| North Carolina offers an energy tax credit of 35% of the construction, equipment and/or installation costs for renewable energy systems for homeowners and for business. |
| Green Building & Sustainable Ideas |
I HAVE BEEN COLLECTING PRACTICAL BUT EFFECTIVE GREEN AND SUSTAINABILE CONSTRUCTION IDEAS THAT MAY BE USEFUL TO YOU AT WORK AND AT HOME. I’M ALWAYS LOOKING FOR GREAT, PRACTICAL IDEAS. EMAIL ME YOUR SUGGESTIONS AT george@georgekirschmann.com
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| Heating/Cooling Energy Conservation |
Increase SEER for HVAC units (residential increase from SEER 12 to 13 or 14).
Turn up/down the thermostat use a timer.
Add window screens & window tinting east & west facing walls. This can be done to the screens on your storm windows.
Add blown-in attic insulation R-30. Blown-in celulose insulation is made of recycled newspaper. Minimum insulation values are – attic R30, walls R19
Add rigid foam concrete slab edge insulation. This can be covered with EIFS material and painted.
Use house wrap in new construction and additions - vapor permeable < 20 perms.
Add power ventilation for attic spaces.
Sealed attic spaces reduce heat gain in summer and protect ductwork from extreme heat and cold temperatures.
Use light color roofs for new and replacement roofs.
Use radiant roof barriers on roof or in attic spaces.
Place ducts in conditioned space like sealed attic or conditioned crawl space.
Use dual pane low-e glazing (U 0.4 or less solar heat gain 0.4 or less) for new or replacement windows.
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| Electrical Energy Conservation |
Use more daylight by using short partitions in an open office rather than partitions.
Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent lights.
Use more task light (lamps) rather than ceiling mpounted fluorescent lights.
Use occupancy sensors on lights in toilet rooms.
Turn off or reduce lights at night.
Turn off unused computers and office machines at night.
Change outdoor lights to timers or light sensors.
Use energy Star efficient appliances
Use solar hot water collectors for pre heat for domestic hot water and space heating.
Reduce the temperature of hot water heater.
Photovoltaic panels can reduce electrical bills in some cases.
Tankless water heater
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Repair leaking plumbing – sinks, toilets
Add flow limit timers on faucets.
Use low flush & dual flush toilets and no flush urinals for new or replacement fixtures.
Conserve rain water in rain barrels.
Use on-demand water heaters.
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| Lifestyle Energy Conservation |
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Designate someone to be responsible for sustainability & energy reduction
Ride a bicycle
Carpool
Encourage public transit politically
Telecommute
Run washing machines and dishwashers at night to reduce peak load
Don’t drink bottled water
Keep your auto tuned up and your tire pressure up
Make recycling waste containers easily available
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| Environmental Conservation & Solid Waste Reduction |
Use materials with longevity/durability.
Use materials do not promote microbial growth.
Refill and recycle printer cartridges.
Salvage buildng materials for reuse.
Use non-ureaformaldihyde materials.
Use low VOC materials – paint & carpet, bamboo flooring, wool carpet, straw board.
Use environmentally friendly detergents.
Metal studs for interior partitions. (Believe it or not, using recycled metal studs is green)
Recycle metal, cardboard, glass, cans, paper.
Discourage printing out emails etc if possible
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| How to make Durham Healthier |
Here are my two cents on what would really impact the health in our area. It occurs to me that only a coordinated effort can be effective between City/County and Durham Chamber and backed by the prestige and resources available to the likes of Duke.
The statistics I’ve read say that, in the US, 50% of people live in urban areas. Most health gurus agree that walking is key to any exercise program. Expand the bus system. People may not be able to walk to work from home, but if they could walk or bike to/from the bus stop, they might not have to have the second auto. Durham buses are equipped with bike racks. What financial impact would the average family in Durham see if they had to only purchase, fuel ($4.00+ per gal), insure, and maintain one vehicle. What would that do to the air quality? The money saved on a second vehicle might even be used to buy health insurance. Maybe the parking lots could be smaller and reduce the impervious surface that the planners are so concerned about. This would result in less rain water runoff and sedimentation.
Convince planning/zoning to encourage many more residences to be built near the city center and add development incentives if possible. People might choose to live downtown, near their work, and the streets would be safer at night.
Make a large, concerted effort to make Durham more bicycle friendly. The existing bike system is a good start, but it is still not feasible to travel in the city with a bicycle only. Bicycling is still dangerous on the inadequate bike paths and the traffic.
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