Green Homes – Top 10 Benefits

green homeGreen building is so much more than saving energy or reducing a home’s environmental footprint. Homeowners of a certified Green Home can realize many more benefits as described below.

Lower Operating Costs – Your Green Home will have lower energy and water bills as a result of energy and water efficiency measures.

Healthier Home – With improved indoor air quality, less harmful off gases and prevention of water intrusion, which can create mold, your family should be healthier, miss less work and school, which hopefully will result in less medical bills

Reduced Maintenance & Replacement Costs – Increased useful life of products and materials will result in cost savings. A properly planned landscaping package will reduce the amount of time spent working in the yard and allow more time to enjoy the outdoors.

Potential Financial Incentives – As green home building has become more mainstream, there are increasingly more federal tax credit and local government and utility company incentive rebates available, lower cost Green mortgages available and more recently, insurance companies are beginning to offer lower premium options.

Higher Performing & Durable Home – You will benefit immensely from a better built and higher performing home; 3rd party verification of duct leaks and house air leaks will insure that any deficiencies discovered can be addressed and repaired during construction, saving untold amount of wasted energy; certification experts will approve your home for your LEED (Leader in Energy & Environmental Design), NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) or other local approved Green certification programs, resulting in a higher valued home.

Environmental Friendly & Sustainable Measures – Can one family building a Green Home solve global warming or bring a complete halt to diminishing resources? No. Can one family building a Green Home contribute to the solution and be part of a movement that one day may be the new standard? YES! Through the use of sustainable practices, recycled and renewable products, and more energy efficient systems, we can reduce the impact on our environment and precious resources.

Higher Value & Resale Advantages – Your certified Green Home will have a higher value than a comparable standard home and if you decide to sell your home, multiple listing systems used by Realtors to sell homes are now recognizing green certification programs and it is much easier to market the benefits of home to buyers.

More Comfortable Home Environment – Imagine the personal benefits to you and your family by living in a quiet, clean, safe, secure and controlled indoor air quality home – is there anything more important that the health and welfare of your family? Is there really a price tag you can assign to the benefit of building a Green Home to you, your children and your grandchildren?

Safer & More Secure – Your family is better protected with the use of high performance smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, radon testing detectors and security system.

Promotes an EcoGreen Luxury Lifestyle - Now that you have decided to build a high performance and healthy Green Home, your life is changed forever – all for the better! Would you furnish your new home with anything other than safe, healthy, organic and eco-friendly products? Might you consider living a healthier lifestyle? Will you sleep in peace knowing you have provided your family a safe, clean, healthy living environment?

As you can see, there are so many more benefits in owning a Green Home than just “energy efficiency” or being “eco-friendly”.

Prevention of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning is Simple

Carbon Monoxide (CO) poisoning is lethal and is the leading cause of accidental poisoning deaths in our country, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. Today, CO poisoning in your home does not have to be a threat. Simply go to any home improvement retailer or large household merchandise store and you can purchase carbon monoxide detectors for your home or office.

CO detectors are easy to install taking about 7 minutes if you include the time it takes to remove it from the packaging and read the simple mounting instructions. Even less time is involved if you can find the CO detector that has a battery back up and primarily plugs directly into any grounded outlet inside your home.

CO is a tasteless, colorless and odorless gas that is lethal in a fairly short amount of time, within minutes even if the concentration is only moderate. Low levels of CO exposure over a long period is also a serious health risk and results in permanent neurological damage

CO results from the combustion of flame-fueled devices such fireplaces, ovens, furnaces, wall-heaters, clothes dryers, grills, to name a few. If there is not enough proper ventilation or the device is damaged, deadly amounts of CO can accumulate in the air and you will not know that you are breathing the deadly gas.

Carbon monoxide detectors save lives. They do have some limitations in terms of placement and usage so it is important to read carefully when choosing the right CO detector for your home or office.

Green Homes – Top 10 Features

Top 10 Features of a Green Home

A typical builder explanation of a Green Home is “a home that is energy-efficient, water-efficient and incorporates multiple sustainable features that enhance the built environment.” What does this mean to the typical home buyer? Well, not much! And certainly not enough to really peek their interest.

Below is a “Top 10″ list of features you can expect in a typical Green Home. This is just a summary though, actual features will vary according to your price range, the location of the home and just how “green and eco-friendly” you want to be!

  1. Design & Planning – A well thought out home design in consultation with green building experts; the house positioned on your lot to take advantage of existing trees, natural vegetation and prevailing breezes; third party testing and verification of green products and applications in order to meet certification guidelines.
  2. Durability & High Performance – Exterior house wrap utilized for vapor and air infiltration control; HVAC duct system and all house penetrations properly sealed and tested; higher quality products and materials utilized in every aspect of construction; builder and other professionals are more involved at each stage of construction.
  3. Energy Efficiency – High efficient HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system designed and installed; insulated windows with low e glass throughout the home; tankless water heater system for heat on demand; ENERGY STAR appliances and light fixtures.
  4. Water Conservation – Low flow faucet and shower heads installed; dual flush toilets; ENERGY STAR dishwasher; properly designed landscaping and irrigation package.
  5. Indoor Air Quality – Low or no V.O.C. paints, caulks, sealants and cabinets selected; central vacuum system; use of carpeting kept to a minimum; bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans ducted to outside; garage and basement areas insulated and sealed from interior of home.
  6. Resource Efficiency – Engineered products and finger joint material used where possible; concrete and fiber-cement products used in lieu of wood; recycle bins placed on job site to minimize construction debris; well designed recycle center in kitchen.
  7. Landscaping & Outdoors – Drought tolerant turf and plants selected; plants with similar water and maintenance needs grouped together; recycled mulch to maximize moisture retention; irrigation system complete with multi-program clock, rain sensor and separate zones for turf and plants.
  8. Eco-friendly and Healthy Materials – Carefully selected renewable materials that are also eco-friendly, such as bamboo flooring, engineered woods, cork flooring, recycled tile and linoleum.
  9. Health, Safety & Enjoyment – High quality systems installed to control mold, to detect and warn for carbon monoxide and radon gases, to prevent unwanted intrusions with a complete security system and finally, to safely deliver pesticide and termite treatments.
  10. Optional Features – Energy efficient systems such as solar voltaic power and solar energy; structural systems such as structured insulated panels (SIPS) or insulated concrete forms (ICF); indoor air quality filtration systems and whole house dehumidifying system; water conservation measures such as greywater reuse, reclaimed water reuse and rainwater harvesting.

Building a certified Green Home or remodeling an existing home to be certified green, might be the smartest decision you ever make for the health and well-being of not just you and your family, but for the next generation of families throughout the world.

Healthy Home – These Deaths Were Preventable

westmont-green-homesIt makes sense to me that, like smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors should be required in every household. Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning deaths are senseless preventable deaths, yet every year in our country, CO is responsible for more deaths from accidental poisoning above any other single poisoning event.

CO is extremely dangerous because you cannot smell, taste or see the deadly gas and within minutes, even at moderate levels, it can be lethal. At low levels, it can cause significant and permanent neurological damage to those exposed to the CO gas over an extended period of time.

CO binds to the hemoglobin in red blood cells and literally suffocates the body tissues, organs, organ systems then ultimately the entire organism.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recommends that each floor in your home or office should have at least one carbon monoxide detector installed. In homes, it is recommended that installation be nearest to the sleeping area but not directly over a heating source, such as a wall furnace.

Any device that is powered by a fuel-burning source produces carbon monoxide. Careful care and attention to consistent and professional maintenance of our household devices is a big step in preventing CO deaths.

Here are some preventive measures you can take:
1. Buy a CO detector for each floor in your home
2. Service all gas appliances yearly by a qualified service technician
3. Clean and service fireplaces every year
4. Place fuel powered space heaters* in well-vented areas
*electric powered heaters do not produce CO

Carbon monoxide poisoning is preventable: get a CO detector.