Single Family Home Green Living

Forget the Joneses. These days, it’s all about keeping up with the Greens. Inside and out, new technologies and old techniques offer all sorts of ways to reduce your impact.

• Water, water, everywhere. Low-flow showerheads and toilets are only the beginning. Save energy with your hot water heater by wrapping it in an insulating blanket, researching a more efficient replacement or installing an on-demand unit for bathrooms far removed from the rest of the plumbing. Daily indoor per capita water use in the typical single family home is 69.3 gallons. By installing more efficient water fixtures and regularly checking for leaks, households can reduce daily per capita water use by about 35% to about 45.2 gallons per day. Source: American Water Works Association

• Leaves of grass. Leave your leaf blower to molder in the garage and grab a rake instead– but once gathered, make sure those leaves head for your home’s (or the neighborhood’s) compost pile and not the curbside trash pickup. And once you’ve mowed your lawn (not too short, and with a rotary push mower if you’re really tough), let the clippings fall where they may. It’s an easy and chemical-free way to fertilize the remaining grass. Fact: in season, leaves may account for over half the municipal solid waste collected and on a yearly basis may comprise 5% to 30% of the total municipal solid waste stream. Source: New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

• Get with the program. A programmable thermostat frees you from using energy when you’re not at home (or awake) to enjoy it. Finally! A way to stop burning the midnight oil.

• Mind the gaps. A roll of weather-stripping and a tube of caulk are a good start. But remember to address the larger openings in your home’s envelope: folding attics stairs, whole-house fans or a/c returns, fireplace flues and outside dryer vents. There are special products on the market that can reduce drafts at these points, saving energy in the process. And remember, insulate your attic or crawl space!

• Improving energy efficiency: By taking appropriate energy-saving measures, by 2010 the US can reduce costs by $530 per household per year and reduce pollutant emissions to 10% below 1990 levels. Just by using the "off the shelf" energy-efficient technologies available today, we could cut the cost of heating, cooling, and lighting our homes and workplaces by up to 80%. (Sources: Energy Innovations report; U.S. Department of Energy and Maryland Energy Administration; solarenergy.org)