Archive for category Green Real Estate

How To Achieve Maximum Material Resource Efficiency Using Insulation Alternatives

By Marjorie Dorfmann

Material resource sustainability comes as a result of sustainability. Builders with an eye on the future of this planet choose and use resources that will reduce emissions and conserve energy. Managing resources used for insulation and other purposes in an endeavor to decrease our carbon footprint must be an integral part of any plan for all developmental sectors, including construction. By reusing resources recycled from demolished or renovated buildings, developers can dramatically boost construction sustainability.

High-embodied energy levels, fire retardants and adhesives are present in a lot of the insulation materials used nowadays. The transport of traditional building resources is the reference to elevated-embodied energy levels. There are a significant number of green insulation alternatives on the market including: hemp and lime solid composite, flax fiber and wood fiber. Two other insulation options that are both highly energy-efficient and more advantageous to the environment compared to other more conventional materials are cellulose and sheep’s wool.

Sheep’s wool is highly desirable as an insulation option because it is thermally efficient. Sheep’s wool is a great deal more energy-efficient than fiber glass insulation, needing 15% less energy to manufacture, and it is likewise an insulation material that fares well under all temperature fluctuations. When it is cold, heat is discharged from the wool and moisture is absorbed in the form of energy, and this same moisture causes a cooling effect as it is naturally released during the warmer months of the year.

Recycled newspaper and other paper connected sources are transformed into cellulose, which often serves as insulation when it is blown into cavity walls. Cellulose needs lesser energy than fiberglass or foam items to manufacture and it has a low-embodied energy level. According to the Canadian Building Magazine, fiberglass utilizes around 10 times more embodied energy than cellulose. Realizing that the use of petroleum-based insulation resources, such as fiberglass and foam, is not harmonious with material resource sustainability has caused builders to look elsewhere for insulation materials in their search to decrease the effect of the overall embodied energy of buildings.

Alternative masonry methods must be developed to be able to boost the renewability of the construction process. This involves a slow moving away from conventional resources that are now known to have elevated levels of embodied energy. It is an important step for builders who can now begin constructing really sustainable buildings.

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Custom Energy Star Homes

By Paul A Buchanan

With the way the economic market is now and days, consumers are taking a conservative fiscal approach to their lifestyle. It is no secret that cutting back on costs wherever possible is an intelligent way to deal with a recessive economy, however, that doesn’t mean people aren’t still buying the large necessities as before; they are just spending their money more efficiently. If you are a homebuyer, the best way to be a wise investor is to purchase an energy star home.

An energy star home is built to meet guidelines of energy efficiency regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection agency. These homes are built to be fifteen percent more efficient that homes built in 2004, and are up to 30 percent more efficient than most standard homes. These guidelines are met in numerous ways.
The first method in creating these homes to be more efficient is the installation of effective insulation. Making sure that your insulation is properly installed and inspected in your walls, your floors, and your attics helps to increase the assurances of even temperatures throughout your home. Doing this increases the efficiency of heating and cooling your home.

High performance windows are also installed. These high performance windows utilize advance coatings and enhanced framing to help keep heat in and out during its respective seasons. They also exploit UV Ray protection to decrease damages to carpets and furniture.

Making sure that your home is built with a tight construction greatly increases its efficiency. It also assists in reducing moisture and air pollutants offering better air quality of the home. To go along with making sure that your homes “package” is properly sealed, installing more proficient heating and cooling systems while your home is tightly sealed means that they do not have to work nearly as hard and reduces energy usage as well as improving the overall comfort of your home.

There are numerous add ons to increasing the efficiency of a home such as installing energy star appliances such as refrigerators and washing and drying machines. Installing energy efficient lighting fixtures and compact fluorescent bulbs also creates less usage within a home.

Now making sure that all these are done properly is a great concern for homebuyers but an energy star home is inspected and certified to be more efficient than standard home building codes. A certification of its efficiency will be of course offered to you. Buying an energy star home can save you thousands of dollars in the long run and can decrease your usage by up to thirty percent. Now that’s a great savings! It is clear that when purchasing a new home an Energy Star home is the most practical and respectable way to go.

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Benefits of Maintaining a Green Home

By Byron Jonas

Maintaining a green home only offers you numerous benefits with no harmful side effects. Not only does it give that peace of mind that you have always wanted to experience in your home, it also does wonders for your environment. A good number of the previous ways that people used to construct buildings caused numerous negative impacts on our environment. Out of all the benefits one can experience as a result of maintaining a green home, is the huge difference of the money spent when paying utilities since you end up saving a lot. The environment around you is also impacted in a positive manner. Going green in your home does not necessarily mean revamping your home from top to bottom. It can be as simple as doing away with energy-consuming equipments and replacing them with new energy star appliances.

This concept is not something new since it has been there for quite some time. However more better and effective methods of saving energy and doing away with loss are now being used. The appliances used are readily available and even cheaper when compared to the difference of the reduced costs.

In the long run you and your family will benefit from the eco friendly changes you make to your home. Your environment will also become safer and healthier or you to leave in. Other than the health benefits a green building is also looks more attractive. Saving energy and water are just a few of the benefits of maintaining a green home.

Maintaining a green lifestyle is something that will also make you feel good about yourself as you protect and preserve your environment. This will also ensure your children grow up in a clean and healthy environment. The trend of constructing green homes has become quite popular. Hence more construction companies are using this to attract more prospective home owners. They do this by pointing out the benefits of a green home.

As earlier mentioned one will be able to save between 5 to 10 percent of your previous utility bills. It is also important to construct various birdhouses and other inhabitants that will attract wildlife which will feed on various pests. This will prevent you from using chemically based pesticides that contain toxins which end up destroying your environment. This will give you that complete green house effect as you use nature to do away with what is not necessary.

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