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Green Building Codes in New England

February 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Paul Revere Statue

The New England states are all over the map as far as mandatory green building codes. Some have little interest, whereas others are progressive. I spent my first 33 winters in Connecticut and New Hampshire. I distinctly remember the last two weeks of January with lows of minus 20-40 degrees and a high rarely above 0 degrees. Bitter northwest winds after snowstorms made it unbearable to go outside. If any region should have energy efficient features built into their codes, it should be New England! Green … [Read more...]

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Green Building Codes In The Four Corners Region

February 1, 2012 By 3 Comments
Four-Corners-Region-US

A few years ago, as a real estate agent specializing in green homes, I was asked to be part of a steering committee to write a green building code for the town of Taos, New Mexico. A group of contractors, solar installers, architects and designers met with a consulting company for several months to find out what the industry would benefit from. Hours of brainstorming sessions and fine-tuning details led to the High Performance Building Ordinance of 2009. Taos was one of the first communities … [Read more...]

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Energy Efficiency Retrofits Work

January 25, 2012 By 1 Comment
Green home energy efficient retrofit

In 1999, I bought a rambling ranch house that was built in 1964. It was drafty and hard to heat. There was one sunny kitchen window facing east, but an abundance of big windows and a sliding glass door faced north to capture the mountain views. Somewhere along the line, an addition was put on, and the new floor plan did not allow for good air circulation. The place was hard to heat. I heat with wood, and I was burning seven cords a year in two woodstoves! As soon as I moved in, I added large sunny … [Read more...]

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The Energy Efficient Geodesic Dome Design

January 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Geodesic dome 3

I was a young, naïve and impressionable college freshman in 1972. I felt like I’d been set free from the chains of high school and parents. There was so much to see, do and learn, I was like a child with eyes and heart wide open. My housemother was six years older than me. That seemed like a huge gap back then, and her energy was very maternal. She took me under her wing, and I looked up to her. In the spring of 1973, we visited some friends of hers who lived in a hippie community of geodesic … [Read more...]

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BuildDirect Green Blog Retrospective 2011

December 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Social Green Living

Well, here we are almost at the end of 2011 after a year of posts about green building, sustainabilty, energy efficiency, and a great many other related areas here on the BuildDirect green blog. After a year at looking how the construction industry, independent builders, energy innovators, architects,  governments, and even individual citizens are helping to move the world into a smarter, more rational 21st Century, I thought it might be a good idea to reflect on some of the top posts on this … [Read more...]

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Green Building In Latin America

December 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Brazilian

Like everywhere else in the world, people in Latin America are becoming aware of climate change and the importance of preserving the environment. They are beginning to understand that buildings are energy hogs and detrimental to their quality of life. Green building is coming to the surface as the solution. Architects and municipalities want to reduce energy use, water use, and waste while ensuring there is minimal environmental impact. Natural light and ventilation means less air conditioning … [Read more...]

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Energy Efficiency: What if Everyone Got An Upgrade?

December 9, 2011 By 2 Comments
Energy Efficiency Timed Thermostat Low Flow Toilets

When it comes to energy efficiency, we're all in this together. So, what would happen if we all decided to get an energy efficiency upgrade, like a timed thermostat in our homes? What about our water heaters? What if we all installed smart, on-demand heaters that only heated our water when we actually needed it? What about if we all decided that conserving fresh, drinkable water, since fresh water is dwindling world-wide, should be a top priority? And, even if all the tree-hugging isn't … [Read more...]

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Best Green Upgrades For Your Home

October 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Energy upgrades for your home

The 21st Century is a time of making the most of what we've got. But, that doesn't mean going without. It just means being smarter about how we approach the business of consumption, with sustainability, maximum use, and minimum waste firmly in mind. That is a huge part of what it means to live a more green lifestyle. As must be obvious by now, there is a distinct correlation between energy-efficiency, and budgetary efficiency. Perhaps you don't really need a blog, or a big colorful infographic … [Read more...]

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Vampire Power: How To Slay A Monster Energy & Money Guzzler

September 27, 2011 By 1 Comment
Vampire power

Halloween is just over a month away. But, that doesn't mean that there aren't shadowy creatures about, feeding on the lifeblood of the living. The "living" is you, the homeowner. And the lifeblood is our environment, and your pocketbook.  Who is this dastardly villain that draws life out of both your finances, and ultimately at our natural world as well? Energy enthusiast and writer Allen Green is here to talk about ways to ward off this lifeforce-draining bad guy, and offers you ways to help … [Read more...]

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Energy Efficiency Upgrades, Pt. 2: Savings In The Long Term

June 24, 2011 By 2 Comments
energy efficiency light blubs

Upgrading a home in order to cut your utility bills, while also making the most out of the power you do draw upon is a part of what it is to be a savvy homeowner. In part 2, and the last, in his series about his own household energy upgrades, writer and homeowner Ryan Boots weighs in on some strategies he considers to be long-range strategies for energy efficiency as it relates to a reduced energy bill. *** As I explained in my previous post about energy efficiency upgrades, I have owned … [Read more...]

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