It's Earth Day 2008. Clearly, we need to make it at least Earth month but I guess we will take what we can get in terms of focusing people's attention. I was astounded to read about the lake in Greenland that disappeared in 90 minutes. The entire lake drained through the glacial ice in about ninety minutes and at the highest flow was moving as fast as Niagra Falls. This is SCIENCE magazine, folks, not the National Enquirer. www.sciencemag.org
What can we do to encourage our clients to consider sustainable living when we are working wit them? One of the most effective we all know is to show them what's in it for them. Most buyers are familiar with the EnergyStar rating and know that it means that appliances and products like windows given this rating are more energy efficient than products without this rating. What they most understand is that more energy efficiency means money saved on energy bills for them.
The Department of Energy Building America program supports the research and development of energy efficient buildings. http://www.buildingamerica.gov/
To earn the ENERGY STAR, a home must meet guidelines for energy efficiency set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These homes are at least 15% more energy efficient than homes built to the 2004 International Residential Code (IRC), and include additional energy-saving features that typically make them 20-30% more efficient than standard homes. Any home three stories or less can earn the ENERGY STAR label if it has been verified to meet EPA's guidelines, including: single family, attached, and low-rise multi-family homes; manufactured homes; systems-built homes (e.g., SIP, ICF, or modular construction); log homes, concrete homes; and even existing retrofitted homes. According to the EnergyStar site, these homes can save a homeowner between $200 and $400 per hear in heating, cooling and water heating costs. They also often require less maintenance and repair which creates even larger savings when compared to other homes.
You can find a list of EnergyStar rated homebuilders and locations of homes they have built by state at www.energystar.govClick on the link and find your state to see who the builders are and what city the homes are in as well as the name of the subdivision in which they are located. These are not necessarily high end homes. Those of you who know me, know that this is my soapbox moment. Green can be quite affordable. the largest EnergyStar builder in my area builds most of their homes in the 150k to 250k range.
These techniques are ot rocket science. They need not be expensive. Being simple and creative may be what we really need.
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