How do homes impact the environment?
(Courtesy of the NAR, and Build It Green)
In the US, residential buildings alone account for;
21% of total energy use, 37% of total electricity consumption, 9.7% of total water consumption, and 21% of the carbon dioxide or greenhouse gas emissions.
How do homes impact water?
Each American uses an average of 100 gallons of water a day at home, which is about 1600 glasses of water.
· 40 to 60% of potable water is used for landscaping!
· Just by installing water efficient fixtures and appliances we can reduce this by 30%.
· Approximately 5 to 10% of American homes have Water leaks that drip away 90 gallons a day or more.
How do homes of affect our health?
· Indoor air pollution is up to five times worse than outside, and we spend over 90% of our time indoors.
· 15% of homeowners may be allergic to elements in their own homes.
· Asthma has doubled since 1976 and 40% of children born today will develop some form of respiratory disease!
There are over 13 million existing homes in California, 70% of this housing predates energy standards.
Just educating ourselves about existing buildings, and how we can retrofit them to be more energy efficient, and "green", could help change the face of our building industry, and the health of our planet, and it's people.
Comments(2)