One of our newest locations, Washington Energy Services, recently posted some great tips on greening your Holiday season. Love the local focus here, nothing like supporting your community and also enjoying the season while you do it!
Please read on here, and if you are in the area, reach out to a part of the Green Team, you will be glad you did.
Happy Holidays!
Jason
Housing is near and dear to us here at GreenHomes, and even closer is safe housing. Hurricane Sandy has significantly changed what many have taken for granted just as we go into colder weather in the Northeast. Tens of thousands have found themselves without a home because of the storm. Many more have found themselves with extensive damage to their homes and a long struggle to recover.
There are many ways to support efforts to support those affected, the Red Cross is collecting donations, and Feeding America has been working to provide food and water for example.
It is also important to keep in mind how to stay safe as people return to their homes. The CDC has some useful information about what to look for when coming home to water damage, the dangers of electrical issues, and mold. For many our homes are no longer the safe havens they once were.
Losing power means often means relying on a generator, which is a great concern since they are one of the leading reasons for CO poisoning. I often preach about the importance of checking heating and cooking equipment, having a CO alarm in your home, but when all goes wrong and we need a generator just to get by, it is even more important to make sure it will be helping not harming us.
The dangers of unvented fireplaces also true for generators in your home or garage. A garage or enclosed porch may be more connected to your home than you think. When using a generator; always make sure there is enough fresh air to dilute any of the exhaust fumes. Keep them out of your homes!
Help the people in need; stay safe please, no matter where you are!
Thanks,
Jason
Photo of the New Jersey coast from the National Guard
It’s nice to be recognized. This is the third year in a row in fact. The EPA and the DOE have recognized GreenHomes America – Syracuse with the Century Club Award. An award that goes to the contractor that has improved the energy efficiency of more than 100 homes in the past year through Home Performance with ENERGY STAR. Home Performance with ENERGY STAR offers homeowners a comprehensive whole house approach to improving energy efficiency and comfort while saving money on utility bills and helping to protect the environment.
Our Syracuse location, a leading contractor in central New York and part of the national GreenHomes America network, improved well over 400 homes last year!
Congratulations to Syracuse! It is great to know that as a network we are charging along across the country in states that participate in the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program as well as states that don’t. Look for a GreenHomes America location near you!
Thanks,
Jason
A recent study this summer from UC Berkeley and UCLA looked at homes that were certified as green from a few different organizations. Although the certification standards varied, the homes needed to have details such as well-insulated ceilings and walls and energy-efficient lighting. These are just some of the basics of making a home “green”, as well as efficient appliances, proper HVAC equipment and good indoor air quality. These things unfortunately don’t always happen in new homes, even those with the green label. However, they can and should happen in every home, and that’s why we do what we do.
This study comes from a state with a very nice incentive system in place for energy efficiency retrofits. Energy upgrade California is a good place to start if you are a resident of CA. For residents of other states, you can find some incentive programs from DSIRE. The full study can be found here.
You can also contact one of our locations to learn more about how you can make your home safer, energy efficient, more valuable, and of course, green!
Thanks,
Jason
It has been said that if engineers, instead of architects, designed efficient buildings, there would be no windows. Refrigerators are boxes just like our homes, and for good reasons most of them have no windows. You can get a commercial refrigerator with a glass door, but the sacrifice is efficiency to get that view inside. This one becomes transparent as you approach it, which is pretty neat and might save energy if it is well insulated and you don’t have to open the door as much.
Seems like a good idea to me. What if we were the milk cartons and our home the fridge? This time of year keeping cool can mean keeping the door closed on our homes because your air conditioner works double time when the door is left open. It also works harder when there’s a lack of insulation and lots of air leakage in your home. Hey, if you are the produce and don’t wish to perish, consider keeping cool by improving your home. We can help!
Thanks,
Jason
I can only hope and pray for everyone’s safety and quick progress in ending the wildfires that continue to burn in the west.
This is the season when temperatures push past 100 degrees; and when factoring in the heat index, the “feels like” temperature is over 120 in some places. Evacuations and wildfires add insult to injury.
The heat can be deadly, and in areas where we aren’t used to it, very high temps can surprise us and leave folks unprepared. We often provide cooling tips, and they’re worth revisiting. Here are a couple of important reminders we’ve posted in the past to help you—and your home—get through this.
Keeping Your Person Cool
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has a helpful Extreme Heat guide the offers additional details and advice.
Keeping Your Home Cool
Remember that children, the elderly, and the sick are especially susceptible to heat. Keep a close eye on them.
My hat’s off to the first responders and dedicated folks helping those who have been displaced as the fires rage on. Here’s to a quick end! Please be safe, and stay cool!
Thanks,
Jason
There are many sources of moisture in the home. Cooking, showering, houseplants, and people are some expected sources. Crawlspaces and basements can add to the humidity as well. And no matter where it comes from, too much humidity can promote the growth of unwanted microbes, mold, mildew and bacteria. It should be a healthy home, not a lab experiment.
Consider some steps to avoid high humidity in the home:
Most of the time we know we have too much moisture only after it’s too late. Wet stains on walls and ceilings, rotten wood, condensation on the windows, and musty smells let us know something is wrong. Clearly indoor air quality suffers, so it’s best to keep your eye out for trouble. Suffer from allergies? You might be creating an ideal situation for the growth of the bacteria and mold that cause them. Our homes are made of mold food: wood, sheetrock, paper. It should be a palace not a Petri dish!
Thanks,
Jason
Our advisors and installation crews spend a lot of time in houses. We use ladders and power tools and crawl around underneath and above homes, especially attics. We look for air leaks, low insulation levels, electrical concerns, and other hazards. Safety is a great concern, and occasionally we come across the unexpected; such as sharks.
Sharks: A major safety concern in attics
I’m sure that air leakage from the electrical box is providing plenty of nice indoor air smells, steak cooking, people sleeping. Seal those leaks and I’m guessing the sharks won’t be so interested. More insulation in this space is needed too. Summertime air conditioners have to work twice as hard when there’s so little insulation and air sealing in your attic. When you want to keep the conditioned air conditioned, hot or cold, putting a good cap on your home is a great start. What shark would stick around after that? No good indoor smells, no cool air, not a great place to hang out.
What’s for dinner?
If you have sharks in your attic consider a home performance assessment, it’s a great way to take a bite out of your high energy bills and make a home more comfortable and safe.
Thanks,
Jason
Recently Fox News had an interesting piece on energy audits. It asks an excellent question; are they worth the cost? As homeowners we can identify some issues in our homes, but it often takes and expert to pull it all together, and catch some of the bigger issues affecting our utility bills.
The article points out that not all auditors are created equal. It mentions that blower door tests, Infrared imaging, as well as duct testing, are important for and auditor to perform. And we agree. In fact, we spend numerous hours training individuals to use the equipment, as well as getting them certified with the Building Performance Institute (BPI). BPI’s focus is not on just energy efficiency, but also health and safety, and that in my mind is more important that just saving money.
It is important that our advisors have ongoing training and support, because homes—and the building science behind them—are complicated. If I relate this to the medical profession, would you want an intern performing surgery while figuring it out on their own? Or, would you rather have an experienced doctor teaching the intern?
One thing not pointed out in the article is that saving energy is only part of it. Don’t forget comfort, the reason we heat and cool our homes in the first place. Acting on the recommendations in an energy audit can make our homes a more comfortable place.
Is it worth the cost? If you take action, absolutely! An audit isn’t worth anything if you don’t fix the problems, which is why it is so important to identify them—and provide cost-conscious improvements—making your home more energy efficient, healthy and comfortable. You can learn more in our learning center.
Thanks,
Jason
A few weeks back I touched on some of the hidden costs in our home (http://blog.greenhomesamerica.com/2012/04/12/fixes-for-hidden-costs-reveal-hidden-benefits/). There is a tie between our houses and our cars and energy use.
Fixing up your home could even help you drive for free. The Florida solar energy center created this great video:
The benefits of home performance improvements are clear and widespread. You can be more comfortable, safer, and healthier and save money. Money you can put elsewhere, such as towards the expense of driving with an electric vehicle. What I think is important here is that this isn’t just for Florida. Florida is of course a great place for solar power being the “Sunshine State”, but this isn’t really part of the formula for most homeowners. Generating electricity can be done in many ways, and energy efficient homes are the key to being able to drive for free.
