I’m starting to rethink the location of my home office.
You see, my house is like the one shown (from a real estate ad). Mine was also originally built with a porch, which was later enclosed with walls and permanent windows. When I open the real front door, now ‘interior’, and a French door to the dining room, I get heat or air conditioning from the rest of the house. (Don’t worry, my HVAC system is sadly oversized, like most in the country - that’s another post.)
I have used that porch as my home office for several years now. But I’m starting to think about moving the office to another part of the house - and giving this room back to the elements.
Read the rest of this entry »
