Posts Tagged ‘Eco friendly’

Installing water efficient fixtures can definitely bring in savings over the long term, for your pocket as well as the planet. Water efficient toilets save close to 4000 gallons of water per year and water efficient faucets and showerheads too, save large amounts of water as compared to conventional fixtures. However, that is not all. Most water boards and utility providers also offer you rebates on water efficient products.
The amount of rebate depends on the type of product you buy, your water board or utility provider and where you live. For instance products and accessories marked with the EPA’s Watersense label are eligible for rebate in almost all states. A list of utility specific rebates available can be found on the EPA’s Watersense website, here.
What if you’re not buying a WaterSense labelled product? There are quite a few other reputed manufacturer that offer great products and services at the residential, commercial and community level to help reduce water consumption and energy savings. For instance American Standard has been manufacturing products and services to help tackle water scarcity since the past 100 years. Their rebates page offers an exhaustive list of states where you can make savings + get your money back.
Depending on your geographic location, your county, district or state will have their local authorities and programs that work at water conservation. These partner with local water suppliers, manufacturers and state authorities to offer attractive discounts on water efficient products, systems as well as rebates. Check the websites of your local utility provider to know more about how you can save water, save energy as well as money.

Saving water is more often than not, the introductory phrase to environmental awareness. Ask anyone how they plan to save the environment and “Turn off the tap while brushing” is on their list of top three ways. However, saving water and using it efficiently is one of the most basic ways in which we can ensure our homes are green. While most of us will conscientiously try and maintain water saving habits in the house and encourage others to do so, a lot of water wastage happens in other, not so obvious ways. Therefore, while remodeling homes we often ask homeowners to look beyond turning their taps off to replacing them altogether with water efficient taps.
A sure-shot way of looking for faucets that can help save water is to look for EPA’s ‘Watersense’ label, a certification given to bathroom fixtures and accessories that use minimum water, no more than 1.6 gallons per minute, as per federal regulations. The Watersense label, a program by EPA, is an independent third party certification given to products that clear the strict federal requirements.
Water efficient bathroom fixtures are not just limited to faucet, they also extend to showerheads that provide the comfort, and ‘feel’ of a regular shower head while using only a fraction of the water. In fact, there is a range of products that have the Watersense label and can greatly limit your water usage and wastage. These products cost a little more than the regular products, however, are worth it when you consider their quality and reliability as well as efficiency and lifetime value. Replacing your current fixtures with water efficient, or even better, Watersense fixtures is bound to bring in large savings in your annual water bill. To know exactly how much, you can use the savings calculator on the EPA’s Watersense website.

Sometimes getting the U-Factor, SHGC and VT values right is not enough. Often, the installation of the window itself, i.e. the entire window assembly can have flaws. These flaws result in air leakage – one of the main obstacles in trying to achieve energy efficiency with the help of windows.
If your house is built on the Passivhaus principles; or you are looking at seriously reducing your HVAC requirements (and thus the bill) then air leakages through windows can punch a large through your plan. Some energy efficient windows specify the AL value (expressed in cubic feet of air passing through for every square foot of the window assembly) between 0-1. The lower the value, the lesser the leakage. The industry-accepted value is 0.30.
Another problem for insulation is condensation. If you live in cold areas, you’ve probably seem frost or dew on the edges of the windows. Looks quite ‘Christmassy’ but it only means that much more heating load. Condensation happens when inside warm air comes into contact with cold panes and glass, which essentially means your windows are not doing such a good job insulating.
With condensation and air leakage, there aren’t fixed ratings to go by. However, certain materials and window technologies work better. For example, if you’re opting for multiple pane windows, looks for stainless steel spacers, or thermally improved spacers made from silicon foam or butyl tape. These spacers might be more expensive, but they are better are insulating, sealing and thus preventing unwanted heat transfer, while at the same time allowing from seasonal expansions and contractions in panes. Similarly, opting for energy efficient windows with two or more panes or glazing reduces condensation even at indoor humidity levels of 45-60%. This is especially true of windows with argon/krypton glass filled windows.

No, we are not switching to promoting green software – we’re going to stick to good ole’ hardware and home building. For a long time, windows have been thought of just as basic necessities to a house, or as ornamental and status-symbols. However, windows are a big factor in terms of our electricity bills, keep us healthier, make our homes last longer, save energy and essentially, save the planet. However, they can do all this and more.
Eco-friendly windows are essentially energy efficient windows. The make, material, frame, size and positioning of windows has a great impact on interior lighting, indoor temperature, heating & cooling systems and indoor air quality. Energy efficient windows work at maintaining optimal levels of all these aspects and thus significantly reducing our bills and our carbon footprint. And with the new eco-friendly wave taking the construction industry by storm, energy star certified windows are easily available. Also, the certification system is such that it works well for different kinds of windows that are made for different home requirements and weather conditions.
Yet, it can still get quite confusing and most of us are not quite familiar with scientific window terminology. Essentially, when you buy energy efficient windows, you will come across a lot of numbers and ratings. There are five things you need to look at:
1. U-Factor (Level of heat transfer)
2. Solar Heat Gain Co-efficient (Heat capturing capacity)
3. Visible Transmittance (Light Transfer)
4. Air Leakage and
5. Condensation Resistance
And that’s why we have a series of how to understand and buy energy efficient windows – without wishing you’d done more math in high school.

1. Adaptability: GHP can be used in a variety of climates and conditions. With air-source pumps, the general external temperature matters quite a bit. However, regardless of surface temperature, the temperature beneath the earth’s surface remains more or less warm, constantly. This makes it possible to use GHP in different geographical regions with different temperatures. Add to this, there are four different types of GHP installations available, depending on different soil, climate and installation costs. The local installer will be able to guide you to the best option for you.
2. High Efficiency: Because the earth’s temperature is more or less constant, GHP provide you with better heating cooling without having to create any heat in the first place. For moving heat, GHPs use only 50-75% of the electricity used by other heat pumps. This makes them extremely efficient, with a rate of 300-400%. They’re also very efficient at controlling humidity, which works great for a wet weather like ours.
3. Durability: GHPs have no moving parts, and the parts are rarely exposed to weathering or destructive elements. As such, with a proper installation, the entire system can last up to 25 years (and certain parts up to 50)
4. GHPs are much quieter that other heat pumps, require less space and can be configured for use in a new home or old one. Plus, it is also possible to control the heat supply and therefore the temperature of different rooms with GHP.