Free Green Building e-Book

Tree Hugger Consulting released a free e-book entitled, “Green Building 101.”  It is an introduction to green building concepts, designed for building and design professionals, building owners, and home owners.

This book provides basic information on many green building features, without assuming any knowledge about buildings or their design.  Builders and designers who wish to learn more about sustainable building will find it useful as a starting point.  It is written in a style that will allow building and home owners to understand the concepts as well.  The book covers diverse topics including energy efficiency, building materials, and construction procedures, and provides resources for further study.

The book can be requested at http://www.treehuggerconsulting.com/ebook.htm.

Tech Watch: HAI Adds to Award-Winning OmniTouch Line

Home Automation, Inc. (HAI) has announced that it will be adding two portable versions to its award-winning OmniTouch “plug and play” controller product line.  Implementing colorful and easy to use touchscreen interfaces, these controllers allow the remote control of any number of home systems – from lights and small appliances to security systems, temperature settings, pool and spa controls, audio, and surveillance.  The new controllers offer customizable graphics, foreign language support, built-in intercom, IP Camera support, and full Internet access for RSS feeds such as weather and traffic.  Look for this stylish and functional home tech product on the shelves by the end of 2008.

For for information, or for other HAI products, check:  http://www.homeauto.com/main.asp.

Congratulations for a Habitat Milestone

On November 13th, Habitat for Humanity is scheduled to raise the walls on its 300,000th and 300,001st houses in Naples, Florida and Zacapa, Guatemala.  Founded in 1976 to provide housing to families in need in the United States, it took Habitat nearly 25 years to reach its 100,000th home milestone in 2000.  Since then, the organization has experienced a tremendous growth in support, building twice that many homes in less than 1/3 the time, and now providing legitimate housing throughout the world.  Habitat for Humanity is a truly outstanding project in almost every area of the world that has affected many of us today, whether through its housing provisions or its ability to encourage charity and unity.  Please join Smart HomeOwner in congratulating this standout organization on a truly outstanding milestone!

Smart HomeOwner Welcomes New Web Editor

Bob Feeman, editor of Smart HomeOwner, and Tony Napolitano, publisher, would like to announce the hiring of Michael Cain as the new web editor for the Smart Homeowner website.  Michael will aide Smart HomeOwner in keeping its site current and building the Smart HomeOwner community with continually updated content, video, and news.

Michael brings considerable experience in both the web development and home construction, design, and sales industries.  A recent graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Michael is new to the Portland are, and is looking forward to assisting Smart HomeOwner to deliver the most recent news and information about green, efficient, and healthy homes.

Continue to check back often to see how the Smart HomeOwner site begins to grow and develop.

Special Earth Day Offer from Smart HomeOwner

Smart HomeOwner magazine is helping people save the planet and save money with a special Earth Day promotion from Friday April 18 through Tuesday April 22. Visitors to the Earth Day-themed website (www.smart-homeowner.com) will find tips for creating an environmentally friendly home and the lowest price ever for a one-year subscription to the magazine.

“Homeowners can make a huge, immediate impact on the environment and their wallets by acting on the information we provide,” says publisher Tony Napolitano. “Given that homes account for more than 20 percent of our national energy consumption and the record energy costs we face, there are many easy, low-cost options homeowners can choose to save money and the environment this Earth Day. Smart HomeOwner helps people figure out the best options for their home.”

The Earth Day promotion will launch Friday April 18th with a special subscription offer – a one-year subscription or renewal (six print and digital issues) plus the Smart Homeowner 2008 Green Issue, all for just $9.95. That’s just $1.42 per issue.

Readers who are planning a new home or remodel can visit the Smart HomeOwner website (www.smart-homeowner.com) that will feature our most popular articles about green products and building materials for the home. Readers will also have access to our archives of more than 1,000 articles about creating energy efficient, healthy and eco-friendly homes.

The Buzz About Green

These days, you can’t turn on the TV or radio, walk down a store aisle, take a trip, eat a meal, go for a walk, drink coffee, have a casual conversation, attend a sporting event or swing a bamboo stick without hitting, hearing about or seeing something green. Green is everywhere, and everything’s going green. Homes, cars and office buildings are just the beginning. The Oscars went green this year. So did the Superbowl. Major League Baseball is going green with its Team Greening Program. Major TV networks and local stations have announced they’re jumping on the green bandwagon.

Tourism is embracing green, with many hotels turning eco-friendly. Apple, Microsoft and Dell are going green, not only at their facilities but also by beginning to eliminate toxins from electronics products. Walmart and Goodwill, among many other companies, have introduced green initiatives designed to save energy and promote recycling.

Some restaurants have started going green by using more local sources and serving filtered tap water instead of bottled water, to reduce the use of plastics. Schools and college campuses are going green in a big way, as are a great many communities and municipalities.

Grocery bags have gone green. So have disposable coffee cups, cleaning products, sports stadiums, airports and airlines, taxicabs, tools, clothing and coffins (seriously – check out the Eco Casket, made from certified sustainably harvested wood and organic cotton interior cloth). Even weddings are going green, with recycled gowns, recycled-paper invitations and energy-efficient limousines.

It’s remarkable, really, how fast green has grown. Four years ago, when we published our first annual Green Issue, we covered what essentially was a fringe subject, unfamiliar to most people and difficult to implement into a homebuilding or remodeling project. Even a couple of years ago, green was just starting to get traction. Today, all that has changed, in a number of ways:

• Green has entered the mainstream. True, it’s far from ubiquitous, and only a small percentage of today’s homes incorporate green elements. But the numbers are rising rapidly, especially with new building projects. In fact, green has become a major driving force in the homebuilding industry.

• It’s easier than ever to go green. Major retailers have made green products a priority, and dedicated green retail stores are opening across the country. In addition, a growing number of green-oriented websites are making it easier than ever to locate and purchase green materials. Green products are even popping up at drug stores and supermarkets.

• It’s becoming less expensive to go green. While installing a solar energy, geothermal or wind turbine system can still set you back thousands, or perhaps tens of thousands, of dollars, most green products are now priced only slightly above conventional products. And in many cases, green products can save you money that will make up the difference in cost within a fairly short period of time.

Yes, when it comes to green, much has changed over the past few years. But what hasn’t changed is our coverage of the subject. In this issue, you’ll find numerous ideas and tips that can help you green your home and living spaces, making them healthier, more comforable and more resource-friendly. It’s never been easier to go green, and there’s never been a better time to start.

Bob Feeman

Editor

Smart HomeOwner Magazine

Smart Wine Storage

It’s becoming more and more common these days to install a small, built-in or freestanding wine cellar in the kitchen. Not only is a kitchen-based wine cellar considered a convenience by many homeowners, but it’s also a great way to show off your wine collection. These stylish cellars can hold anywhere from a few to as many as 40 or 50 bottles or more, and will keep your wine in a cool, low-light, humidity-controlled place until you’re ready for it.

Generally, two types of kitchen wine cellars are available – those cooled by compressors, similar to your refrigerator, and those cooled by a thermoelectric system, which uses an electrical current flow through two dissimilar conductors to create a cooling effect. The benefits of thermoelectric cooling is that is uses less electricity than a compressor, is very quiet, gives off no vibrations (which can sometimes affect the sediments in a bottle of wine), and releases no CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), as compressors do.

On the downside, thermoelectric cellars can take longer to cool a bottle of wine, and can cool only to a certain temperature, usually about 18 to 20 degrees below the ambient temperature of a room. So if your kitchen is 70 degrees, you can cool your wine bottles to about 50 degrees – fine for reds but not ideal for whites.

Thermoelectric wine cellars are widely available. Haier, for instance, sells a number of thermoelectric wine cellars with capacity from six to 48 bottles. Some have dual storage compartments (for whites and reds) and electronic control LED displays. Franklin Chef, Avanti, Urbina Design and SubZero also make thermoelectric wine cellars. Prices range from a few hundred dollars and up.

Which type of wine cellar is right for you? That depends on your home, your tastes in wine and your interest in energy efficiency and air quality. Talk to your local wine dealer or retailer, but just be aware than you have options before you buy. For more information: www.haieramerica.com.

Energy-Saving Awnings

Homeowners have long installed awnings as a way to shade windows, improve the appearance of their homes or provide a shaded area to sit outside on a warm, sunny afternoon. But awnings also can have a positive affect on your energy bill, according to a new study conducted by the Center for Sustainable Building Research at the University of Minnesota, in conjunction with the Professional Awning Manufacturers Association (PAMA).

In a cooler climate, such as Seattle, installing window awnings can reduce home cooling requirements by as much as 80 percent, the study found. And in a warmer climate, such as Sacramento, awnings can reduce cooling requirements by as much as 48 percent. The amount of energy saved varies, and depends on the location of the home, the number of windows, the orientation of the windows (east, south, west) and the type of glass in the windows.

The study measured the impact of awnings in seven U.S. cities, including Albuquerque, Boston, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Sacramento, Seattle and St. Louis. There were significant savings in all cities for all window orientations.

For a home in Phoenix, a warm climate, windows awnings can reduce the use of home cooling energy by as much as 26 percent, compared to a home with unshaded windows, the study found. In St. Louis, a mixed climate, awnings can reduce the use of cooling energy by as much as 23 percent, while in Boston, a cold climate, awnings can reduce the need for cooling energy by as much as 33 percent.

“Depending on the region, awnings can save homeowners more than $100 annually [in energy costs],” says Michelle Sahlin, managing director of PAMA. She also notes that “when homeowners reduce their need for energy, there is less demand at the time of peak usage, resulting in overall savings to utility companies and the public.”

The study measured energy performance for a typical new home of 2,000 square feet, with 300 square feet of window area. To view charts of specific energy savings in various cities or to locate a local awnings retailer or installer, visit the Awnings Today website at www.awningstoday.com.

Green Prefabs

It’s getting easier all the time to go green. Latest example: Living Homes, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based developer of prefab homes, has just introduced three prefabricated, LEED-certified homes, making it first company in the country to offer these types of green-certified residences to consumers. The homes – two designed by architect Ray Kappe and one by architect David Hertz – are built in a factory, delivered to a site to be erected in a matter of hours, and are designed to achieve at least a silver accreditation by LEED for Homes (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), a green rating program developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.

RK1, the first prefab home designed by Ray Kappe, is a five-bedroom, two-story, 3,100-square foot home suitable for urban infill lots. RK2, the second Ray Kappe home, is a narrow one-story structure that is engineered to accommodate a second story at a later date, making it ideal for a second or vacation home. DH1, the David Hertz home, is an L-shaped design with open living spaces, raised ceilings, a series of balconies, a rooftop garden and a semi-private courtyard. It, too, is designed to expand, with plug-and-play pieces, from 2,200 to 2,600 square feet.

All homes feature energy-efficient and water-conservation design, and are built with recycled-content materials, certified wood and non-toxic finishes. Rooftop solar, solar water heating, water reclamation and home automation systems are available as options. Prices range from $215 to $250 per square foot. For more information: www.livinghomes.net or 310-581-8500.

Toilets That Make Sense

The average family uses about 400 gallons of water per day, according to estimates, with up to 26 percent of that daily usage attributed to flushing toilets. To reduce some of that water usage – and trim water bills as well – homeowners can install some of the newer low-flow toilets, such as three water-conserving models from Wisconsin-based Kohler Co.

Highline and Wellworth Pressure Lite toilets from Kohler incorporate pressure-assisted technology, which ensures one-flush, no-plug performance on as little 1.1 gallons per flush (gpf). That’s a 30 percent reduction in water usage when compared to standard 1.6-gpf models, and is enough to qualify the toilets for water rebate programs in certain localities. In addition, it has earned the toilets the WaterSense label from the Environmental Protection Agency. Similar to Energy Star, WaterSense is an EPA program designed to highlight water-efficient products.

The Highline and Wellworth water-conserving toilets can save homeowners more than 5,000 gallons of water per toilet, per year, according to Kohler. The toilets are also available in 1.4-gpf models, which can save 2,000 gallons of water per toilet, per year.

A third model, the San Raphael Power Lite toilet, uses an electric pump inside the tank to improve efficiency and conserve water. The dual-flush toilet uses just 1.0 gallons of water for light flushes and 1.4 for heavier waste, averaging just 1.08 gallons per flush. It, too, can save about 5,000 gallons of water per year over standard 1.6-gpf gravity-fed toilets. Multiply those savings by a neighborhood, town or city, and you’re saving significant amounts of potable water. For more information: 800-4-KOHLER or www.kohler.com.