Going Green

“Going green” refers to the movement by environmentalists, energy specialists, and organizations throughout the United States interested in educating people on taking responsibility for creating a better living environment on planet Earth.

The reason for building “green” homes is really quite simple. By learning to live in ways that impact less on the physical environment of our planet, we are making an investment in the viability and health of its future.

How we build our homes, in both design and choice of materials, is one of the most significant ways that we can affect our future. What this all comes down to is using materials as well as building applications that are more environment-friendly due to energy efficiency—which enables cutting back on our energy use (and thereby our dependency on oil) by significant amounts—as well as those that are naturally degradable as opposed to presenting a problem when the time comes to dispose of them.

I am not going to get into the many ways of building green homes—there are too many to summarize here—but I will share some very simple projects that save between 20% and 30% on energy costs. Some of them you may want to implement and some just may give you food for thought, but here they are nonetheless:

Clotheslines. Yes, it has come down to this! Admittedly we are not ready to hang all our wet clothes on the clothesline again, but certainly some things can be dried on a clothesline, and you can save a bundle on energy costs, just by not using your clothes dryer.

Tube skylights. Here is one I read about that is very interesting. This is a tube which lets you bring in the sun’s rays to dark places such as a hall or staircase without building a skylight. These “sun tunnels” capture light through a plastic lens mounted on the roof, bouncing it down through the attic inside a reflective tube that then beams it through a plastic diffuser in the ceiling. These create light in those dark windowless areas, saving you the energy and expense of constantly using electric light in those areas during daytime hours.

Insulated pipes. This is an oldie but goodie! Years ago, hot water pipes were commonly insulated with asbestos—which is what got us into trouble now that we know asbestos is dangerous for your health and must be removed. But after removing the asbestos, instead of reinsulating those pipes with an environmentally friendly material, most people leave the pipes bare. Today we know that insulating those hot-water pipes with available rubber or polyethylene foam tubes (those tubes come with a slit in the middle so that they easily pop right over the pipes) can reduce up to 50% of the heat loss.

Shade trees. Planting shade trees on the southern exposure side of your house can grow enough in five years to provide sufficient shade to let you run air conditioning less and save you as much as 40% on your air conditioning costs.

Programmable thermostats. Installing programmable thermostats for both your heating and air conditioning temperatures can save large percentages on your energy bills. Being able to program the heat to cool lows while you are away during the day (or high temperatures in the case of air conditioning) and then having the flexibility of the desired temperature kicking in just before you come home lets you control those temperature levels and then forget about them.

Faucet aerators. These screw-on mesh screens break up water droplets, so you use less water but get just as much rinsing power.

Clean refrigerator coils. If they are coated with dust, refrigerator coils can’t transfer heat efficiently, so it takes more energy to cool your food. Get at them (they are usually found underneath or at the back) with a long-handled brush or vacuum with the long nozzle.

These are but a few simple items which can save on energy and are therefore considered “green.” Today you can attain many levels of going green, including building entire homes with green materials as well as solar heating apparatus which are only now starting to come into the marketplace at better pricing than in years before. The main point in going green is really just taking the time to consider even small things that you can do that make a difference and then trying to put them into practice. n

Anessa Cohen lives in Cedarhurst and is a Licensed Real Estate Broker (Anessa V Cohen Realty) with over 20 years of experience offering full-service residential, management, and commercial real estate services. She can be reached at 516-569-5007. Readers are encouraged to send any questions or scenarios by email to [email protected].