In this article we’ll look at the benefits of greening our homes. Our homes are sacred places where we seek emotional and physical refuge from the forces of the world. We want our homes to be comfortable and safe so that we can express ourselves and explore our closest relationships.

Our homes use a significant amount of energy and often are inefficient and toxic. A survey of your home can be illuminating and help you make a plan for cutting costs, reducing consumption and increasing the health of the house and occupants. There are some very simple things that anyone can do to green their home. Other projects will require a lot of money with savings that payout over many years. If you’re in the position to build a new house you have an even bigger opportunity to create a green structure. I hope the ideas in this article give you some ideas and inspire green your home.

Here is the definition from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency): “Green building is the practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building’s life-cycle from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction. This practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort. Green building is also known as a sustainable or high performance building.” In addition to this definition, I would add that green buildings should be less toxic to people and more emotionally satisfying.

Working with
nature-Cooling and Heating

The sun is the engine that drives all life on our beautiful planet. The radiation from the sun warms our planet and makes it fit for life. The sun drives the wind currents that then help create the ocean currents. The sun allows the plants to grow which form the basis of most life. In a very real sense, the sun is our father and without it none of what we take for granted would exist. With that in mind, let’s explore how we can extend our relationship with the sun to our homes.

Probably the most ancient way of being in relation with the sun is to use the sun for warmth when it is cold and find shade, water or wind when it is hot. There are some nice ways of doing this with our homes.

To create a cooler house in the summer and reduce energy consumption, one can plant deciduous shade trees close to the house on the south side. In the shade, the house can be significantly cooler. During the winter, when the leaves fall off the trees, the sun streams down to warm up the house. I love the shade tree idea because the trees and the homeowner form a mutually beneficial relationship. Other techniques for shade include awnings and blinds to regulate the sun that enters the house.

An old technique for cooling a home is to let the warm air rise out of the house, just like the draft in a chimney. To do this, open the southern second floor windows and the first floor windows on the north. The cooler air from the shaded north of the house will be drawn up through the house as the warm air at the top of the house exits on the south. In order for the chimney effect to work, the interior temperature needs to be warmer than the exterior temperature. Some homeowners build a copula on the top of the house to accomplish this same chimney effect.

A more elaborate way to use nature to heat and cool a home is to arrange a passive solar heating and cooling system. In the basic passive solar design, the winter sun enters the home through the aperture of the windows and heats up objects (thermal mass). At night window blinds and insulation keep the heat in the house as the objects radiates the heat of the day. In order for passive solar systems to be comfortable, the house needs to be highly insulated and a careful balance between the aperture and thermal mass is required.

During the summer, the windows of a passive solar home can be opened to let in the cool night air that will be stored in the thermal mass. Then, during the day, the house can be closed up and the summer heat kept out. One real advantage of passive solar systems is that it uses standard construction materials but arranges them in a slightly different manner to create a real benefit.

Active solar heating systems absorb heat from the sun and then transfer it into the house via pumps or natural thermo siphoning. The Maine Solar Primer book, by Richard Komp, has diagrams for the construction of small solar units that can fit into a window opening. Other systems are larger and can take up huge sections of a southern wall. Similar to standard heating systems, active solar systems can either heat air or liquid.

The sun can also be used to heat or pre-heat domestic hot water. The solar heated water is stored in an insulated tank after it is warmed by the sun. From there it goes through the water heater when hot water is demanded. A special component is needed on the water heater that senses the solar pre-heated water and lets it pass through if it’s warm enough or heats it up to temperature, if needed. Domestic hot water can be a large percentage of a household’s energy consumption, so installing a solar hot water system can be a wise investment.

Electrical Conservation,
Photo Voltaics and Wind Turbines.

Having lived off the grid in numerous locations, I’m familiar with getting by on little electricity and creating electricity from the sun. It is amazing how little electricity we really need. The first thing to look at, even before considering photo voltaics or other electrical alternatives is reducing your use. It is far cheaper to reduce electrical use than to install an alternative electricity producing system.

Phantom loads or standby power are hidden electricity goblins of our homes. Most electronics constantly consume electricity even if they are turned off. These culprits include computers, microwaves, cook stoves, televisions, stereo equipment and so forth and can amount to an average of 10 percent of household energy consumption. If you are at all curious, you can purchase a wattmeter that is an electricity-measuring device and see for yourself what your various devices consume.

To quickly and cheaply save electricity simply unplug all of these appliances when they are not in use. A convenient way of doing this is plugging items into a power strip so that the electricity can be quickly shut off at one convenient place. I’ve taken to using my cell phone as my alarm clock since some digital alarm clocks use a lot of electricity. However, if you feel that you need a regular alarm clock look for a low wattage model or consider a battery operated clock (which tend to be much more efficient and you can use re-chargeable batteries) before you purchase. If you can live without the clock in the microwave, stove, stereo and so forth then you’ll save electricity by unplugging them when not in use.

It’s worth exploring high efficiency appliances, especially for the furnace, refrigerator, air conditioner, washing machine and the like. Remember that old appliances may use more electricity than new energy saving ones. Compact Florescent Lighting has already become the new norm, and if you’ve reading this you’ve probably already switched over. One final tip is to use a fan instead of air conditioning. Fans should blow on a person, not a space in order to be effective.

In normal circumstances, electricity from photo voltaics is more expensive than grid purchased electricity, however it worth exploring. The basic components of a PV system are the panels, the electronics (inverter, charge controller etc.) and storage. The panels tend to function for around thirty years (after which their output gradually diminishes) and the electronics will work indefinitely, but standard lead acid deep cycle batteries will only last for around 7 years under normal use. It can be cheaper and involve less maintenance to store the electricity in the grid. You may, however, still be required to pay line charges and various other fees for the privilege of being connected to the grid.

Off the grid homes require even more conservation. It is cost prohibitive for most people who live off the grid to have any appliances that run full time. To do this, off the grid folks tend to use propane refrigerators and propane space heaters that do not use electricity. Because space heaters are not very efficient, they tend to be used for back up heat only. Wood stoves are generally used as the primary heat source in many off the grid homes in the northeast.

The equipment for a system that powers a normal off the grid home is around $7000. If you have someone else install it you’ll easily pay two times that. $17,000 or more will purchase the materials for a deluxe off the grid kit that can power a small conventional home that conserves electricity. In the summer time there is usually more electricity than is needed, but the winter can be challenging especially if there is a two week stretch without sunshine.

Wind turbines are a good idea; however, in the northeastern U.S. the sun tends to shine more than the wind blows. Do some careful research and put up a wind-measuring device to see if you’re home is a candidate for wind turbines. A suitable tower will cost about the same as the turbine itself and it’s hard to get high enough above the trees to be effective. A tower should ideally be high enough that turbulence from wind passing over trees and structures does not interfere with its operation.

Conservation

A home uses around 41% (2005 study) of its energy expenditures to heat the home. Minimizing accidental air exchange, insulating and increasing heating and cooling efficiency can reduce this percentage.

A tight house is one of the best things you can do to save resources in the long run. A modern house allows two to three air exchanges per hour and a super tight house will exchange even less air. The opinion of many construction professionals is to make the house as tight as reasonably possible and then mechanically ventilate as necessary. A whole book could be dedicated to weatherizing a house but the basic goal is to stop air from moving between the inside and the outside. To accomplish this task, caulking, spray foam, house wrap, plastic sheeting and tape are the most common tools. A tight house needs to have outside air brought in mechanically via a bathroom fan or an air exchanger. Also, devices that use air, such as wood stoves and furnaces, need to have their own dedicated air supply so they can operate properly.

Insulation is a related topic. The envelope of the building should be as highly insulated as possible. In Maine, the northern most states of most Inner Tapestry readers, the minimum required insulation is R-49 in the ceiling, R-21 in the walls, R-19 in the basement walls, R-20 in crawl space walls and 0.35 U (heat conduction rating-lower is better) factor in the windows. Insulation properties are measured in R (thermal resistance) ratings. The higher the R rating, the more insulative the material is. My favorite type of insulation is cellulose that is ground up newspapers. It has advantages over fiberglass insulation in that its density does not allow air to pass through, it is non-toxic, and it can be made of recycled materials.

Heating and cooling equipment is much more efficient when it is cleaned and tuned up, so don’t forget to do the maintenance on them. Also, some new equipment can be very efficient so in some cases it may be worth replacing old units for new ones. You’ll pay more up front for a high efficiency furnace or air conditioner, but save energy and money in the long run.

If you’re in a location with healthy forests and access to firewood, it is a good choice because it is a renewable resource. If you’re lucky, you can harvest your own firewood for free.

Water shortage is quickly becoming a global problem as aquifers are being drained. Ways to reduce water intake include installing water saving appliances, showerheads and toilets. Collecting rainwater for the garden and landscaping can be a fun way of working with nature.

Low Toxicity

Modern construction materials often contain toxins that off-gas and pollute the indoor air. The common problem materials are rugs, paints, particleboard, foam in furniture and insulation. Luckily as the problem is becoming more known, alternative materials are becoming more common. Low VOC (volatile organic compounds) paints are accessible. Formaldehyde free insulation and particleboard have become available. Wool rugs can be purchased, though the price is high. A little planning and a bit extra money can make your home safer. To deal with any remaining air pollutants, an air exchanger is a useful tool.

Resources and Sources
http://www.epa.gov/greenbuilding/pubs/about.htm
http://www.energystar.gov/
http://energy.gov/
http://www.newenglandsolar.com/index.htm
http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=19
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standby_power
http://www.getenergyactive.org/wisely/tips.htm
http://healthandenergy.com/is_your_house_too_tight.htm
http://reca-codes.org/pages/codes/ME-IECC.pdf
http://www.eia.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=us_energy_use-basics
http://eartheasy.com/guides.html
The Passive Solar House by James Kachadorian, published by  Chelsea Green
Building Green by Clarke Snell & Tim Callahan, published by Larks Books

River lives an abundant life and loves to spend time with his family, hunt and gather food, cut firewood and maintain his home. River’s professional life reflects a tapestry of skills and interests. River leads trips and teaches outdoor skills through his guide service, Maine Bound Guides. River owns and operates Ridgetop Construction, a small company with a green focus. To help people grow and heal spiritually, River offers counseling and healing work through Mountain Spirit Journeys, (207) 461-4840. http://www.maineboundguides.com/ http://www.mountainspiritjourneys.com/