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Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Saturday, September 8, 2012
Save money, improve health by making your home greener By Eric Christensen Creators.com
small tax refund, lower energy bills and a more comfortable home. She suggests homeowners check omeowners can’t escape the age of their appliances as a to-do lists — weekend first step to making their home chores, long-term DIY greener. “Old machines are far less projects, or even plans and designs efficient than new ones,” she said. for building a dream home from Before replacing your windows, the ground up. A growing number Greenberg instead suggests you of homeowners are adding “make look for leaks and drafts. “Look my home greener” to those to-do around windows, doors and holes lists, and they can pick from a in basements. Windows aren’t as variety of projects that fit any bud- drafty as people think, and a good get, goal and home-improvement curtain can help with comfort.” ability. Greenberg said plugging those After buying a home, architect leaks is more cost-effective and is Robin Greenberg made her house efficient for controlling your airgreener because she wanted “to flow and comfort. save money in the long term” and Homeowners interested in have a “healthier personal envigreen buildings might be familiar ronment.” She installed digital with the Leadership in Energy and thermostats for precise control of Environment Design certification her home’s temperature, low-flow program for energy efficiency, but showerheads, fan exhausts in the the U.S. Green Building Counbathroom, and Energy Star applicil also runs a LEED for Homes ances. She also added insulation program. Nate Kredich, vice to the walls and roof, and she used president of residential market low volatile organic compound, development for the USGBC, or VOC, paint. Because of these suggests homeowners look at the changes, she was able to get a USGBC’s Green Home Guide and
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REGREEN website. The Green Home Guide outlines a variety of energy efficiency options, and it offers advice from professionals. The REGREEN program “allows homeowners and their contractors to zero in on green strategies based upon project type and priorities. The site offers case studies, indepth technical strategies and other resources to facilitate projects.” If you are interested in designing and building a green dream home, many options are available. Welshman Simon Dale built a green home into a hillside that resembles something from the book “The Hobbit.” Brad Pitt’s Make It Right initiative has built starkly modern homes in New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward that have received the highest LEED certification. The latest green homes are “net-zero” homes that generate as much (or more) renewable energy than they consume, but such homes require lots of direct sunlight (they depend Please see HOME, Page 15
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Things are fine, however, until you add air leaks ... and rest assured, all houses will have some degree of air leakage. Warm indoor air will rapidly exit the house through the leaks up high. As the heated air leaks through the walls or roof, it cools and deposits moisture along the way. It doesn’t stop there. New air to replace the air lost must come from somewhere. Replacement air will tend to take the path of least resistance. Typically, air is drawn in through leakage points in the lowest regions of the house, which is why problems with soils gases, such as radon, tend to increase in winter. Replacement air isn’t always just drawn in through leakage points in the lower parts of the structure however. Air can also come through poorly sealed or malfunctioning combustion appliances such as wood stoves and boilers. The key to reducing potential problems with stack effect is good air sealing around penetrations in the building. If you are considering sealing air leaks in your house, it’s very important you start at the top. If you start at the bottom, then you are potentially increasing the chances that the air leaking out of the top will pull air from other sources such as combustion appliances. Always be sure you have a functioning carbon monoxide detector in your home and your boiler and wood stove have a dedicated source of combustion air. Ask a Builder articles promote home awareness for the Cold Climate Housing Research Center. If you have a question, contact us at info@cchrc.org or 457-3454.