This past weekend my husband and I were able to participate in Dayton's Urban Nights community event, during which many downtown shops, restaurants, arts programs, and residential communities open up late, encouraging the public to traverse our small city and see everything that downtown has to offer. While exploring beyond our own neighborhood, we came across a new townhouse development that's sprung up on the river near the minor league baseball park.
While the vibrant colors of the exteriors definitely were the initial source that drew our interest, we quickly discovered that the development by Litehouse Living is a completely green venture hoping to bring eco-friendly living to a rejuvenated industrial setting.
If you want to lower your energy costs and make your home more energy-efficient, there are a lot of little steps you can take: switching to CFLs, installing a programmable thermostat and switching to low-flow faucets, for example.
Yet there are some big steps you can take, too. Consider your roof. It's a vital piece of your home when it comes to heating and cooling, since a roof can absorb a lot of heat--a great feature in the winter, but in the summer, you're likely to see an increase in your energy bills as your home's HVAC system struggles to keep your interior cool.
If you're in the market for a new roof, you might want to opt for a "cool roof." According to the Cool Roof Rating Council, a cool roof "is one that reflects the sun's heat and emits absorbed radiation back into the atmosphere. The roof literally stays cooler and reduces the amount of heat transferred to the building below, keeping the building a cooler and more constant temperature."
Who doesn't love a good top 10 list? David Letterman, I'm looking at you! Product lists are especially helpful if you're looking to branch out from your usual favorites. You probably have your eco-friendly mainstays like programmable thermostats, CFLs, VOC-free paint and EnergyStar appliances.
If you're looking to broaden your green horizons, try incorporating something from Sustainable Industries' top 10 green building products. Some of the products may be better suited for commercial applications, but we picked a few of our favorites that would be excellent additions to your eco-friendly home.
Greensulate: Created by Ecovative Design, Greensulate "is the world's first sustainable rigid board insulation," according to the company. It's grown, not manufactured, from agricultural byproducts such as cotton seed and buckwheat hulls. The result is a product that's safe to touch and requires no safety gear during installation. It's also chemical- and VOC-free, and comes with a class 1 fire rating. The standard-size insulation sheets are great for exterior, roof and floor insulation, and custom sheets can be cut if you're in need of a specific application.
When you hear the term VOC, you probably think of paint, right? Us, too. But the truth is that volatile organic compounds can be found in other substances besides paint. And you want to minimize them because they release gases into the air, which then contribute to air pollution. Yuck.
Thanks to the brilliant bloggers at Real Simple, we have some handy tips on how to reduce VOCs throughout your home. Aside from paint, the most likely place you'll find VOCs is in your cleaners. That being said, don't mix cleaning solutions unless you have specific directions that the solutions are compatible, according to the EPA.
And make sure that your cleaning products are stored in the appropriate containers and are properly disposed of when no longer needed.
