Passive Solar Beats Energy Star Home Design

John Kosmer “built a new traditional style 4,000 square foot, passive solar home for $125.00/sq. ft. It “heats for just $2.50 a day or $900-1,200 a year - even “in the cold upstate New York region.”

Get this! “This home cost about the same as a comparably sized new ENERGY STAR qualified home … but it uses less than 70% of the energy. “

John wrote, “When I owned my previous home, I was unaware that trying to save energy in an existing home was just playing in the margins of energy conservation. It became clear to me that existing 20th century homes are obsolete energy sieves that will take Herculean measures to bring up to speed in the 21st century. This passive solar home can become the model for 21 century home building and rekindle a housing boom in our collapsed building market into the foreseeable future.” (Thanks Eco Women for this tip.)

For Healthier Air at Home: Get a Portable Unit or a Whole Home System?

Over at the blog Ultra Clean and Pure, the author, who sells portable, room-only air cleaners, warns against buying a system to clean the air throughout your home.

The author writes that they are “around $15,000.” Yes, a few of them are expensive. Yet you can get a highly-efficient unit for $1,000. It is called AspenAir Inside. It can be installed in 40 minutes or less.

The blog author also writes that “the electric rates are also quite expensive.” A good whole home air cleaner is actually an energy saver.

Plus, with the non-metallic technology used by AspenAir Inside (unlike the metal plates or pins in traditional electronic air cleaners) you can avoid the messy and time-consuming cleaning of many whole home systems. All you have to do is replace a filter once or twice a year. It is so simple it takes five minutes or less.

There is more to consider when looking at a portable units. With any single room air cleaners, efficient air cleaning can only happen in one room – with the system running all the time. We are social animals by nature. Few of us will live in a single room – without opening the door or windows.

Plus systems using HEPA filters require more frequent filter changes than, say, AspenAir Inside – and they are relatively expensive.

Also some portable units and some whole home cleaners emit harmful ozone.

Now, with winter is coming, you’ll be spending more time indoors. Perhaps now is a good time to read “Why You May Want Healthier Air at Home - and How to Get It.” (There are others reasons too.)

Don’t Let Mold Grow in Your Home

You may discover you have mold in your home when it smells bad. Other symptoms of mold include headaches, breathing difficulties, skin irritation, allergic reactions or asthma attacks.

Those most susceptible to mold are people with weakened immune systems. Healthy individuals are less vulnerable yet may get common skin diseases, such as athlete's foot, as well as other infections such as yeast infections.

Act fast. When mold spores land on a damp spot, they may begin growing and digesting whatever they are growing on in order to survive. Moisture control is the key to mold control.

To prevent the growth of mold inside your home, when any floor, wall, ceiling or other surface gets wet, dry it out within 24-48 hours.

Wash mold off hard surfaces with detergent and water, and make the surface(s) completely dry. If some of the damp materials are absorbent, such as ceiling tiles or carpets, consider replacing them. .

Fix leaky plumbing or other sources of water.

Can a Green Home Be Unhealthy?

In some cases, yes, according to building biologist, Athena Thompson. While researching and writing her book, Homes That Heal (and those that don't): How Your Home Could be Harm... she many people, “What exactly is green building?” Answers varied.

Builders, architects, developers, suppliers and manufacturers and other home-related professionals tended to have more elaborate answers including descriptions of sustainability and life-cycle analysis, more efficient use of energy and water, less toxic building materials, recycled content of products and so on. Many cited the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification system.

However, when talking with homeowners and the general public, their descriptions were much simpler. They revolved around being healthier places to live and work in, more energy efficient, and better for the planet. When asked what they valued and wanted most from their home, across the board the answer was always “health” first.

So how healthy are green homes? Again the answer varies a lot. According to Thompson, “Many people still do not realize that all that is ‘green’ or ‘sustainable’ is not necessarily healthy. For instance, using products that have been manufactured from recycled materials might win you some green points, but are people looking at the low-level off-gassing of some of the ‘sustainable’ solutions and how this impacts the indoor environment and peoples’ health?”

For example, autism, asthma and other respiratory problems, behavior and learning problems, and cancer are all on the rise. Also the focus on energy–efficiency means “green” homes are built “tight” or sealed. Thus some ”sustainable designs” are prone to holding harmful fumes inside, as Jason F. McLennan notes in Philosophy of Sustainable Design.

When this was first discovered in buildings it was sometimes called the "sick building syndrome." Even back in 2000, Michael V. Ellacott and Sue Reed noted in their research paper that, “The increasing incidence of health problems associated with ‘tight buildings' can be partly blamed on the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) derived from human activity and the presence of a range of synthetic furnishings, office equipment and building materials.’ For the rapidly increasing number of us who work at home, these health problems literally hit home.

As a first step, read Thompson’s book. Get more tips here and here. Consider getting the air in your home checked by someone certified by the American Indoor Air Quality Council. Then get a high-efficiency electronic air cleaner (EAC) that can connect directly to any size home’s HVAC system, one that makes your indoor air cleaner than fresh, is energy efficient, quiet and does not emit harmful ozone, as many conventional systems do.

Home Builders’ Energy-Saving Tips for Home Owners

Considering renovating or building a new home? Make it more energy-efficient with these tips, gathered by Jeffrey Lee, from builders at the 2008 the Pacific Coast Builders Conference.

Don’t be put off by some of the technical terms. Just ask your builder to review these options with you.

Builder, Steve Easley offers these tips:

• In thinking about air conditioning, many pros’ first thought is about the system’s SEER, according to Steve Easley. Instead, “Design the homes to use less air conditioning first,” he suggested, using overhangs, proper orientation and landscaping, and efficient windows and building envelope products.

• Make sure that the air-conditioning unit is properly charged. “Sixty-two percent of the time, the A/C system is mischarged. The unit’s SEER drops off with the wrong charge.

• Use the Energy Star thermal bypass checklist for subcontractors installing insulation. The checklist shows common insulation mistakes and how to avoid them. When installers compress insulation, for instance, it quickly loses R-value.

• Air leaks through common joints for framing and sheathing are a common problem. Spray-foam insulation can help, and spray-foam insulation can combine with fiberglass insulation for an economical solution.

• In thinking about air conditioning, many pros’ first thought is about the system’s SEER. Design the homes to use less air conditioning first,” he suggested, using overhangs, proper orientation and landscaping, and efficient windows and building envelope products.

• Ensure the air-conditioning unit is properly charged, Easley said. “Sixty-two percent of the time, the A/C system is mischarged,” he added. The unit’s SEER drops off with the wrong charge.

• Use the Energy Star thermal bypass checklist for subcontractors installing insulation, Easley said. The checklist shows common insulation mistakes and how to avoid them. When installers compress insulation, for instance, it quickly loses R-value.

• Air leaks through common joints for framing and sheathing are a common problem, Easley said. Spray-foam insulation can help, and spray-foam insulation can combine with fiberglass insulation for an economical solution.

• Install moisture-resistant backerboard such as Georgia-Pacific’s DensShield Tile Backer. Standard gypsum board is a perfect breeding ground for mold.

• Again, concentrating on initial design can provide the biggest bang for the buck, Easley noted. Avoid roof pitches intersecting with vertical wall planes, for instance, which can cause moisture management problems.

• Use high-efficiency appliances and fixtures. High-efficiency dishwashers use 5 to 7 gallons of water per load, versus up to 12 gallons for standard machines. Using other high-efficiency fixtures such as toilets, washing machines, showers, and faucets can provide up to 50% savings.

Justin Dunning, director of the California Green Builder program, offer these tips:

• The most cost-effective energy-saving features vary by climate, noted For example, in a temperate climate like San Diego, little heat or air conditioning is needed. Tankless water heaters can provide a bigger return on investment than additional spending on HVAC, he said.

Homebuilders and renovators can consider these energy-saving measures, regardless of the climate in their area:

• First, insulate the attic, if you have one. Adding more insulation - up to the R-38 level.

• Aid air filtration with a one-coat stucco system: stucco over an inch thick on R-4 EPS board, “can create an R-17 wall.

• Make sure ducts are tight and properly sealed.

Tenaya Asan, manager of the GreenPoint-rated program for Build It Green offers these tips:

• Use water-conserving landscaping, Avoid invasive species: “They suck up water from other plants,” she said. Use reduced turf and native plants that require less water.

• Use only drip, bubbler, or low-flow sprinkler irrigation systems, and smart irrigation controllers.

• Don’t use plants that need a lot of shearing, Asan said, because “green waste” takes up a lot of space in landfills.

• Include a built-in recycling center in home designs to make recycling easier for homeowners, Asan suggested.

Discover more ways to go green at home from Jeffrey Lee and ebuild and Eco Home magazine.

Plan Now for a Possible Fire at Home

Like locking the door each time you leave your home – after you have been robbed - it is human nature to avoid planning for a possible fire - until after it happens. My wake-up call came from reading Amy Fontinell’s handy tips. She makes it seem easy, obvious and quick to take some steps now that we may be so grateful for later. Take two minutes NOW to read them.

What’s the Top Reason to Build Green?

According to certified green builders TMG Homes it is to “improve the air quality in your home."

Here’s their elaboration: “The quality of a home’s indoor air is the most important feature of green homes. Green homes limit the use of chemicals that can off-gas from building materials that can affect allergies and respiratory ailments. Steps are taken to control and filter air contaminants during and after construction. All green homes contain passive radon mitigation systems.”

For some people, good air quality at home isn’t “just” a nice green feature; it is vital: Infants, young children, those with asthma, allergies or other respiratory conditions, work-at-home folks, the elder because of their much-reduced lung capacity, smokers and those who live with them, people in urban areas and (winter is coming!) those who are indoors even more because they live in colder climates.

In a study by AirAdvice of more than 10,000 North American homes and businesses, almost 96% had health-affecting indoor air quality problems in at least one of six areas: particulate matter, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), humidity, temperature, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide.

For the most continuously high-efficiency (performance does not go down after 45 days as happens in most conventional air cleaners), whole home air cleaner get the best-in-category of electronic air cleaner (EAs). It is made by AspenAir Inside. Any size home can use this new technology. It can be bolted right onto any HVAC system in 40 minutes or less. It gets rid of the most dangerous and difficult-to-remove tiny particles - the RSPs and the VOCs.

It is energy-saving, quiet, requires less than 10 minutes of maintenance a year (1-2 filter changes) - and unlike many conventional air cleaners it does not emit harmful ozone. It makes the air cleaner than fresh air. (Yes, I am a fan.)

Here TMG Homes’ next nine reasons to build “green.” Note that TMG Homes smartly partners with Ecobrokers.