Greener Homes

In a previous entry I stated that 30% of carbon emissions in the United States come from the transportation sector. Yet the biggest chunk of all, about 40% of emissions, comes from buildings. So quite possibly the best way to address climate change would be to redesign our buildings and the appliances in them to emit minimal carbon.  As I’ve stressed before, policy change and federal regulation are crucial in making this happen.  Yet earlier this week, the majority of U.S. Representatives demonstrated their regular contempt for this idea by voting to repeal a proposal by the U.S. Energy department to improve energy-efficiency standards for light bulbs by 30%. The predominantly Republican group of Representatives dubbed the bill an affront to personal freedom: the notorious Rush Limbaugh decried, “Let there be incandescent light and freedom - that's the American way.” And he’s right in one sense- until now incandescent light has been the American way. But 100 year-old technology cannot be the future American way or we will surely go dim (pun intended). Fortunately, although the majority of Representatives voted for the repeal, they did not garner the 2/3 majority needed for the repeal to continue on to the Senate. This means that the new American light bulb standards will succeed in saving consumers 14 billion dollars a year, as estimated by the Natural Resources Defense Council, and will help reduce carbon emissions and thereby improve our health and quality of life in America.

Half of my pledge for the week of July 18, then, is to purchase only CFL (compact fluorescent) or LED (light emitting diode) lights. But this is really a no-brainer once you find out that Amazon.com sells CFL light bulbs for $0.75 that last eight times as long as the $0.50 incandescent light bulbs, and use 80% less energy (granting you a cheaper bill).

Based upon facts I found in reports by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, I estimate that if we, as consumers, eventually updated all our appliances in our homes and offices with Energy Star certified products (like CFL light bulbs), we could cut our total national energy consumption by at least 15%, equivalent to the amount of energy we could save if we removed all passenger cars from the road.

Yet it’s not just the appliances in the buildings, but also the buildings themselves that are inefficient. While we have the ability to power our homes and offices with more energy-efficient appliances, not all of us can have direct influence over designing and constructing these buildings to save energy. Yet there are still things you can do to update your home. I obtained a few simple, start-up measures from the Oregon Environmental Council website and added some of my own commentary:

• Get a free energy audit from the Energy Trust Oregon: learn about and adopt additional energy efficiency measures that will save energy and money and curb CO2 . Visit www.energytrust.org. If you don’t live in Oregon, look into getting a free or discounted (using tax rebates) energy audit in your state (start by contacting your utility to see if they have special offers). Or you can do a simple, free, online energy audit at the Government Energy Star website here.
• Buy green power. Call or look on your utility’s website to find out if they offer green power.
• Weatherize your house by sealing doors and windows, cutting CO2 by up to 20%.
• Wrap your hot water heater with a blanket, cutting CO2 by up to 5%.
• Set your thermostat at no more than 68 degrees in the winter and no less than 78 degrees in the summer, cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) by 10% to 20%.
• Install water saving devices. These include low-flow showerheads, on/off sink spigots, and toilet dams. Showerheads average five gallons per minute. Switching to a low-flow showerhead (around two gallons per minute) can save even more.
• Keep cool with shades and blinds, cutting CO2 by 10% to 30%.
• Landscape with native plants, which require fewer chemical pesticides and fertilizers, nurture wildlife, and keep carbon in the soil and out of the atmosphere.
• Use a grass lawn alternative. Researchers at Oregon State University developed a mixture of grasses, flowers, and herbs that requires less frequent mowing, watering and fertilizing than grass.

This brings me to the other half of my pledge for this week, which is to achieve the first measure on the list by completing an online energy audit for my parent’s home in Santa Cruz, California. Our local energy provider, PG&E, has a free energy analyzer on its website: www.pge.com/myhome/saveenergymoney/analyzer/

This should reveal some problem areas in the home due to inefficient appliances, and I’ll see if I can convince my parents to upgrade those appliances as necessary.

Next week I’ll expand on the topic of buildings and energy by looking at how businesses consume energy and how we, as consumers, fuel that consumption. But in order to leave this entry on a serene note, I hope you’ll enjoy the first of my weekly nature photos, taken at Salmon Creek, California in June of 2008. See you next entry.

(This blog is inspired by the summer internship I am doing with Oregon Environmental Council. Their website has a plethora of resources for becoming greener, from making non-toxic cleaning products to choosing more sustainable wines: www.oeconline.org)