Green Building Elements

Lost in the economic and political circus of the recent weeks was the failure of congress to extend tax credits for alternative energy companies and homeowners who install solar-power systems. Both the Senate and the House wrote similar bills extending the tax credits and lifting the cap for residential solar-power installation. Until the end of this year, homeowners can receive a federal tax credit of 30% of the cost of a solar-power system, capped at $2,000. With that cap lifted, tax credits to homeowners installing solar-power systems increase dramatically, potentially saving homeowners over $10,000 on home solar systems. In addition, companies that produce electricity from wind will get a one year extension on tax credits, companies that produce electricity from solar will get an eight year extension on tax credits, and companies that produce electricity from other types of alternative energy will get a two year extension on tax credits.

Unfortunately, the Senate and House could not agree on how the continuation of tax credits would be paid for. In the past, such cuts were paid for by eliminating tax breaks for hedge fund managers and from tax increases on oil profits. With no progress made by the end of the session, these tax credits would disappear at the beginning of 2009. A coalition of renewable energy industry representatives warned that billions in research and hundreds of thousands of alternative energy jobs would be lost if the tax credits were not renewed. As of last week, this seemed the likely outcome. The Wall Street meltdown and the failure of the House to pass a bailout bill have given the tax credits new life. Read the rest of this entry »

This post is a follow-up to The Fight Over Radon in Granite Countertops Heats Up, which will provide some background information on the granite/radon issue.

With the legion of both deniers and alarmists out there attempting to monopolize the discussion over the safety of granite countertops, it is difficult to find unbiased information.  Peruse the comments in the above post and you can see the discussion has devolved into name calling.  The deniers, many of whom work in the granite industry, blast any insinuation that granite could be dangerous as “fear-mongering” and put down the current research as “junk science.”  The alarmists, many of whom sell competing countertops, argue that consumers shouldn’t take the risk that comes with granite.  The truth, as with most heated arguments, can be found somewhere in the middle. Read the rest of this entry »

Already a leader in water and energy conservation in bathroom fixtures, Hansgrohe is preparing to bring to the United States the Pontos Aquacycle grey water system.  Currently available in Europe, the Pontos Aquacycle is a compact and efficient way to convert bath and shower water into clean, filtered water for use in toilets, washing machines, interior cleaning, and exterior watering.  The Pontos Aquacycle ranges in size from a cabinet shaped basic model, cleaning roughly 237 gallons of water a day, to large, hotel use models that clean 3,300 gallons a day.

Silent and odor-free, the Pontos Aquacycle uses a four chamber system to filter the bath or shower water into clean, usable water: two main recycling chambers, a sediment disposal chamber, and a UV-sterilization chmaber.   No date has been set for the US release of the Pontos Aquacycle, but I’ve been told that Hansgrohe is targeting 2009. Read the rest of this entry »

Homes for Our Troops builds specially adapted homes for injured veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, free of charge.  Thanks to a recent grant from The Sierra Club, these homes will now be built green.  “This grant will allow us to incorporate state of the art building techniques and materials such as geothermal heating system[s] and photovoltaic solar panels to give our veterans the long-term economic and environmental benefits of green building,” says Homes for Our Troops President and Founder John Gonsalves.

Homes for Our Troops is a non-profit organization, founded in 2004, that has already completed 28 specially adapted homes across the country for veterans of the current conflict.  Two dozen homes are currently underway, and they plan to build 100 more homes over the next three years.  They raise donations of money, building materials, and professional labor, and coordinate the process of building a new home or adapting an existing home for handicapped accessibility.  All of this is done at no charge to the veteran.

With the current grant from The Sierra Club, new homes will be built with environmental and energy conservation concerns in mind, participate in the Energy Star program, and the LEED for Homes program established by the US Green Building Council.  These new homes will provide long-term economic and environmental benefits to the veterans and their families.

Homes for Our Troops will also incorporate outreach into its new home program, educating the home construction industry and the general public on the benefits and importance of green building.  They hope to promote a greater understanding of the benefits of the green building movement.

As the wife of a (thankfully) healthy returning veteran, I fully support this effort to give back to those who keep us safe and free.  I urge our readers to visit the Homes for Our Troops website and donate to this worthy cause.

No, Al Gore is not running for president this year, but the Nobel Laureate, Oscar winner and former Vice President still keeps popping up during this campaign season. Late last week, the folks at West Coast Green announced that Gore will give a keynote address at their 2008 event, joining other eco-celebs such as Sarah Susanka, David Suzuki and Hunter Lovins.

So what’s West Coast Green?  Well, when we covered it last year, the event was billed as a “residential building conference and expo.” This year, however, the program will expand to cover the wide range of issues and ideas surrounding green building and development, and the event’s being described as “…a feast of innovations and ideas — an educational smorgasbord designed to widen your vision and stimulate your mind with the latest best practices in green building.” Homebuilders, homeowners, policy wonks and ecopreneurs will all find plenty to keep them engaged.

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As I walked from booth to booth looking for something new and different at last month’s Greening the Heartland conference, I actually did a double take when I saw the words “Green Insurance” on one display.  Here was something new that I had to learn more about - was it another gimmick or attempt to force green into an unrelated industry?  I spoke to Stephen Horack, a ”Green Insurance Specialist” of St. Louis based Huntleigh McGehee, and I have to say that I was sold on the idea right away.  Green insurance is not just a good idea, it’s potentially a revolutionary idea.

Started in 2006 by Fireman’s Fund, a member of the United States Green Building council, green insurance protects owners of green commercial or residential buildings.  In the case of a loss, Fireman’s Fund would bring in a LEED-AP to oversee reconstruction of the building to its original LEED certification level, making sure that the building systems operate at peak performance and in alignment with one another.  If this seems like a no-brainer, consider submitting rebuilding plans to an insurance company that has no experience with green building.  Would you have to explain why every component of the building was built that way, rather than a less expensive non-green alternative?  Read the rest of this entry »

For three days this week, St. Louis was host to the US Green Building Council’s Greening the Heartland conference.  Focusing on green building and sustainability, this year’s conference theme was “Embracing Change ‘08.”  It featured a strong lineup of speakers and educational programs, workshops, a bike tour of sustainable buildings, a tour of the LEED gold certified St. Louis Community College Wildwood campus, a tour of the LEED platinum certified Alberici headquarters, and a hall for exhibitors.  Educational programs were grouped into government, corporate, green communities, and education tracks.

Though I was mainly interested in kitchen and bath products like IceStone, PaperStone, and Vetrazzo countertops and Koch & Co. cabinets, I found myself sitting down with exhibitors who had something new and interesting to present, like the guys from Huntleigh McGehee, who specialize in Green Insurance, which I plan to write more about next week.  Other exhibitors showed off windmill technology, natural insulation, SIPs panels, sustainable printing, green design/architecture firms, solar shades, green roofs, and much more. Read the rest of this entry »

Smaller homes are more energy efficient generally, and consume fewer resources for their construction. In the United States, the average house size has been skyrocketing in the past few decades from 983 square feet in 1950 to almost 2,350 square feet in 2004.

Smaller buildings are potentially more affordable, are better suited to livable neighborhoods, and serve the needs of smaller families (while our houses have more than doubled in size since 1950, the size of the average family has actually decreased in that same period). There are already developers who understand this, but sometimes, the municipalities make it impossible to build smaller homes.

Marty Pieroni, a developer in Kuna, Idaho was turned down on his request to build some houses smaller than the 1,400 square foot minimum set by the city. With rising energy costs and the current housing credit crunch, there is an increasing demand for smaller, more efficient houses. But the city government (whose tax base is determined by the value of the developed property within its bounds) does not want to allow smaller properties and has turned down the request.

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Editor’s note: On Monday, we published the first part of Low Impact Living’s report on American water use at sustainablog. Today’s second part takes a look at how we tend to use water excessively in our own homes. Keep an eye out for part 3, which will give you tips for reducing your water consumption, or visit LIL for the original publication of the report.

Key Causes of Excessive Water Use

There are many sources of water waste across all sectors of the economy. But, as homeowners and consumers, which ones do we have the most control over? Low Impact Living suggests you consider the following ideas when thinking about lowering your water use.

Direct Household Water Use

The typical household with three members uses over 300 gallons of water per day, both inside and outside. If you live in a warm climate where lawn irrigation is needed, then typically this is your single biggest source of waste – most lawns are over-watered, irrigated with inefficient equipment, and planted with plants not suitable to the local climate.

Inside, toilets, clothes washers and showers are the largest water users, representing 19, 15 and 12 gallons per person per day respectively (see chart to the right). There are huge inefficiencies here as well, especially in older homes. New appliances and plumbing fixtures can often shave 50% off of your water use.

All told, an average water-conserving home could cut the 300 gallon average above to less than 150 gallons with no sacrifice in comfort or performance. Specific things you can do to achieve these savings are listed below.

Indirect Water Use

In addition to the water that you use directly, you also consume water via the products and services that you buy.

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Since 2000, the U.S. Green Building Council has been transforming the built environment through the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program. If you’re at all paying attention to green buildings, you are well aware of LEED. There are now over 10,000 projects, representing over 3.5 billion square feet of buildings, that have been registered with LEED. And today, a new draft version of LEED becomes available for public comment. [Ed note: The draft is now available; see link below.]

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