Innovative Energy Tips

To encourage you to do your part to improve the environment and save money at the same time, the Innovative Realty Team is sharing our own expertise and seeking advice from other environmental experts to provide you with information that can help. Bookmark this page and visit often for new ideas to help you “GO GREEN.” 

When you’re shopping for supplies, keep the environment in mind. The Daily Green (www.thedailygreen.com ) has a great list of eco-friendly items from lunch boxes to sneakers, from backpacks to spiral notebooks.
 
 
Back-to-school time is a good time to think about reusing! Always go with reusable lunch containers, and look for lunchboxes and insulated bags made from recycled materials. Also, remember to wash and reuse plastic bags for multiple lunches, and include items like apples and bananas in lunches, since they have their own natural “packaging.”   www.thedailygreen.com
 
 
If new sneakers are on your back-to-school shopping list, remember to recycle the old ones. Nike collects used athletic shoes to be recycled into athletic playing surfaces like basketball and tennis courts. Since 1990, the Nike Reuse-a-Shoe program <http://www.nikereuseashoe.com/>  has recycled more than 25 million pairs of shoes since 1990.   www.nikereuseashoe.com

                                                                        
It’s staggering how much electricity is used – and wasted – in using your computer. But if you follow a few simple rules, you can cut back significantly, saving you money and helping the environment at the same time. First, shut off your computer if you plan to be away from it for more than two hours. Unplugging it is even better. Also, don’t use a screensaver. You’ll use less energy by putting your computer in sleep mode if you’ll be away for a short period of time. And finally, if you’re in the market for a new computer, consider a laptop, which on average will be more than 50% more energy efficient than a desktop.   www.thedailygreen.com

In the heat of the summer, central air conditioning can account for 30% of your energy bill. Pepco, the electric utility in the DC/Maryland area, recently published these energy saving tips on their web site ( www.pepco.com).


First, it’s important to check your system’s filter regularly. A clean filter improves efficiency, and that leads to lower energy use. Also, watch your thermostat setting. The ideal range is between 75 and 78 degrees. Every degree you raise the temp setting can save 5% on the cost of cooling your home. And finally, make sure lamps and other heat sources are not close to the AC thermostat. Heat from these sources can cause the system to run longer than it should.


PioneerThinking.com (www.pioneerthinking.com) has some really smart ideas about outdoor lighting during the summer months. First, since longer days mean shorter nights, you should adjust your outdoor lighting timers, to save money and extend bulb life. Also, take a look at the lighting levels in outdoor living areas. Illumination should be just bright enough for safety and for relaxing on summer evenings. And install a timer, or better still, just use your outdoor lighting when you need it.

 
Think about alternatives when it comes to your lawns and gardens. Grass is a fast-growing, high-maintenance ground cover. Consider other ground covers such as clover and other low growing, spreading plants for non-play areas. They require less maintenance and are more drought resistant.  Also, think about using an electric lawn mower. Gas lawn mowers are a major source of air pollution, and noise pollution, too.
      
                                                                                                                        
Summer is a great time to become a “localvore.” Even if you can’t buy food locally year-round, in the summer months, farm stands and farmers markets abound throughout Team Innovative’s market area. Buying from local farmers encourages keeping open spaces open and reduces the carbon footprint of getting from the farm to your table.

If you’re considering remodeling projects that will improve the resale value of your home when it’s time to move, consider green options that will improve the environment, too. If you’re upgrading your kitchen, for example, look into glass tile countertops. Ceramic tile is good, too, if you do some investigation. Some ceramics contain as much as 70 percent recycled materials.   For more information and other options, check into the Green Materials Guide for Kitchens at http://planetgreen.discovery.com . 

Here’s another green home improvement tip that will save you money add value to your home.   When it comes time to update your bathroom, remember that it’s the room where most of your water usage occurs. So if you’re upgrading fixtures, think about water conservation in your decision-making process. Get low-flow faucets, showerheads, and toilets.   And if you’re really serious about conserving, you might even want to consider a composting toilet system that uses no water at all.

To help maximize the resale value of your home, to save money in the short run, and to help the environment, your heating and cooling system should be a high priority.   Consider alternative energy sources – geothermal or solar, for example – to replace or supplement your current system. And even if you’re not looking at something new, make sure your current equipment is operating at peak efficiency. You can find more information in the Green Materials Guide for Heating and Cooling at http://planetgreen.discovery.com

If there’s one axiom about improving energy efficiency, it’s “you can almost never have too much insulation.” When you’re doing improvements to add to the resale value of your home, adding insulation brings an excellent return on investment, as well as saving on your heating and cooling costs now. Check with the Green Guide for Insulation at http://planetgreen.discovery.com for more information and the “greenness” of various types of insulation.

One of the best ways to save energy is to monitor what you use. That’s why we suggest you take a look at the Energy Detective, or TED for short.  As Energy, Inc, the manufacturer, says, “If you can measure it, you can manage it.” That's what TED is all about. An intuitive, real-time, accurate electricity monitor, TED monitors your energy usage and presents the information to you in a simple, easy-to-understand format.  Check it out at www.theenergydetective.com


Another monitoring tool is your electric bill. By comparing your heating and cooling costs by month for as many years past as you can, you’ll discover trends in usage and detect obvious changes. Do you see any spikes? Can you remember why? Your utility can make older bills available to you by calling customer service. Note both the kilowatt-hours you are typically using as well as the amount your utility is charging per KWH. Get to know what it is that you are paying for every month.


If your heating and cooling systems are dirty, you’re wasting energy. So, with the change of seasons, now’s the time do a thorough check and cleaning. If you have forced hot air heat, check to see if your furnace filters look dirty. Or invest in an electrostatic permanent filter, which cuts down on waste and does a much better job of cleaning the air. And if you have central air conditioning, check the coils both inside and outside. If they have dirt on them, carefully vacuum it off. This is also the best time of year to have a professional inspection of your equipment.


The U.S. Department of Energy says that simple air leaks cut the efficiency of your heating and cooling by as much as 30% a year, so it’s important to inspect the areas of your home where air can get in. Make sure doors and windows close tightly, and check around chimneys, along the foundation, and places where pipes or wires, such as your cable tv wire, enter or exit the house. Caulk gaps and holes, and patch any cracked mortar. And use the “incense test.” Carefully move a lit stick along walls; where the smoke wavers, you have air coming in and heating or cooling leaking out. 


Reduce your Carbon Foot Print and Eat Better, Too

Perhaps you’ve heard about the “localvore” movement; that is, the encouragement of consuming food that’s grown close to home. While there is debate as to the environmental impact of shipping food, there’s no question that fewer “food miles” are expended when you get your food from local sources, and even fewer when you grow your own. Growing your own vegetables and herbs saves energy and money, and it’s fun to do!


Easy Ways to Cut Down on Paper Use

There are lots of very simple ways to reduce the amount of paper you use. 

Consider mail, for example. According to greentimes.com, around 100 million trees and 28 billion gallons of water are used to produce direct mail advertising in the United States every year. And think about the fossil fuel used in delivering it. You can stop 75% of unsolicited mail by registering with the Direct Marketing Association’s Mail Preference Service. For a $1 fee, you’ll stop receiving unwanted mail in about 90 days.

You can also save paper by paying bills online and by remembering to get the most use from the paper in your computer printer. Most document processing software gives you the option to print on both sides of the paper. Do this when you’re printing out newspaper articles and the like. And hold on to the extra paper that you get when printing a receipt or order confirmation.You can use the other side for another receipt!


Going Green on Wash Day

90% of the energy used by washing machines goes into heating. Most loads of wash don’t need hot water, so turn the dial to “cold.” You can also cut energy use significantly by bypassing the dryer and air-drying your clothes. You’ll find lots of tips and equipment, too, at www.laundrylist.org

Turn it Off. . . Turn it Down

Daily Green. Com offers three habits you can pick up that can save lots of energy! First, don’t idle. If you’re at the drive-through teller, turn off your engine. Idling for more than ten seconds wastes more gas than needed to re-start your engine. Also, turn off your computer at night. You’ll save an average of $90 of electricity every year. And finally, turn down your thermostat. For every degree you lower the temperature in your home, you’ll save around two percent on your heating bill. 


Recycling
The average family in the United States uses 90 pounds of steel cans a year. The government’s Energy Information Administration says the recycling that steel would save: 144 KWh of electricity, 63 lbs of coal, 112 lbs of iron, and 5.4 lbs of limestone.
Source: EIA.gov  

Here are some really easy ways to conserve natural resources and reduce waste from paper. 
The simplest thing you can do is to use reusable bags, rather than disposable paper or plastic bags. 
Also, look for products marked with " Post-Consumer Content" and " Recycled Content." Computer printer paper, notebooks, paper towels, toilet paper, plastic products, and many other household items can be found that are made from at least partially recycled materials.
And don't let paper be wasted on mail that you do not want anyway. Just call the customer service number printed on the catalog or advertisement and ask to be removed from the mailing list. You can also use Catalog Choice, a free service that lets you decide what you receive in your mailbox. 

A glass bottle that is sent to a landfill can take up to a million years to break down, but with recycling programs many bottles meet their demise quickly at a recycling center. It takes as little as 30 days for a recycled glass bottle to reappear on a store shelf as a new glass container.
In a nutshell, here's how that happens. At the recycling center, the glass gets broken up into smaller pieces-cullet. The broken pieces are crushed and sorted and used to make more glass. The cost savings of recycling is mainly in the use of energy. When glass is made from scratch, high temperatures are required to melt and combine all the ingredients. Since cullet melts at a lower temperature, the more of it you add to a batch of raw materials, the less energy you will need to melt it.
Toilet paper is about the only "disposable" product allowed in your green bathroom, so when it comes time to clean up, avoid the temptation to reach for disposable products. That means paper towels and other disposable wipes should be replaced by reusable rags or microfiber towels for mirrors, sinks, and the like; when it comes time to scrub the toilet, don't even think about those silly disposable one-and-done toilet brushes. In the same vein, more and more cleaners are being sold in refillable containers, so you don't have to buy so much packaging and can reuse the perfectly-good spray bottle, instead of buying a new one each time you run dry on glass cleaner.


Lighting
The United States uses close to twenty percent of its energy for lighting. 

An excellent way to reduce energy consumption is to make use of natural light wherever possible. Skylights are great for this purpose, and they can provide ventilation as well. Another trick is to use solar tubes to shed light into dark areas, like hallways or bathrooms. This device looks a little like a stovepipe, except it’s attached to a solar collector on the roof.  

More important, though, is to reduce your energy usage in nighttime lighting. The light bulb as we know it hasn’t changed a whole lot since Thomas Edison invented it. An incandescent bulb is terribly inefficient, converting only ten percent of the energy it uses into light. 

Two newer technologies offer incredible energy savings and have a much longer life span. The less expensive of the two is florescent lighting. A compact florescent light bulb (CFL) uses 75 percent less energy and lasts about 10 times longer than an incandescent bulb, and each CFL you use will save you about $30 over its lifetime. While more expensive than an incandescent blub, a CFL will pay for itself in about six months.

The other option is LED. You’ve probably seen LED (light emitting diode) Christmas tree lights, and now LED technology is available for home lighting with units that fit standard light fixtures. These units can cost up to $75 each, but an LED bulb will last 100 times longer than an incandescent bulb (and 10 times longer than a CFL). AND it will use a whopping 85 percent less energy!

Whichever alternative you choose, you should really do it now, because of all the steps you can take to save energy – and reduce our dependence on foreign oil – this one of the easiest.

Otis Bradley – 50 Builder Secrets to Green Your Home Now

Energy Star
An excellent way to reduce your energy usage is to look for the ENERGY STAR logo. All newly constructed homes marketed by the Innovative Realty Team are Energy Star rated, and Energy Star qualifies all kinds of products from light bulbs to windows for their efficiency. 

A great place to start is to replace your old appliances with Energy Star rated models. Generally speaking, any appliance that’s ten or more years old is really inefficient compared to new Energy Star models And regardless of its age, if you have a top loaded washer, you should replace it with a new Energy Star front loader. The power savings – and the water savings – make this switch worth every penny.

In 2006, Americans saved the same amount of energy as 25 million cars by purchasing Energy Star products, cutting national energy bills by $14 billion. 
                                                                                   
Innovative Realty Team and US Dept. of Energy


Heating and Air Conditioning
Roughly 55 percent of the average home’s energy usage goes to heating and cooling. Improving the systems that deliver heat and air conditioning can radically improve your energy savings.

One of the simplest things to do is to install a programmable digital thermostat. It’s easy to do, and setting your heat/cool cycles to automatically conform to your time schedule saves energy and money.

Also, if you have a forced air system, it will have a filter that catches dust and other particulates. It’s very important to clean that filter three or four times a year with a vacuum or hose. Doing this will make your system function more efficiently and cleanly. But regardless of what type of system you have (forced air or forced hot water), you should have it inspected and tuned up annually.

Otis Bradley – 50 Builder Secrets to Green Your Home Now