Archive for the ‘Green Living’ Category

Let’s face it: money is tight today. If you’re looking to get the most bang for your home improvement dollar, think about making improvements that make your home more livable today and valuable if you plan to put it on the market when times improve.

If you have the budget or access to a reasonable loan, then a major project, such as window or siding replacement can bring lasting value. New fiber-cement or vinyl siding can bring as much as an 87 percent return. Replacing windows with energy efficient wood or vinyl sets can bring nearly an 80 percent return.

Major bathroom and kitchen remodeling efforts also can bring a strong return, but less so than siding and windows. Adding an outdoor wooden deck can boost home value by as much as $24,000 and bring in a sizable return on the cost of installing it.

Mid-scale Improvements that Work

Minor kitchen remodeling projects put an incremental burden on your budget, but still increase home value and utility. Perhaps you want to add kitchen counter laminate or fresh paint.

Minor kitchen remodels can net an 80 percent return on your investment—higher than a complete remodeling project can bring.  Or, consider remodeling an unfinished basement, a project that can bring more than 70 percent returns on your outlay.

Your region can also play a large part in determining ROI.  For example, minor kitchen remodeling projects brought great returns in the West, while the ROI winner in the South was fiber-cement siding. In the Midwest, homeowners fared best with minor kitchen and major bathroom remodeling projects.

Remember to get plenty of quotes from different contractors and see which ones offer the best discounts on materials.

As the winter months advance, we’re all making resolutions for the New Year. Not all of them are about personal habits that need changing. Home repair buffs and gardeners all look toward the new slate of months as an opportunity to begin and complete projects we’ve only daydreamed of undertaking.

Marshall Landscapes

You might begin drawing plans for an overdue kitchen restoration. Gardners might find the time just right to order seed catalogues or draw plans for a new wood or stone deck

It may be the right time to bring in a contractor to cut limbs on trees most susceptible to snow damage. If you’re doing winter planting, consider planting evergreens like hemlock, holly, pine, or spruce—all look great in snow and in your winter yard.

Considering Winter Home and Garden Improvements

If you’re doing any cold weather landscaping before the heart of winter, be sure to include the use of hardscape (fountains, masonry, statues, and walls). Much of this work can be done as long as it’s dry outside.

While you’re dreaming and resolving, consider installing synthetic lawns for the spring. You can save on water and maintenance.  If you live in warm climates with mild winters and scorching summers, the winter can be an optimal time to install synthetics that won’t be damaged now by cold and later when heat comes during the summer.

Indoors, there’s “plenty to-dos” you can add to your list of resolutions. Perhaps you have the time and budget to install that home theater you’ve been pining for. Or, as you take down the holiday lighting inside and out, perhaps it’s time to replace your bulbs with energy efficient substitutes (compact fluorescent or LED bulbs and fixtures).

Inevitably, spring will arrive.  You can get a head start planning home improvement projects for warming weather by creating mock-ups or designs, take indoor measurements, make parts lists, create a realistic timetable and budget.  Contractors may offer winter rates on interior projects and give discounts if you engage them now in planning for projects that burst into action come spring.

Meanwhile, during the winter months, inspect your windows and doors for air and water leaks, clean out your gutters after heavy storms, have your furnace checked, fire up winter tools like your snow blowers and make sure they’re ready for weather ahead.  And it’s a great idea to check all your fire extinguishers for charges and ensure that your carbon monoxide and smoke detectors are in working order.

Years ago I was visiting a friend in Tokyo and was astonished that she took water from the tap for tea, and it was too hot to drink. This was way back in 1979. I was amazed that all the hot water for the home’s kitchen and bath came from a heat-on-demand water tank powered by natural gas. Later that year, I saw passive solar water heating systems on the roofs of homes just outside of Tel Aviv. Thirty years later I’ve yet to see these systesm in widespread adoption around the states.

Then you consider that tank-less, heat-on-demand systems are available—with models that just heat your teapot, while others power the shower—they’re still a ways off from popular use around the states.  You’ll probably remember (or still have) one of those tea elements for plugging in and using electrical power to heat coffee. That’s as far as most of us go.

The Savings?

You might save a hundred dollars a year in energy bills from an on-demand system. But if you’re considering buying an on-demand heater to cover all your hot water needs, be sure to consider the size of your family, the cost of installing a system, the tank capacity, and the amount of hot water you need every day. The Department of Energy says a majority of systems can generate 2-5 gallons a minute, depending on the fuel source. From your own experience you know that gas-fired heaters are quicker to raise your water to the right temperature than electric ones.

Tax Credits for Tank-less  Water Heaters

You can read up on the 2009-2010 tax credit at the Alliance to Save Energy website.  In essence, your potential credit for installing a tank-less unit for the credit depends on your finding a system that can heat the water to efficiency standards based on source (electric, gas, oil, propane). An acceptable energy factor may be hard to find. The credit may only be $300, but pennies saved by energy efficiency can add up.

According to the Department of Energy, the energy factor is determined by  fuel consumption and the speed of recovery,  and how much heat is lost in the cycle of briefly storing and pumping out the water. When shopping around, examine units for a high-number energy factor, meaning the most-efficient for home use.

Dedicating a tank-less heater to appliances, spas, or as a secondary power source can prove a wise choice if there’s no constant or huge demand.

Laundry rooms are designed for utility, not decor. But so many laundry rooms become catch-all enclosures for clutter, storage, and other pack-rat activities. After a while, they can become home to hazardous chemicals or firetraps with over-extended electrical outlets, or danger zones for young children.

If you’re going to remodel your laundry room, consider replacing outdated or worn parts on your washer and dryer, as well as electrical and plumbing features that are either in disrepair or require efficient upgrades. And a nice coat of paint or wallpaper can make this often dingy room more pleasing to the eye.

Basements Are Best
If you currently have your laundry in the basement, you should consider keeping it there. The small convenience you gain by moving your laundry room to an upper floors is easily offset by the potential water damage to your home from leaks or flooding. One insurance company reports $170 million in water damage from washing machine hose failures.

A simple laundry room remodel project can include new flooring, expanded cabinets with utility drawers or storage, shelving, new lighting, and, if there’s a window, fresh treatments.

Size Matters
If you need more space, think before breaking out a wall.  There are stack-able and compact washing machines that may be more cost-efficient than breaking out walls. That’s if those models can serve your family.

You may also need to consider room for a new sink or ironing space. Installing new cabinets can double your existing storage and add comfort to working in the room.

Safety First
Using 2002-2004 data, the U.S. Fire Administration division of FEMA reported 15,600 fires, resulting in 15 deaths and 400 injuries-–attributed to faulty clothes dryers. That means, in addition to renovating your laundry room, you should renovate your maintenance routine on washers and dryers.

If you have foil or plastic ducting attachments to the dryer, replace them with modern, fire-resistant corrugated metal to increase the air exhaust. Make a habit of not only cleaning lint traps on the dryer, but cleaning behind the traps and behind the entire unit.

Go Green
And if you want to save energy costs when replacing your washer and dryer unit, shop for Energy Star appliances that can cut your water and energy costs in half. By washing in warm or cold cycles you can also slash your electric bills.

Another tip: Paint your renovated laundry room in light colors so you won’t feel like you’ve been banished to the cave whenever you do the wash.

It’s time to revisit the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and its energy improvements section.  In sum, Section 1121 of the act was created to offer a $1,500 tax credit for materials applied towards an energy retrofit of windows, skylights, doors, insulation and roofing.

Homeowners can earn the credit up to a 30 percent ceiling on materials. However, if you’re working with heating and air conditioning, you could receive a credit up to 30 percent of the cost and installation for a solar- powered water heater or biomass stove.  Another provision of the legislation creates a no-repay $8,000 tax credit to a first-time homeowner.

Tax Rules and a Quick Warning
The provisions of the stimulus  tripled the size of credits for upgrading your home. But you must meet Federal requirements to successfully file for the credit or return. All new HVAC systems or new windows, skylights, doors, etc., have to be installed between  January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2010.

If you’re planning on taking the credit, you must buy products that meet Federal energy efficiency requirements. Even a product identified on its label as an Energy Star certified item may not meet the regulations. New compliance levels have been set based on National Fenestration Council (NFRC) ratings for  U-Factor and Solar Heat-Gain-Coefficient values.

There are varieties of insulation products that meet lifespan and warranty requirements that you can add to your materials checklist. And roofing materials that meet Energy Star requirements may also qualify.

Insist on Paper
For each purchase you want to apply to your tax return, you’ll need the receipt, the product tag verifying its energy-efficiency ratings (Manufacturer’s Certification Statement), and a separate form provided by the retailer indicating the sale of an qualifying item.

Don’t confuse your contractor with your tax attorney. Look carefully at advertising from contractors who claim that they’ll match your $1,500 tax credit.  That’s assuming that you can qualify for one.  Remember, only certain energy-efficient renovations qualify for tax credits and include labor costs. Review the list at the Energy Star website.

Also, don’t take a contractor’s word that the materials meet the provisions unless you see the actual manufacturer’s certification tag. Any contract or work-order you arrange with your installer should itemize materials costs in a separate breakout from labor. You’ll need to save all the documentation you can for your records.

It’s worth a note that the law also set aside $5 billion in funds for weatherization assistance to qualified low-income households.

It’s beginning to be the height of summer, the temperatures are reaching above 90 degrees and every morning I thank god that I get to leave my house and go somewhere with air conditioning. 

But, when I get home, I realize my yard isn’t so lucky and my lawn, especially, is suffering. What was lovely and green in early spring is now dry, patchy and looks like straw. It’s impossible to give my lawn enough water to get through the season looking perfect and green. Even if I did, I don’t know if it’s the most environmental choice. 

So, when reading Sunset magazine recently and saw an article on fake grass it got me thinking about whether or not I would really consider getting rid of the real thing for something else. 

The appealing thing about fake lawns is that you save water, since you don’t need to give it water to survive and look nice. This is especially appealing in areas prone to drought like Southern California, Nevada, and Arizona, to name a few places. In order to maintain a healthy green lawn in the summer months you need to give it at least an inch of water a week – that’s a lot when the name of the game should be conservation!

There has been a lot of development on these lawn alternatives since the days of Astroturf, and you’ll likely be shocked about how real the new options look: 

(Synthetic Sod from Eco Waterless Grass)

(photo of AGL Grass)

One commenter in the Sunset article pointed out that you may save water with this kind of alternative but you’ll be creating waste. These products generally have a lifespan of about 10 years, and when you’re done it’s possible that you’ll find your product is not bio-degradable, so you’re saving water but creating waste. Not to mention, that you’ll still need to use water on your fake lawn to wash it off, so how much are you really saving? Make sure to check with the manufacturer of the product you choose about disposal after use. 

While all these alternatives are nice, I, like many other Portlanders, usually try to have the best of both real lawns and eco-consciousness. When you drive around in summer, it’s obvious we’ve all given up on trying to water our grass. In the wetter months our lawns thrive without extra help from our hoses, and in the summer we go ahead and let them get a lovely golden brown so as not to waste water, happy knowing that they’ll thrive again in a few months time after our beautiful, but always too short summer season. 

It’s Earth Day today, and in fact, it’s the 40th Earth Day to be celebrated since its inception.

In the past forty years we’ve come a long way in changing our ways to protect the earth, but as much progress as we’ve made we still have a lot of work ahead of us. Remember Al Gore on the scissor lift pointing out the spike in data? We need to make sure he doesn’t have to reach any higher than he already is to show our impact.

The inconvenient truth about getting on board with greener practices is just that, it can be slightly inconvenient to abandon our old routine and commit to a new one. It can be inconvenient to buy products that may cost more money. It can be inconvenient to actually think through all of our actions beforehand. But, in the end, if everyone took more time to consider their actions, maybe the end result would be a healthier planet for us and for our future.

Here are some of my resolutions for the coming year to help out the Earth, maybe you’ll want to add these resolutions to your list too:

1. Avoid “hypernesting”:  Hypernesting is a term I recently read about from the Apartment Therapy book The 8 Step Home Cure by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan. It’s the perfect name for the increased interest homeowners have of buying more and more things to outfit their home. With all the buying going on, and not a lot of getting rid of anything we are faced with an overload of “stuff,” hence, a constant need to “organize”.  But, as Gillingham-Ryan suggests, it’s not so much that homeowners “are in need of more organizing; we need to manage our consumption, let go of our stuff, and learn how to restore life to our homes.”

Managing our consumption is the key. Stop buying simply to buy. Just live simply. The less you consume, the less waste you’ll produce and the less waste that will go to landfills. Every time I go to Target or Ikea, I’m going to re-think my impulse purchases to make sure they are actually things I really need.

2. Make My Home More Energy Efficient: While my home could do with a new set of windows, I’m not sure my budget is going to allow for it. But there are other smaller things I plan on doing like lessen my use of vampire power, run of all of my laundry on cold, turn of lights when I’m not using them, and researching other tricks for reducing my energy use little by little.

3. Start Composting : Ok, all I have to do for this one is get the appropriate receptacles and convince the people I live with that it won’t smell. I grew up with a compost heap and have always felt guilty living life without one ever since. I think this year it’s time to get back into the habit, especially since I’ve been working more on gardening than ever before.

Composting is a great way to keep bio-degradable waste such as fruit and veggie scarps out of the landfill and back into the earth. Here’s a helpful government website to get you started.

4. Use Green Cleaning Products: I’ve already started purchasing greener products such as Seventh Generation cleaning supplies for my home. But, I really want to look into more options, Such as baking soda as an all purpose cleaner, and a lemon slice as an anti-bacterial agent for cleaning cutting boards.  I’m sure there are so many more of these eco-cleaning tips that are just as easy and affordable.

5. Consider a Rain Catchment System: I would love to be able to set up a rain catchment system at my house to have a water source for gardening, or even washing my car. Check out my previous post on these cool systems.

6. When Doing Home Improvements Use Eco or Recycled Products: If you’re going to be remodeling, think about the impact of your materials. While there is an array of beautiful, new recycled and sustainable materials, you may also want to consider re-using older materials. At the Rebuilding Center in Portland you can find hundreds of reusable windows, doors, and even sinks and bathtubs. Instead of adding to the landfill, why not re-purpose something so it never becomes junk in the first place.

For more about green building and an eco lifestyle check out our Green Living Section.

I’m always looking for ways to save.

Whether it’s killing off vampire power with items like the Smart Strip power strip, or trying to use the least amount of paper products in my kitchen that I can get away with, I am a person who likes to save money and the environment.  It’s a powerful combo, and one that is catching on with more and more homeowners.

Lots of small household upgrades pack a double punch of money savings and eco savings. Your front door for instance. Did you know that replacing exterior doors can save you money? By upgrading your exterior doors to steel or fiberglass you will gain five times as much insulation as with an older, dated door. Better insulation means you don’t need as much energy to heat and cool your home. These doors generally also include built in weather stripping, another great way to trap in heat and stop drafts.

Last but not least, if you upgrade to an EnergyStar approved exterior door you can apply for a tax credit of 30% of the cost of the project for up to $1,500.

Looking for other ways to save? Here are some other tips: 

Green Building with Joel Fraley of The Neil Kelly Company
Energy Efficency: Put Your Refrigerator to the Test
Falling Rain = Falling Utility Bills: Rain Catchment Systems