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    Living Green Effortlessly: Simple Choices for a Better Home
    Living Green Effortlessly: Simple Choices for a Better Home
    Living Green Effortlessly: Simple Choices for a Better Home
    Ebook190 pages1 hour

    Living Green Effortlessly: Simple Choices for a Better Home

    By Marla Esser Cloos

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    About this ebook

    It is plain old common sense: you want your home to look great, feel great, and perform great. Is it even possible to do all three—without breaking the bank? Yes! In Living Green Effortlessly: Simple Choices for a Better Home, Marla Esser Cloos shows you how to make your home green—whether you live in a small apartment in the big city or a brand new single-family home in the suburbs. From integrating smart technology into your home (it's easier than you think!) to planting a rain garden, there are all kinds of ways to live greener. The book covers these topics: Home systems—windows, appliances Household products—from cleaning products to paper goods Smart technology Landscaping Documentation Home maintenance—including a checklist for every season Living Green Effortlessly gives you simple steps that can save money now, increase your home's value, and make your home healthier for you, your family—and the environment.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBuilderBooks
    Release dateJan 1, 2017
    ISBN9780867187533
    Living Green Effortlessly: Simple Choices for a Better Home

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      Book preview

      Living Green Effortlessly - Marla Esser Cloos

      Introduction

      • • •

      WELCOME. COME IN. I’d like to talk with you about green homes and why they are the very best homes of all. When you decide you want one, we’ll talk about how easy it is to green your own home. And if you should win the lottery and get to choose your own dream green home, we can talk about that, too! It’s all in here. Are you ready to become a green home expert? Good! Come on in!

      The first home was a cave. Not the most comfortable accommodation, but caves have some definite green attributes. The temperature stays at a pretty constant level despite the weather outside. Location mattered—the sun shining on and into the opening could warm it by day, and a fire could carry on through the night. Caves provide protection from the elements and from danger in the neighborhood.

      But humans being human, the search for a more comfortable home was on. They built with grass or wood or stone, and some built teepees or yurts, which had the added bonus of being transportable. But no matter what style the home or the material used to build it, the needs of the homeowners were pretty much the same: comfort and safety balanced by convenience and cost. Not much has changed (fig. 1).

      FIGURE 1. What do we want in a home? Comfort, safety, and convenience that doesn’t cost too much.

      Well, the McMansions of the 20th century are something that cave women couldn’t begin to dream of, but they are one more expression of the eternal search for a better home. In the 21st century, we see that bigger may not always be better. Our need for comfort and safety can be overwhelmed by costs—economic, physical, and social. Anyone with a castle will tell you that the heating bills will break the bank—and you’re never really warm anyway. There is a better way to live like royalty in your own home (fig. 2).

      FIGURE 2. Large or small, old or new, your home can be a green one, too.

      When we stop to think about it, we can see how our choices in location, design, materials, and methods of heating or cooling have a direct effect on our health, our family’s health, and the health of the community in which we live. Never before have we been so aware of the powerful effects of even the simple home improvement choices we make—from light bulbs to paint, roof shingles to lawns.

      What’s the use of a fine house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on?

      —HENRY DAVID THOREAU, Familiar Letters

      Since the beginning, we humans have depended on the world around us to keep us alive with sunlight, food, and water (fig. 3). We still do. In spite of our ability to close the door and turn on the AC, we are still part of the natural system that creates, sustains, and perpetuates this living Earth. If, by our choices, we introduce terrible poisons into that system or waste a resource such as trees or oil that can’t be renewed, we are damaging the system that includes us and the whole Earth. How do you pay back withdrawals like that? Isn’t it time to look more closely at the systems in our homes and see whether they are truly serving our needs and the needs of our Earth? There are better ways to get things done.

      FIGURE 3. We depend on the Earth for sunlight, food, and water.

      Now, going green is a movement that has been kicking around for several decades, but most people think it’s just about energy. It’s not. It’s about living healthier, more comfortable lives. And it’s about having more time to go out and enjoy the world because you have already taken care of your home.

      My grandmother was a young adult in the lean and challenging years of the Great Depression. She always said, Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without. We’re nearly 100 years from those trying times, but that still seems like the best way to live.

      The whole idea of green (my point of view here) is taking responsibility for my own actions and living my values to support life in all the ways I can. That means making wise improvements on my home, driving a gas-efficient car, recycling (yes, I sometimes take it home if I can’t find a recycling spot), and just turning stuff off (lights, fans, water) when I don’t need them. It doesn’t feel right for me to tell you about all the things we can do and not do them myself. I also recognize that I can’t do everything at once, so I just make whatever changes I can today. I do something Earth friendly every day (See Start Greening Today box).

      My mission and my passion revolve around three things: green sustainable practices, homes, and empowering women. My goal is to share my philosophy—why I want every home to be green—and my knowledge to empower women (and men) to create safer, healthier, more comfortable homes for themselves and their families. Is there anything more important than this in our lives? My responsibility to you is to share what I have learned, which is the motivation for this book, my speaking, workshops, blog, and Green Gab podcast. This information and our services are available to help you get going—whether you want to make a few better (that is, greener) choices on your next shopping trip or to build a whole new certified green home, or to accomplish something in between.

      Surprisingly, it does not cost any more (and often less) to include these practices and buying habits in your daily life. Like anything else we do with a long-term payoff, it takes a little research, a little planning, and above all else, taking action. You can have the best green house in the world, but your behaviors can bring it all down. Living green has to be a blend of the stuff you buy and the things you do. If each of us built five simple practices or changes in buying habits into our daily routines, we would all soon have our own Everyday Green Home—and we would change the world.

      START GREENING TODAY

      Here are a few practices to start right now!

      • Take out old incandescent light bulbs and put LEDs in right now. You will throw away the light bulb regardless, and the energy you save will pay for the new bulb in months.

      • Turn stuff off when you aren’t using it—lights, water, appliances, TV, computer. Lights are pretty easy to turn off, but do you leave the water running while you wash dishes or brush your teeth? Do you know how much water is used in producing electricity?

      • Close the blinds, shades, or curtains when it is hot and sunny to keep your house cooler. In the winter, open them during the day so the sun can warm up the room.

      What IS an Everyday Green Home?

      • • •

      IT’S JUST PLAIN OLD COMMON SENSE: You want your home to look great, feel great, and perform great. An Everyday Green Home is about much more than just energy and cost savings, it impacts your daily life in all of these ways:

      • Health and Safety—breathe easier and feel healthier by reducing pollutants, toxins (chemicals, mold/mildew), and water damage through better airflow systems and quality material choices.

      • Comfort—feel comfortable without hot/cold spots or drafts by providing a well-sealed and insulated shell and better heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.

      • Ease, Convenience, and Time—save time by using materials, fixtures, and finishes that perform better, last longer, and require less maintenance.

      • Money—enjoy savings in your green home with dramatically lower operating costs (especially energy) and maintenance costs. Enjoy higher selling prices for green certified homes, too.

      Comfort may be the one thing that all humans are looking for in a home. Like many things in life, comfort means something different to each of us. For me comfort is an even temperature with no drafts and a hot shower (my hands and feet seem to be cold a lot). What’s your definition of all the comforts of home? My primary goal in writing this book is to help you improve your comfort, health, and safety in your own home sweet home.

      Are green homes worth more?

      Yes. The home industry is on the crest of a transformational wave as we move into a green as mainstream world. This wave is impacting everything we know about homes, including remodeling, building new homes, and buying and selling homes.

      • Single family homes: Currently 19% of construction projects are dedicated to including at least 90% green materials; by 2018 over 38% will be.

      • Single homebuyers: 73% (and 68% of Multi buyers) will pay more for a green home.

      • Green homebuyers: Represent 26–33% of the total market

      As The Green Home Coach, I work with homeowners and homebuilding professionals to include green choices that have a positive impact on the world we live in together.

      A Bit of BS (Building Science, That Is)

      A few months ago, I spent two days in an advanced green-building class. As much as I’ve already learned about building science, this class gave me a glimpse of the rest of the iceberg. More importantly, it made me realize how overwhelming it can be for a homeowner to keep up with the latest developments in home improvements. It’s just common sense to want our homes to be in the very best condition possible and working for us, instead of us working for them. But the complexity of the materials, systems, and components in our homes makes this very challenging. What’s a homeowner to do?

      We rely on our homes for many things, but especially for shelter and comfort. The numerous home systems working together to provide these comforts are often taken for

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