Saves you and the environment some green

Rainwater harvestingis “the process of intercepting storm-water runoff and putting it to beneficial use.”  Pretty simple concept.  Oddly enough, it is illegal in some states.   The Colorado legislature, in its 2009 session, legalized rainwater harvesting for residents with private wells.  Other states and municipalities are in the process of changing their laws.  You’ll need to do a little research to determine what is lawful in your state.  Whatever the case, I don’t think the police are going to show up at your door if you choose to harvest rainwater.

Why would I want to harvest rainwater anyway?

According to the EPA, a homeowner can save 1,300 gallons of water a month.  That will help with your water bills or reduce stress on your well.  You can use the water in your evaporative coolers, to water plants, your lawn, your pets or livestock.  It reduces your carbon footprint by saving on electricity to pump water and then deliver it to your home.   Besides, it simply makes good sense to have water stored to guard against times of drought or emergency.

So I’m building or rebuilding a home and want to incorporate this.  How?

You can begin by designing your home, buildings, and surrounding landscape to maximize the amount of rainwater catchment.   You can do it like Jerry Brock of Monte Sereno, California and use four gravity-fed 5,000 gallon tanks.  Or, there are companies like Rain Harvesting Systems (RHS) that specialize in elaborate and wonderful systems for your home or commercial building.

You can do it like people have been doing it for thousands of years—with some type of cistern.   Cisterns, now, aren’t some Biblical clay container thing , but are usually some type of composite plastic.  Here are some links to places you can buy one and also some “do it yourself” harvesting systems.

http://www.plastic-mart.com/class.php?cat=187

http://www.rain-barrel.net/category/rainwater-harvesting

http://www.ehow.com/how_5126202_harvest-rain-water.html

http://www.off-grid.net/2009/06/20/how-to-harvest-rainwater/

Bottom line:  it can be as simple as putting a big bucket out under your rain gutter and using the water for dry spots on your lawn.   Get an elaborate rainwater harvesting system or get a container with a cover (keeps mosquitoes from breeding and slows evaporation) and do your part to help your budget and your planet.

This article was first published on Build and Rebuild. To continue reading, please view the original post at Rainwater Harvesting.

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In spring of 2008, without much fanfare, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) kicked off its “Green Building Strategy.” Later in the year the agency produced a formal document outlining its commitment to green building and the strategy for promoting it.  I say:  “better late than never…”

The strategy puts forth five objectives:

• to inform building decisions with better standards and metrics
• to advance knowledge and overcome barriers through research
• to lead by example with the agency’s own facilities
• to expand understanding of green building
• to increase adoption of green building practices in areas where progress has been more limited, including homes and existing commercial and public buildings.

The document highlights the EPA’s research focus—not only their own departmental research, but collaboration with academic and other research organizations.    An umbrella entity that helps to coordinate and help develop more exact guidelines and catalogs best practices is a concept that is long overdue. 

“EPA will in­creasingly use that platform to help raise awareness about the environmental impacts and opportunities associated with buildings, so that consumers and other organiza­tions can make better informed decisions when purchas­ing building-related products or services.”  Now that ought to be music to everyone’s ears.   The concept of green building just shouldn’t be that difficult.  

The on-line document goes on to state:  “While surveys suggest that many people would like to reduce the environmental impacts of their homes, many either do not know where to start or are overwhelmed by the breadth of information available. “  Awareness of products, technologies, and best practices should be readily available and easily understood.  Hopefully it will soon become second nature to anyone considering a building or rebuilding project.

The EPA has the credibility and hopefully the funding that will push the green building movement into a new era of public awareness.  The on-line document states:  “EPA will play an important role in bringing about the widespread adoption of effective, high-performance green buildings for the benefit of this and future generations.”  Sounds great!  I hope they mean it.

This article was first published on Build and Rebuild. To continue reading, please view the original post at EPA is slowly figuring it out..

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Confession: I am a capitalist at heart. I believe entirely in the power of financial incentive to change behavior and spur action. Fortunately, for all of you building a more energy efficient home or retrofitting your house with renewable energy, federal and state governments also believe in the power of financial incentive. And thanks to the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency, you can find and benefit from these incentives without too much hassle.

Select a state and find all available incentive or rebate programs.

The DSIRE website is a “comprehensive” source of information about incentives for building with renewable energy and greater energy efficiency. The site includes incentives and policies offered by the “federal government, state governments, local governments, electric utilities and non-profit organizations.” With multiple ways to sort and search programs, charts and graphs to explain the numbers, and a glossary to explain what you are reading, there is no reason for anyone working on “greening” their home to not take a minute and see if they can get a little financial assistance in doing their part for the environment. In Arizona alone, there were over 30 incentive and rebate programs. There’s got to be a little something out there for everybody.

http://www.dsireusa.org/

This article was first published on Build and Rebuild. To continue reading, please view the original post at A Few More Incentives to Build Green.

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Looks like “cap and trade” is no longer limited to the carbon market. Boulder, Colorado has just put in place a similar policy for limiting the size of houses:

“Boulder County, Colorado has yet to see the effects of recently passed restrictions on the size of new housing.  The plan seeks to encourage people to build smaller houses by granting “development credits” that could be earned by reducing the size of a new home.  These credits could then be sold to builders who desire to build a home larger than 6,000 square feet.”

Although this “cap and trade: plan for limiting the size of new construction has seen little or no activity some believe that once the housing market improves the new plan will become an important tool to help limit the construction of excessively large homes that use more resources both in construction and the energy used once occupied.

I’m not sure that arbitrary limits of this sort will really drive much of a change in the market.  Progressive property tax structures have served somewhat the same purpose with little appreciable impact on the constant increase in average home size.

One a lasting result of the current recession will be to drive people to reconsider the size and scope of many life decisions including the size of a home.  Baby boomers are going to recognize that retirement is looming and the 401k is only half of what it was a year ago.  This I think will drive many of us to scale down in our expectations and our expenditures.  This will have the effect of slowing the growth of the average new home.

I also think that millennials have an unprecedented moral outlook to sustainability.  As they move into the prime home buying years the homes they choose will reflect a moral currency that is derived from sustainable life choices including the size and nature of their home.

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/jun/16/boulder-county-commissioners-tweak-house-size-rule/

This article was first published on Build and Rebuild. To continue reading, please view the original post at Cap and Trade no longer just for Carbon.

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According to a recent study, we can combat global warming just by painting our roofs white. The concept is simple. Rather than absorbing and transferring light energy into heat, white colored roofs increase the reflectivity of the roof’s surface keeping houses and urban environment cooler. According to the study, painting roofs white “reduces their solar heat gain, lowers their temperatures, and avoids transferring heat back into the atmosphere.” All of which reduces global warming.

California has been in on the research for quite a few years now. In 2005 they passed a law requiring all flat roofs to be white, and starting July 2009, they will require all sloped roofs to be at least “cool colored.” (Apparently, a state of white-roofed houses was just to much to bear aesthetically.)

Perhaps it isn’t revolutionary, but it is the little things that count. According to the study in Climatic Change, improving the reflectivity of urban roofs and pavements in warmer climates could offset up to 44 billion tonnes of emitted CO2, the equivalent of “600 million cars off the road for 18 years.” So I ask again: What color is your roof?

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Companies that pass up a chance to green their existing commercial buildings may never recover from the losses resulting from greater operating costs, lower productivity, negative brand image and declining attractiveness to workers, according to a recent study.

The study called “The Dollars and Sense of Green Retrofits” was co-authored by green real estate authority and consultant Charles Lockwood and Deloitte.

It was based on a survey of organizations or companies whose existing buildings underwent a green retrofitting. Participants were asked what motivated them to consider the projects and what influenced their decisions. Findings concluded that while savings from energy efficiency was a top goal, as cited by 75 percent of respondents, corporate environmental commitment was the leading motive. Another 75 percent of respondents reported improvement in employee health. One hundred percent of respondents experienced an increase in goodwill/brand equity.

“The value of green retrofitting helps demonstrate that sustainability is rapidly becoming a critical business strategy,” said Chris Park, leader of Deloitte’s Enterprise.

This article was first published on Build and Rebuild. To continue reading, please view the original post at Green Retrofitting.

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