Category Archives: Saving Money

Building a House on your property? That’s so 20th Century!

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St_paul_homeIf any of our readers have the opportunity to build on a vacant lot, we recommend they visit this page at the Jetson Green website.

This week, they are featuring a story on David Schmit, a Minneapolis photographer who decided he wanted a home in the suburbs with the design features of his downtown rental loft. After some investigation Schmit found a company called Hive Modular that supplies prefab homes. Actually prefab home parts which are then shipped, assembled and fitted out on site.

If you’re thinking trailer home, make sure you scroll down to view some of the interior shots of Schmit’s home after it was finished and furnished.

If you want to read the whole story behind the approval, construction and siting of the house, visit the Midwest Home website.

Anyone still reading this article probably wants to know the green angle. Even though the owner originally chose Hive Modular becasue they could provide a loft-like space on his suburban lot, the construction of these homes off-site means many efficiencies in material usage are realized. Low cost per square foot construction leaves money on the table for incorporating other sustainable living features. Schmit chose locally harvested woods and pre-installed insulation to keep heating costs as low as possible during the long Minnesota winters.

It’s easy to see how other energy efficiency technology could also be incorporated into this home-from solar panels on the flat roof to Energy Star double glazed windows that will help maintain the house envelope temperature all year long.

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

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The World Environmental Organization has made available a recycling database that provides advice on how to extend the life of pretty much any household item you can think of. Given our economic circumstances, this could be useful for saving more than the environment.

A couple of Warm Home Cool Planet’s favorites:

.Baseball Bats:
• Use for a plant support.
• Keep in bedroom in case of an intruder.

Hairdryer:
• Cut off electrical cord and let kids use for Dress-Up.
• Let children use as a space laser.

Washing Machine:
• Detach glass bubble from door of front-loading washing machine, wash thoroughly and use as a salad bowl.

Compulsory Energy Audits on the Way?

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In the last week of February, the Ontario legislature presented the Green Energy Act. The Act includes renewable energy development plans that could generate as many as 50,000 jobs for the Canadian province. Amongst the other parts of the bill is a provision that makes it mandatory homes for sale in Ontario have an energy rating attached to it.

This rating will be generated by a home inspection using standardized evaluation criteria yet to be finalized. The controversy is around what a negative rating might do to home prices throughout Ontario.

The appliances we put in our house all have energy ratings and we certainly pay attention to these when we make consumer choices. Could a ratings for the whole house be far behind? An informal survey of local real estate agents revealed that home buyers often request energy bills from the seller before putting in an offer. So the question is: Will our state or federal government make home energy ratings compulsory as part of a larger energy  efficient initiative?

Warm Home Cool Planet would like to remind all Cambridge residents and businesses they can arrange a FREE energy audit for their home or business. Why not do it while you still have the choice?

To learn about the other major initiatives in Ontario’s Green Energy Act, read this interview with George Smitherman, Ontario’s minister of energy and infrastructure at Green Inc., the New York Times energy blog.

Green is the New Crimson

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Harvard University has opened a Office of Sustainability. This marks the formalization of the long running Campus Green Initiative at Harvard. The creation of this organization is tied to the University’s long-term energy use. The goal they are aiming for is simple:

30% reduction from 2006 campus-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 2016.

The office has an interesting business model for funding insofar as only 20% of their operating expenses comes from the Harvard’s general fund. The other 80% is generated from working with various University departments on a fee-for-service basis to produce energy and cost savings on building maintenance and construction, and to help each department adopt green policies in operations and procurements. Way to go Harvard!

Saving $$$ with the New York Times

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green_bucks

The New York Times, whose affluent subscriber base is shrinking by the day, has realized that the affluence of their remaining readers is also taking a hit.

That must explain this article of surprisingly useful tips for making your IT and communications devices work a little longer and your budget stretch a little further. Most important, they keep our landfills a little less clogged.

It’s not easy being green

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kermit_logFrom a recent Reuters Report:

The Obama administration has high hopes that millions of “green” jobs will be created by investing billions of dollars in renewable energy, but a report on Tuesday warned not all those workers would earn good pay.

“Green jobs are not automatically good jobs,” according to the report commissioned by several U.S. labor and environmental groups, which looked at pay practices at renewable energy companies.

One of the things you’ve probably heard floating around with all the talk of ‘stimulus package’ and ‘green jobs’ is they are the answer to bringing high-paying jobs back into our economy. The Reuters article highlights that the manufacture of renewable energy technology will end up being ruled by global economic realities. If the manufacturing capability exists for it to be made in China–it will be– just like the toy you bought at Walmart. Capital continually searches for the cheapest source of labor. With oil prices unlikely to bounce back for a couple of years, transport costs from these labor sites won’t be a barrier for the next few years.

Warm Home Cool Planet sees this as a double edged sword. While the growth of the renewable energy industry is unlikely to lead to a revival of the US industrial base, overseas manufacture of products has made many consumer items affordable for middle class Americans. Remember how expensive HD TVs were before they became a staple in every American living room? If lower cost labor makes renewable technologies more affordable, America will still benefit in many ways. It will lead to lower energy bills, which frees up disposable income for many families. It should also be noted the marketing, distribution and installation of these products is not something that can be outsourced to another country.

One hopes that companies who do manufacture renewable energy products in China and other places insist on environmental standards far stricter than those currently imposed.

Boston Globe reporter gets audited

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No, our local paper is not in trouble with the taxman (that’s just President Obama’s cabinet picks) but Geoff Edgers from the Boston Globe decided that his heating bills were getting out of control. So he called up his energy provider-National Grid-who sent over a Conservation Services Group auditor to perform a thorough check up on his 100 year old home. Among the pleasant suprises-free CFL light globes to replace his incandescant bulbs. Watch the video below to see what else Geoff learned while making his home more energy efficient. If you’re a Cambridge resident, you can sign up now for your own FREE home energy audit.

Keeping Warm in the Winter: Warm Home Cool Planet Survey of Surveys

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If one does a Google search on ‘keeping warm in the winter,’ you’ll find dozens of articles from all over the world, with tips and advice on how to keep warm without breaking the bank. There’s a lot of overlap in these lists, but occasionally you find a unique idea or two. Many of these lists are aimed at the elderly, who have to balance warmth issues with other issues (avoiding slips and falls). You’ll also find a great deal of disagreement about the safety and utility of closing off vents in unused parts of a structure heated by a forced air furnace.

The tips are all common-sensical. But one thing we’ve noticed at Warm Home Cool Planet, if you pile up enough common sense, you frequently find you’ve created an uncommonly useful resource. We read through dozens of postings with the reality of Cambridge winter in mind.

Our Survey of Surveys found the following categories of suggestions:

  • Eliminate drafts—It’s not just about saving money and the planet, it’s about comfort. One thing we hadn’t seen before were these insulated window blinds with magnetic seals at the edges, which come from, no surprise, Montana.
  • Set up a warm room safely—(without causing furnace problems; this means being careful about how many heating vents, if any, you shut. One rule of thumb is to never shut vents that supply more than 15% of your homes total cubic heating volume, and if you are using a heat pump, don’t shut off vents ever, period.)
  • Dress in air-trapping thin layers—much discussion of thermal underwear; downhill skiers seem to know a lot about this.
  • Exercise moderately and appropriately for your age and physical condition.
  • Eat and drink enough; eat and drink warm things.
  • Only use space heaters safely and responsibly. If you die, you will soon grow cold and the space heater will be a waste of money.

A friendly reminder from Forbes Magazine

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You know when they are publishing energy saving tips for the financial bigwigs who read Forbes, things are getting serious. we encourage you to read the whole list, but number 3 struck us as particularly noteworthy:

3. Switch off phantom power. Plug any electronic equipment and appliances with clocks or timers into power strips you can conveniently turn off. As much as 75 percent of electricity used by home electronics is consumed when devices are (supposedly) turned off. Look for the Energy Star logo and choose the most efficient model you can when buying new appliances.