The Green Home

Chinese Drywall Causing Literal Homeowner Headaches

2009-11-13T12:38:00Z

A few months ago we posted a very popular piece on this forum about Dragon Board (April 9, 2009), a drywall substitute that has many environmental, structural, and economic advantages. We christened it almost too good to be true. Let me quickly say that I stand by that statement. But, in the course of researching that article we ran across a reference to Chinese gypsum, another drywall substitute, that was giving the Dragon Board people fits as customers confused their quality product with an import that was anything but green. We rather off-handedly mentioned the confusion in our article. Let me state again - Chinese gypsum has nothing to do with Dragon Board! Since then the negative news about Chinese gypsum, now commonly called Chinese dry wall, has exploded. While use of the product has...(read more)

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Carbon Neutral House Rising in New York

2009-09-25T19:15:36Z

Nine months after a fire partially destroyed their home in Southampton, a Long Island family is turning the tragedy into a green opportunity . After losing their home last December 22, the David Dubin family joined with members of The Hamptons Green Alliance to rebuild the house in what is believed to be the first net zero energy consumption, certified carbon neutral, and LEED Platinum home in Long Island if not the nation. And it is a project that the world is being invited to watch. After the fire the Dubins began to talk with their friend and local architect Richard Stott, a LEED certified specialist, about planning their new home. Stott, knowing that the Dubins were also environmentalists, began to discuss with them the idea of incorporating state-of-the-art materials, procedures, and techniques...(read more)

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Lots of Alternatives for White Roofs

2009-09-05T14:36:41Z

The surface of a dark roof can reach 180° on a sunny day. A roof that hot does a lot to the temperature inside the structure, a situation that would be welcome in Minnesota in January but is more likely to occur in Texas in August. The heat is absorbed into the structure where, even with its tendency to rise, will still elevate the inside temperature increasing the need for and cost of air conditioning. That superheated roof will also send some of the heat back out into the surrounding air, creating what are called “heat islands” in densely populated areas. While absorbing the suns heat, a dark surface also absorbs its rays, lowering the earth’s overall solar reflectance (called albedo) and possibly promoting climate change. For those reasons there is a growing movement...(read more)

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White Roofs and Albedo

2009-08-06T19:51:19Z

On Monday while discussing dark roofing materials we mentioned albedo, a word we are sure the majority of non-scientists have never heard of. That may not be the case for long. Here's the deal. Albedo is defined as high solar reflectance, i.e. the earth's capability of bouncing the sun's rays back into the stratosphere. If a surface absorbs all light it looks black and has an albedo of 0; if it is perfectly reflective it looks white and has an albedo of 1. All surfaces, in fact all objects, have an albedo within those two numbers. A new sheet of copy paper has an albedo of 1 while a brick wall or a freshly plowed field has an albedo closer to 0 than to 1. When the rays are absorbed or bounced, so is the accompanying heat from those rays. Thus the many chocolate colored roofs and...(read more)

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An Old Fallacy About the Energy Efficiency of a Dark Roof

2009-08-03T21:08:00Z

If you live in a four-season climate you have probably heard that a dark roof will cut winter energy costs. It ain’t necessarily so. The oft-stated theory is that the dark roofs will absorb heat from the suns rays, heating the house and cutting down on the amount of gas, oil, or electricity needed to heat it in the winter months. With the new push for white roofs – Department of Energy Secretary and Nobel Prize winning physicist Steven Chou is a big proponent – it is time to look at this widely held belief and the harm it may actually be causing. There are a number of reasons that dark roofing materials are not as energy efficient as advertised. First, hot air always rises. Thus, whatever heat is transmitted into the attic or into living areas from a dark roof will stay very...(read more)

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Propane Garden Tools

2009-07-20T14:06:00Z

Gas powered lawn and garden equipment are environmental disasters. Here are some ugly statistics from the EPA. Gas lawn mowers create 5 percent of U.S. air pollution; and even higher percentage in metropolitan areas. Garden equipment engines emit high levels of carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and nitrogen oxide. Gas mowers consume 800 million gallons of gas per year. Gardeners spill 17 million gallons of fuel each year while refueling lawn equipment - more than the oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez. Now believe that last one if you want, but I have heard 100,000 gallons spilled in the U.S. just from mowers - sounds more realistic - but whatever the volume, spilled fuel contaminates groundwater and evaporates into the air leaving volatile organic compounds that create ozone when exposed...(read more)

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Wal-Mart Raises Ante on Sustainability

2009-07-16T12:06:00Z

Today it becomes official. Sustainability is in . Wal-Mart says so. The marketing giant is expected to release details Thursday of a new initiative which it claims will help its buyers, customers, and other retailers determine the social and environmental impact of every product on Wal-Mart's shelves . According to Stephanie Rosenbloom writing in The New York Times, the company will announce the implementation of an electronic system, a sustainability index, that would give stakeholders a way to determine which products to put on their shelves or in their carts. As Rosenbloom puts it, determining which products are "greener" will no longer be just the consumer's job. The program is expected to take five years to reach full implementation. In the first phase Wal-Mart will gather...(read more)

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Gold Rush Green

2009-07-13T17:58:00Z

Loeb Strauss (1829 - 1902); pioneer in energy conservation and green building construction. Sounds like a bit of very strange ancient history unless you know that Loeb Strauss later became known as Levi. And that blue jeans, the product he made popular with gold miners and other working stiffs 150 years ago, was the forerunner of insulation that seems nearly perfect when compared to the alternatives. Perfect, but with one caveat. I first encountered denim insulation in a green home exhibit in 2006. There it appeared in the form of shreds packed into pre-formed wall panels. Today under the brand name UltraTouch manufactured by Bonded Logic, it is available in batts as well as loose fibers which can be blown into place. UltraTouch is manufactured from post-industrial recycled denim. This doesn't...(read more)

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An Old Refrigerator Make-Over

2009-07-06T15:03:00Z

A new refrigerator may ultimately pay for itself but in the meantime it must go on your credit card. Inviting as that new side-by-side may be, making do with the old Hotpoint might be the only option right now. As we mentioned earlier, a refrigerator’s energy efficiency degrades with use, but there are a few simple steps you can take to optimize the appliance’s operation and even to mitigate some of that aging. First of all, it is important to place a refrigerator, if possible, away from any heat source. This means some distance not only from a radiator or hot air register but from the stove, dishwasher or a sunny window. There should also be an inch or two of clearance at the back and sides to allow air to circulate around the coils. And about those coils. Every list of energy...(read more)

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Oink, its an Energy Hog

2009-06-30T19:44:00Z

Ever seen those mean and nasty rerigerator magnets shaped like a fat and happy pink pig? Every time the door is opened the pig oinks. Porky might not be commenting on the person opening the door; refrigerators are the biggest energy hogs in the house. However, they have improved and continue to do so. In the 1980s the Department of Energy set Energy Guide standards that all appliances must meet and they must display the Energy Guide label, that bright yellow tag that most of us refer to as the Energy Star label because that is the department that publicizes it. The Energy Star certification, however, is voluntary while the Energy Guide standards are mandatory. As an aside, according to Consumer Reports, when these standards were enacted there was fear that the cost of appliances would increase...(read more)

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Old Fashioned TVs are Still Greenest

2009-06-26T16:54:00Z

The choices confronting anyone in the market for a new television are pretty staggering; especially for us old fogies raised in the era of massive 19 inch black and white mahogany clad consoles in the living room. Now add to the decisions about display type, screen size, and price a concern about picking the most energy efficient boob tube. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the various types of televisions available today are Plasma, Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs), and Flat Screens in addition to the familiar Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs.) Plasma televisions have “emissive” displays. The panel is self lighted with the plasma or gas causing pixels to glow. A pixel or “picture element” is the smallest item or dot of information displayed on a television screen...(read more)

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New, a Straw Door. For the Strawbale House?

2009-06-24T16:00:00Z

At the present rate of innovation in the building materials industry , we may not be far away from a day when a tree will just be a pretty green thing that holds a swing. A new contribution to the wood-free house is a line of interior doors introduced earlier this year by Masonite. The doors are made of a form of engineered lumber trade named DorCor™ which is made from compressed wheat straw. The doors look like any molded door and are available in both passage and bi-fold styles and come in heights up to 8’. The doors are Forest Stewardship Council certified and were recently named to the Top-10 Green Building Product list by BuildingGreen.com, a leading publisher in the building industry. Wheat straw is rapidly renewable and while formaldehyde is used in most pressed wood products...(read more)

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Bogie Loved Them, You Will Too

2009-06-11T17:05:00Z

One of the cheapest, energy-saving fixes you can make is also one of the most low-tech; installing a plantation or ceiling fan . They’ve been around for years – think Rick’s Café in Casablanca (in fact that is the name of one prominent brand) and a good one can be purchased for around $100 although my daughter recently bought one for $20 at WalMart. It doesn’t take many skills to install one especially where there is already a light fixture in place. The fans will cut the need for using the air conditioner substantially during spring, summer, and fall and if a reversible one is purchased, can help with heating in the colder months. In cooling mode the fan pulls warm air up to ceiling levels but its main benefit is that it keeps the air moving so it feels cooler...(read more)

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Colorado Company Markets Cool New Product

2009-06-08T16:36:00Z

A Colorado air conditioning manufacturer is making news with a product line that might revolutionize how Americans cool their homes and businesses. Coolerado Corporation based in Denver has developed air conditioners based on the Maisotsenko Cycle (M-Cycle) which it describes as a “newly developed” thermodynamic process. Ordinary AC units are of two types; refrigerant or evaporative. The former operates in the same way as a refrigerator, pulling heated air from a room, across a refrigerated coil containing a chemical refrigerant and pumping the cooled air back into the room. Evaporative coolers (or swamp coolers) use a blower to force hot air through a water soaked pad. The water evaporates, carrying the heat with it and the air, now carrying some of that water, is passed back into...(read more)

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Straw Houses Return - Wolves are Optional

2009-06-02T20:48:00Z

The Disney movie Bambi scarred me for life, but an earlier story from Uncle Walt did almost as much damage. The Three Little Pigs was the tale of two foolish porkers that built new homes; one from sticks and one from straw, and of course saw them blown to smithereens by one strong gust of wolf. Well, who knew? Pig Number Two wasn’t so dumb after all. He was merely forward thinking, eco-friendly and seriously lacking in good engineering skills. There are some green building techniques and materials out there that really are a bit on the fringe and building a home from straw is one. But this type of construction is gaining in popularity in spite of serious obstacles that have nothing to do with the soundness of construction or the wisdom of the technique. As I recall from the movie, the...(read more)

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