With the climate crisis accelerating, we must minimize the carbon load of our buildings. This means reducing the embodied carbon that is used to create the materials that go into our buildings as well as the emissions of the buildings in operation.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), electricity production generates the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions (roughly 30%) because nearly 70% of our electricity comes from burning fossil fuels. A concerted effort is underway to quickly ramp up renewable energy at both the utility level and distributed across residential and commercial properties. We also know we can reduce energy use through simple behavior changes like turning off lights and electronics when not in use. When you are looking for
- ENERGY STAR PRODUCTS: ENERGY STAR is a certification program run by the EPA that applies to everything from appliances and electronics to building materials and lighting. Products certified by this program use considerably less energy than their traditional counterparts. For example, a water heater is the 2nd biggest energy user in the home, but an ENERGY STAR certified electric storage water heater uses half the energy of a standard model. ENERGY STAR certified light bulbs use 75-90% less energy and last 10-25 times longer. That’s smart design!
- ENERGY-EFFICIENT DESIGN: The way a home is designed can reap massive rewards when it comes to reducing energy use. For example, LEED homes can save anywhere from 30-60%, a Passive home performs 60-85% better, and a Net-Zero House produces the same amount of electricity that it needs to run – or in some cases, more electricity than is needed! That’s incredible home energy savings!
- RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES: The variety of options for renewable energy grows every year as new technologies continue to be developed. Modern solar panels are more cost effective, attractive, and efficient. They can also be paired with battery backup to provide access to renewable energy even after dark or provide backup in case of power loss. Do you have a stream running through your property? With micro-hydro power machines, even a small stream can generate consistent, clean, dam-free, renewable electricity. And residential scale wind power is also becoming more common and accessible.
In addition to monthly utility savings and greenhouse gas emission reductions, energy-efficient products and projects qualify for a variety of tax incentives and rebates at the local, state, and federal levels. You can search the DSIRE website for what incentives you may qualify for to help your renewable journey along.
Embodied Carbon: Reduce Your Home’s Hidden Carbon Footprint
Embodied carbon accounts for creating and installing the materials in your home—and could exceed the total carbon footprint of operating your home for decades.
From Carbon Neutral to Carbon Positive: How Your Home Can Give Back to the Planet and You!
Carbon positive homes take the concept of carbon-neutral design one step further by producing more energy on-site than the building requires to operate — sending energy back to the grid and setting a new standard of sustainable living. We achieve carbon positive homes by building with low embodied carbon materials and creating an energy surplus under operation.
Low-Voltage LED Landscape Lighting: Maximize Sustainability
Consider the harm of rampant outdoor lighting. Then look to LED low-voltage landscape lighting for maximum lighting effects and minimal environmental impacts.
Cosentino Surfaces Were ‘Going Green’ Ahead Of Their Time
Built on a foundation of innovative technology and forward-thinking manufacturing, surface giant Cosentino has been considering the planet since its inception.
What Makes A Truly Energy Efficient Window?
Proper framing, installation, glazing, and styling come together – extending the lifetime of your windows, saving energy, and reducing your carbon footprint
Green Upgrades That Will Maximize Your Home’s Resale Value
Investments in green upgrades not only make your home a wonderful place to live now, but a great value when it comes time to sell.
Electrification: The Nexus of Individual and Policy Action
Energy Innovation encourages you take advantage of home electrification, and then share your story with your community and, most important, local policymakers.
How to Get the True Value for Your Green Home Upgrades
Do you know how to unlock the true value of your green home upgrades? Green home realtor Christopher Matos-Rogers shows us around the appraisal Green Addendum.
What Homeowners Need to Know from the UN Climate Report
We can limit climate change to 1.5 ℃! The IPCC calls us to reduce our home’s eco impact, use renewable energy, and deploy energy efficient solutions. Now!
Four Ways Solar Panels Increase Your Home’s Value
Solar panels will increase your home’s value in several ways. These lend confidence in your solar investment and may motivate prospective buyers and lenders.
Tesla vs. SunPower: Which One Is Better?
The rapid growth of solar energy—energy powered by the sun—has allowed systems costs to decrease and the number of rooftop photovoltaic (PV) panel installations to rise in the residential arena. Going solar means monetary advantages like tax credits, increased home values and savings on utility bills. But making the switch has significant environmental benefits as well, including a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and other dangerous pollutants.
A Nationwide Guide to Future-Proofing Your Home
The future may be uncertain, but the value of a home doesn’t have to be. In fact, building, renovation, and design can be done with adaptability in mind. Preparing for changes can lead to even greater lasting quality, renewability, higher resale value, and often, overall savings in price.
Produce And Manage Your Own Clean Energy With Sunpower Solar
With grid outages an ever common occurrence, you deserve the peace of mind that comes with knowing that you have access to safe, renewable energy.
SunPower leads the way in sustainability, having garnered more than 1,000 patents for solar innovation and bringing long-lasting clean energy to the masses. With over 35 years experience, their Maxeon solar cell and SunVault battery team up to create an efficient and resilient energy solution.
Sonnen ecoLinx – Smart Home Solar Battery Storage
The Sonnen ecoLinx solar battery storage system is so customizable that it adapts to your lifestyle and fully manages energy usage in your home.
Abandoning Gas for All-Electric Homes: The Future is Now
By eliminating natural gas appliances from our homes, and replacing them with efficient electric options, we contribute to better health for us all.
7 Green Building Trends Home Buyers Are Helping To Set
“Eco-friendly” is getting a chic makeover. From innovation in materials to major curb appeal to biophilia and bringing the outdoors in, these sustainable trends are leading the charge when home buyers are hunting for their next home.
6 Critical Questions to Ask About a Solar Battery System
This new generation of solar battery systems is a game-changer! Arm yourself with the tough questions to ask to make sure the system works best for you.
9 Must-Read Net Zero Energy Home Books
Interested in making your home a net zero energy home? In never paying an energy bill again? It may sound too good to be true, but it’s not. And while you can find tons of great information online, sometimes it’s nice to use a good book (or two) as your guide. Then you have all the details you need in one place that you can bookmark, add notes to, and simply use however it makes the most sense to you.
5 reasons why your next kitchen appliance should be an induction cooktop
By Lauren Feldis Induction technology makes cooking faster, easier, and safer than ever before! Consumers have been continuously impressed by induction ranges since they were first introduced in North America by Frigidaire. At a 1950s “World Fair” in Chicago, a...
5 Reasons You Need Solar Battery Storage with Your PV Panels
New technologies that integrate solar battery storage into home solar installations have finally made the leap to completely meeting homeowners’ needs.
Is That Company Truly Committed to Sustainable Practices?
Are you wondering whether a company that claims sustainable practices lives up to your personal values? Here are a few companies across the spectrum that show how it can be done.
Green Building and the UN Sustainable Development Goals
The UN Sustainable Development Goals can help inform your building choices for a more efficient use of resources and a healthier, happier life. Transform your home and support economic growth and a sustainable future.
Salt Lake City Hopes Tiny Homes and ADUs Have Big Impact
Tiny homes and ADUs foster homeownership. So policymakers are partnering with designers and modular construction companies ensure that these additions to local neighborhoods are affordable, beautiful, and sustainable.
#EcoRenovate Guide to Selecting Sustainable Materials
Selecting sustainable materials is every bit as important as green design. So look at the entire lifecycle of a product, and make decisions based on what’s most important to you.
Five Paths to an Ethically Sustainable Home
Understanding how ethics and sustainability are connected is crucial to unlocking decision-making strategies—wherever you call home.
18 Inexpensive Sustainable Homes Almost Anyone Can Afford
According to HomeAdvisor, the average cost of having a new house built in the U.S. was $305,372 in 2016. Clearly, this cost can vary A LOT depending on what choices you make, and there are A LOT of choices when you decide to build a custom home. If you’re looking for a less expensive, easier to design, and more sustainable home, check out these 18 alternatives.
LED Light Bulbs for Now, and for the Future
LED light bulbs that were once very expensive can be had for $5 or less. The savings in energy cost, year after year, pays for the investment many times over. But which products will last, and show you and your home in their very best light?
Source Hydropanels Generate Renewable Water From Thin Air
Imagine solar panels that can take air and turn it into fresh drinking water for you and your family. Source Hydropanels have figured out a way to make this not-so-crazy concept a reality. Read More …
Net Zero Water Through The Lens Of The Desert Rain House
In an era of increasing water scarcity, the innovations at Bend, Oregon’s Desert Rain house, America’s first Living Building Challenge-certified residence, are worth tapping into.
Eco-Friendly Lighting Mindfully Illuminates Your Home
Artisan eco-friendly lighting means not having to choose between style and taking care of the earth, as brands embrace their role in protecting the environment.
A Tête-à-Tête With Women Leaders In Sustainability
With gender equality listed as one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, we’re highlighting women leaders in sustainability who are ushering in a new era of green. Meet the women who are blazing a trail toward a healthier future through recycling paint, ecological planning and building, and helping businesses contain their environmental footprint.
Extreme Panel Energy-Saving Structural Integrated Panels
Extreme energy savings Building with Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) from Extreme Panel Technologies is the ultimate way to build green. Extreme SIPs regularly save owners 50-60% on heating and cooling costs. The panels can be used as a complete building envelope...
Rockwool’s Innovative Stone Wool Insulation Leaves No Stone Unturned
Rockwool—an eco-friendly building brand that manufactures stone wool insulation products using basalt rock—prides itself as an environmentally and socially responsible company that adheres to the highest of standards in business ethics and sustainability practices.
Heat and Cool Your House With A Geothermal Home System
What is geothermal heating and cooling, and what are the benefits? Geothermal heating/cooling systems are 300-600% more energy efficient than traditional systems. They use less energy even during the coldest winters, emit less CO2 into the atmosphere, and last longer. See how they are used and why one may be right for you.
Fresh Air For Your Family: Deciding Whether an ERV or HRV is Right For You
Home building has come a long way in the last 50 years. New standards for improved insulation values and air-tightness have enabled huge boosts in energy efficiency. But these improvements come with a risk of poor indoor air quality and moisture retention. Heat Recovery Ventilation (HRV) and Energy Recovery Ventilation (ERV) are air exchange systems that not only offer great benefits for your home and your health, but can also help in saving money from your utility bills.
Passive House Explained in 90 Seconds
Ever wondered if the heating or air conditioning in your house is really necessary? Passive House (aka Passivhaus) is a design approach to building that reduces the energy required drastically – sometimes up to 80-90%. In 90 seconds, this video explains how it's done....
Tesla Solar Roof Shingles
Solar Roof shingles are both green and gorgeous. With an integrated Powerwall battery you’ll effectively turn your home into a personal utility! Plus, they’re so durable they’re warrantied for the lifetime of your house, or infinity, whichever comes first.
Climate Change and the Resilient Response
In the wake of tragic wildfires, we have an imperative to rebuild more resilient, decarbonized buildings made from materials that are abundant, renewable, and healthy. We can’t bring back lives that were lost in these past events, but it’s critical we rebuild homes which will save lives in the future.
Window Films for Beauty and Energy Efficiency
Window film is a simple and quick way to give your windows a fun fresh look while increasing your home’s energy efficiency. They work by reflecting and reducing the amount of ultraviolet light and solar heat that streams in through glass windows.
Zero Energy Upgrades Could Cost Zero Dollars
A simple calculation shows how you can have a zero energy home for the same price as a conventional one, and keep the monthly savings in your pocket. Here’s how it worked for Bruce.
Induction Cooks Better than Gas
There is no doubt that induction uses less energy than an electric resistance burner, but comparing it to a gas burner is more complicated. Here’s how it breaks down.
Innovations in a 107-Year-Old Net Positive Victorian Retrofit
This “Net Zero Victorian” shows that a standard city house on a standard city lot in chilly Minneapolis can be renovated to be net zero in energy with no sacrifice in attractiveness, space, or comfort.
Six Steps to Success with Heat Recovery Ventilation
While HRV equipment is well-design and durable, the technology has been plagued by poor installation practices that reduce their value. “In all my many years in the HVAC industry,” says Manclark. “I have never seen anything screwed up as much as HRVs.” Here are the six steps to success for selecting and installing HRVs.
A Roadmap to Building Affordable Zero Energy Homes
To achieve zero energy, designers and builders everywhere are employing an array of design concepts, product choices, and financing approaches. Because there are so many ideas, it seems appropriate to offer a quick rundown of the most cost-effective measures for getting to zero energy.
Landscaping for Energy Efficiency
When designing, building or even remodeling a home to be very energy efficient, much time is spent on the building envelope, electrical systems and appliances. But did you know that exterior landscaping can affect the energy performance of your home?
Design Strategies for Zero Energy Homes That Builders Will Thank You For
Your zero energy home design project will be smoother, less expensive and more successful, and builders will thank you, if you use these twelve strategies in the design process and detail them on your plans.
The 7 Best Energy Efficiency Apps for Your Home (Infographic)
Don’t we all want to save energy and money? Here are 7 apps that can help you start saving now!
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