Posts Tagged ‘green built’

How you maintain your garden is also as important as planning when it comes to conserving water. If you’re looking at limiting the amount of water you put into your garden, you will also need to limit the amount of water that flows out of your garden. You can do this is many ways:
• Pick plants, shrubs and grass that are known to develop good root systems and employ gardening techniques that improve roots. One way to do this is to mow the lawn tall, but do it frequently. The other way to do it is to pick plants that go well with your climate and soil and water them well for the first few weeks before you reduce the frequency. Keep looking out for leaves that go yellow and new shoots that look weak and pale.
• Mulching is an excellent way to ensure that your soil remain well hydrated and does not loose moisture, especially if you live in dry weather. Mulch can be conveniently prepared in your backyard using organic waste from your kitchen. A healthy dose of nitrogen fertiliser is also recommended, provided you know what you’re doing.
• Irrigation techniques are the most crucial aspect of conserving water in the backyard. In regions frequent watering is required most homeowners opt for irrigation to keep it convenient. Drip irrigation saves much more water than sprinklers which water a lot of things other than the grass. Gray water systems are another great option. Gray water is ‘wash water’ i.e. water used in the bathrooms, kitchen sinks and laundry, which is treated and then used in gardens. Gray water does not include water from toilets (which is called black water) and is perfectly safe, with few chemicals and pathogens once it’s treated and is used by a large number of families for irrigation. A gray water system is simple enough to be installed in your backyard. However, make sure you are familiar with your locality’s policies on gray water systems.

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.

With so many options, ratings and technologies out there, picking a window can be very confusing. Add to that, you will have your own criteria for look, comfort, energy savings and of course price. However, there are many resources out there that can make this quite easy for you. We’ll list them here:
• Energy efficient windows of any type are going to be more expensive than regular windows. This is something you will need to be prepared for. However, this one-time expense really pays off, and even your remodelling contractor will agree. Energy efficient windows can lead to money savings of 7-24% (acc. To the EPA) and in some climates, upto 40% annually. It is proven that in 2-3 years, energy efficient windows pay off for themselves.
• The kind of windows you will need depends largely on the climate in your region. Your climate impacts your heating and cooling requirements, your house design and your energy bills. In order that your windows provide you with an optimal solution, they need to keep comfortable as high as possible while keeping cost as low. Thankfully, you don’t have to do the math. This neat window selection tool on the efficient window collaborative website gives you how much you can save on different window types depending on where you live. Try it out here: http://www.efficientwindows.org/selection.cfm.
• As obvious, go for windows with the Energy Star rating or the NFRC (National Fenestration Rating Council) logo. Starting 2010, EPA has come up with improved energy star ratings for windows, which can get you tax credit of over $1,500. Make sure you check for a red label marked ‘Qualified until March 31, 2010’ which means the window was made according to the old rating system. The NFRC ratings will give you the values for the five criteria mentioned in our first post in this series and are also very reliable.

It is very evident that the larger your window, the more natural light it will bring in. Depending on the positioning of your windows, and its visible transmittance (VT) value, your windows could provide you with enough natural light to greatly minimize if not eliminate electric lighting requirements during daytime.
VT values are generally given between 0-1. A rating of over 0.70 is the highest you can get with clear glass windows devoid of any coatings or tints. The more the number of panes, coatings and tints the lower the VT value.
A high Visible Transmittance has another advantage – it eliminates the cooling function which is usually required in a house that uses electric lighting. A high VT value is especially important when a home is built using passive house principles or design.
However, one thing to consider when it comes to VT, is that a window with a high VT value, will also admit that much more solar energy (heat) inside the room. Thus, a clear glass window with a VT of 0.8 will also have an SHGC of over 0.60 – something not at all desirable in a warm or sunny climate.
To get around this, one can use Low E coatings, which are invisible, and yet block heat gain considerably. These coatings also protect indoor furniture and upholstery from the damaging effects of UV rays. Another way is to have operable windows that you can open up to air the room out frequently. Needless to say, a good ventilation system is important when you have large windows and a sunny climate.
For windows that are low on SHGC and high on VT, look for a high Light-to-Solar gain ratio. This determines how much more light is let in without adding to the heat.

1. It’s easier to install and the units are smaller than conventional duct systems. Mini splits come in different capacities depending on the area you want to use it for. However, they all require nothing more than drilling a hole a few inches in diameter through your wall. This considerably brings down you labor costs and time taken for installation.
2. It has more aesthetic appeal. The indoor fixture are usually built with very sleek design and finishing, (depending on the cost) and are come in various mounting options. For instance you will find indoor fixtures that can be installed on the ceiling, corners or walls.
3. Space friendly. The indoor and outdoor parts can have as many as 50ft between them. Thus, you could install the outer condenser somewhere inconspicuous, like the back of the house, when it won’t be an eye-sore.
4. Duct HVAC systems usually cause a certain amount of heat loss through the ducts, particularly if they haven’t been insulated well (That’s another thing – there is no insulation required with mini splits) With mini splits there’s no such issue – there’s minimal loss of heat or energy through the conduit wires.
5. The cost is comparable to a standard heat pump system. Unlike heat pumps, Mini splits only lose about 40% of their efficiency when the temp drops to zero degrees. However by over sizing the unit by 40 %,( this adds a little to the upfront cost) you will have 100% efficiency at zero degrees. Given the last cold spell we had in December, this could be money well spent.