"Home Green Home"

[adam]

One of the greatest dangers to our ecosystem is not in the form of an asteroid from outer space, but is the result of our past (and even to some extent) present actions. We all blame industries, governments and quite literally speaking all things for the present environmental degradation.
Knowingly and to some extent unknowingly we all contribute towards environmental hazards. The building materials used in most houses even today is one of the greatest contributors towards environmental pollution.

A famous English saying goes -'Charity begins at Home'- while most of us often like to quote and repeat this saying, have we ever wondered how many of us actually follow it? In the present context do we really give a thought to things such as recycled metals, plastics, wood, ceramics and glass? All these things are easily available today but how many of us actually know about them?
Recycled building materials can be acquired through three different ways:
1) Post-Consumer Materials: These materials are essentially those which come from households or facilities which no longer need them. Materials such as glass, or even old bricks and steel which can be acquired from a building which is being demolished.
2) Waste Materials from Industrial Processes: A perfect example is 'fly-ash' which can be used to make bricks and even as a raw material in making portland cement.
3) Internally Recycled Materials: These are scraps which are leftover after a manufacturing process. Particleboard is one of the materials which is made from discarded or burned pieces of wood and can be used as a useful alternative.

Now most of us would be alarmed with the cost of these recycled materials (which no doubt is high) but is much more reasonable and less expensive in the long run.

So the next time we or anyone we know plans to built a home do we take the moral responsibility of considering & suggesting these environment friendly materials for a truly "green home"? Because as the saying goes-Charity Begins at Home!!

[sueerassmus]

Here is an article about an initiative to green homes on Long Island:

OPINION: Working together to green Long Island's homes
Originally published: May 26, 2010 6:51 PM
Updated: May 26, 2010 6:51 PM
By MARIANNE GARVIN

Identify a vital interest during a time of crisis, mix in leaders on Long Island seeking to transform "business as usual" and add in a little competition along with collaboration. What do you get? The beginning of a movement that demonstrates how leaders in government, business and the nonprofit sectors can tackle the challenge of high energy costs, dependence on foreign oil and the need to create a new green economy.

The Long Island Green Homes and Building Consortium demonstrates that large, complex problems can be addressed regionally on Long Island - even though we Long Islanders pride ourselves on "home rule" and have multiple jurisdictions to prove it.

Community Development Corp. of Long Island has weatherized 15,000 homes of low-income people in the last 20 years. The effort is helping homeowners on a fixed income save money on their oil, gas and electric bills.

The Town of Babylon, in late 2007, decided that all homeowners, regardless of their income, could benefit from "retrofitting" their homes. That's a fancy way of saying, adding insulation, doing weather-stripping, upgrading inefficient heating systems and completing other cost-saving improvements that reduce energy bills nearly 30 percent. With the high cost of energy, that's a lot of money to save!

The work for both the Town of Babylon and the CDC program is done by local contractors who have found a way to expand their businesses (or to start new ones), thereby stimulating the economy.

So when the Department of Energy put out a challenge grant meant to stimulate innovative ideas to ramp up programs to offer all homeowners the opportunity to make their homes more energy efficient, Long Island was already in good shape.

And then, an amazing thing happened: Eight towns came together in a consortium to develop a retrofitting program with uniform features. The uniformity would enable the money to pay for the work to be secured in the capital markets. But each town also had the flexibility to develop program features that would appeal to their residents.

For example, the Town of Huntington is starting its outreach to residents with an education focus - teaching homeowners about work they can do themselves, like changing their incandescent bulbs to fluorescent. Then the town can evaluate which homes are "leaky" and can encourage those people to do a deep retrofit.

The result of this collaboration has been a living, breathing laboratory for learning what works in achieving a critical goal: a movement in which people become aware that they can save energy in their homes, reduce their carbon footprints, and stimulate a green economy on Long Island by taking simple steps that will also save them money.

While the consortium's application for Department of Energy grant money wasn't accepted, New York State did win some funds. And the consortium got a boost when Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington) and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) encouraged the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to set aside $5 million from its grant for Long Island.

That's good news for taxpayers who will benefit from federal dollars coming back to Long Island. It's good news for contractors who will be employed to make the home improvements. And it's good news for the consortium, which can continue to work across jurisdictional lines to demonstrate that when a vital interest is at stake, a regional approach leads to solutions in our interdependent world.

[kymsolaris]

Here is an article about a green home that recently sold in California:

San Jose: Environmental advocate's green home finds a buyer

A 54-year-old engineer has bought what may be the greenest home in Silicon Valley, with a desire to perhaps tweak the spot to make it more high-tech.
Eaden Saw recently purchased the 1978 tract home in San Jose, which was long-owned by the late Frank Schiavo, a retired San Jose State University environmental studies professor, until his death in January.
Saw said she paid cash for the three-bedroom, two-bath, 1,155-square-foot home in the Yerba Buena neighborhood for $385,000 — $14,000 less than the asking price.
"The Realtor, who is my sister, showed me houses in my price range," Saw said by phone from Boston, where she has been living for the past two years. "I cannot believe I found this kind of green house. I've always wanted to get involved with green houses or green buildings. It's almost like magic from God."
The selling real estate agent, Jeni Pfeiffer, said there was a "tremendous amount of interest" in Schiavo's home; a home that Schiavo diligently used as a touring spot to show people that anyone could reduce, recycle and reuse. His home features a compost-rich herb garden, insulated fiber-cement shingles and unusual "water walls" to regulate heat.
Saw said is a microelectro-mechanical systems engineer who moved to Boston in 2008, but has long wanted to move back to San Jose, where she hopes to find a job. She will be living in Schiavo's former home with her 14-year-old daughter, as well as her college-aged daughter and her brother when they visit.
She plans to keep most everything as is, including the earthy tones of the walls, and the minimalist but inviting furniture.
But as a techie herself, she said she is thinking about adding electronic sensor systems to the house, to even upgrade the home's green abilities. Some of those systems might include a sprinkler system that can actually detect when the plants are thirsty and water them only when needed.
"I want to make this green house a smart green house," Saw said. "That's my dream."