Up to 30 percent of home energy losses are through the windows of a property. Why is this loss so huge? Many homes use poorly made windows, which can lose a very large amount of heat when it’s cold outside (we’ll start by focussing on this process rather than concentrating on how windows can cause a room to warm up when it’s hot outside and cool inside).
Author Archives: GBE FACTS
19
May
May
Flower pollination is essential to maintaining the high crop yields needed to ensure that food remains affordable for the majority of people. When we consider that the European Crop Protection Association claim that “honey bees are the valuable pollinators of agricultural crops worldwide,” news that their populations are in decline should be a major cause for concern.
17
May
May
Although you may not appreciate or even notice them, emergency products in public buildings keep us safe every day. Building safety code requirements have been beefed up over the past 30 years to ensure public safety resulting in the need for many products to remain compliant like exit signage designated near or above every exit,…
15
May
May
The older design of solar shingles left much to be desired. Outsized shiny sheets of metallic shingles detracted from the building’s appearance, making many homeowners think twice. Not any longer.
11
May
May
The cost of energy just seems to keep on rising, making it harder and harder to make ends meet. Not only does it cost us in dollar terms, but most of us understand that using energy negatively affects the environment, too. All is not lost, though; there are many ways to help ease the energy…
08
May
May
Despite “greenwashing” by even the biggest and least environmentally committed fast food chains, it’s difficult to evaluate just how green a restaurant is behind the scenes. While the most obvious green issues for restaurants involve the food offerings, many other elements affect the sustainability of a commercial kitchen, including energy efficiency, water efficiency, decor, takeout containers, cleaning practices, insect and rodent control, food preparation procedures and waste-handling.
04
May
May
If you visited our site yesterday, you will have read Part I of our guide to getting a clean sparkly kitchen while avoiding buying more unnecessary nasty chemicals.
Today we’re posting the second half of that article, by starting off talking about scummy sinks and looking at how you can clean them really effectively with what’s already in your cupboard!
04
May
May
When you walk along the cleaning aisles of the supermarket, you’d be excused for thinking every surface in our kitchens, bathrooms, toilets and bedrooms all needed a different cleaning fluid! Each one costs a tidy sum and I dread to think about the chemicals contained in them.
30
Apr
Apr
North Face of House in Straw Bales – Strawbale House Build in Redmond Western Australia
30
Apr
Apr
Currently, one of the biggest trends for homes is “going green.” Unfortunately, the biggest problem with going green is…green. Remodeling a room to be eco-friendly can really cost you a lot of money. That price tag is something that scares a lot of budget-conscious people away. It doesn’t have to be like that though. Going…
29
Apr
Apr
We live now in a world that is environmentally conscious, to put it bluntly, every bit of packaging that is thrown away, every tree that is cut down, every aerosol sprayed, somewhere in the back of our minds there are the questions; how big is the hole in the ozone layer, do these emails really need to be printed out, how many trees died to make this brochure?
25
Apr
Apr
Wood is one of the greener materials you can use; it is renewable, doesn’t release any harmful emissions (though the products used to treat it can) and can last for years making it easy to reuse. The problem is that using wood from the wrong sources is to take part in a system that leads to deforestation, exploitation of indigenous peoples and shipping tons of wood from all over the world.
13
Apr
Apr
You may believe wholeheartedly in renewable energy and the concept of sustainability that serves as the foundation stone. What kind of renewable energy in which you choose to invest, however, is quite another matter, especially if considering something like biomass. This guest post from the Enerfina in the UK might help with your understanding.
12
Apr
Apr
Although you can see (and smell) pollution outside, you are actually more susceptible to these toxins in your own home. Because indoor spaces are unable to provide the same kind of ventilation as the great outdoors, any airborne toxins that enter your home are generally there to stay.
09
Apr
Apr
Building green is trendy these days in the construction and remodeling industry. There are environmental experts who point to concrete as a suitable material for green construction, including concrete floors, concrete homes and concrete countertops.
04
Apr
Apr
In fact, agricultural interests have been the largest offenders in the Amazon with their desire for more land to raise cattle and grow soybeans and other commodity crops for internal use and the burgeoning export markets.
28
Mar
Mar
Danielle Stewart has written before about the five benefits of lighting retrofits for commercial or warehouse spaces with lighting that can be more energy efficient. Here, along a similar line of thought, she addresses the old standard T-12 fluorescent lamp.
21
Mar
Mar
As the process of turning hard water into soft water involves chemicals, there is naturally a concern for the environment and the possible damage this causes to the surrounding ecosystem. In any case, an artificial chemical process is the human method of controlling a set of components into a specified form for a number of practical reasons.