Maximizing energy efficiency starts with large south-facing windows, which help to naturally heat your home in the winter and keep it cool in the summer. Also known as passive solar design, this is a key element in new homes that are working towards zero carbon emissions. Natural sunlight controls temperatures and also reduces your building’s lighting requirements and can therefore cut back on your electricity bill.

It’s easy to finish construction of even the most environmentally sound building, and even easier to demolish one, without regard to the waste products of construction. Astonishingly, building waste accounts for nearly HALF of all trash in landfills across the United States. This can be quite easily avoided—and should be.

Trying to figure out how to heat your house without wasting energy? Try installing direct heat beneath the floorboards or in the wall panels. Known as radiant heat due to its transmission of thermal energy from one object to another (i.e. heat flows from the floor directly to objects and people), this type of system is more efficient than traditional baseboard heating since much less heat energy is lost in the piping system.

Although there are some quality natural alternatives for finishing walls on the market today it seems that the most natural and longest lasting alternative is clay plaster. American Clay, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has developed a beautiful suite of clay finishes and colors that seem to bring out a look, feel and texture that paint could never achieve.

There is no reason why vast parking lots must be covered entirely by pavement. Besides being a heat-trap, paved surfaces disrupt local ecology and cause serious problems with rainwater runoff. Fortunately there is a sensible alternative. Known as grass pavers, these honeycomb-shaped connected pavers (which can be made from recycled plastic), provide the foundation of your driveway or parking lot, allowing grass to grow through and water to be absorbed.

Cork is made from the peeled bark of Cork Oak trees, which can be sustainably harvested every nine years without harming the tree. It is naturally resistant to fire, insects, and microbes.

In green building, using a healthy and eco-friendly finish is just as important as selecting the right material. When it comes to wood flooring, green builders have a wide array of products at their fingertips.

Most people let the tap run while brushing their teeth and most men while they’re shaving, pouring money down the drain.  Look just to the side of the sink at your toilet and you’ll see a water-hog that doesn’t really require drinkable tap water.   If only you could get all that fairly clean water from [...]

If your refrigerator was manufactured before 1993, it’s time for a new one.  “But my fridge works fine,” you say.  It may work fine but it is costing you and the environment. You can buy a new fridge and recover the costs in short order—newer models take less energy to run than [...]

My grand-dad used to say “pick your poison.” He knew that nothing is perfect. There are good things and not so good things about every choice. When sustainability is your primary goal, you make decisions with a different set of parameters.