Save Your Green While Being Green

It’s not just about being green to reduce our burden on natural resources, is it? Face it, these days, we need all the green—monetarily speaking—that we can get. Energy use is probably the most effective greening of your home. By doing a few simple things, you can reduce the energy used in building as well as in direct operating costs of your home. Now that can save your green while being green.

Geothermal HVAC Systems
Thanks to both stimulus bills, an upgrade from a forced air system to a geothermal system may be the same overall cost once the tax benefit is considered. Since you stand to receive 50 percent of your entire HVAC price—not just the geothermal equipment—back in the form of a tax credit—not a deduction, an actual credit—the upgrade price may negated. That means that from day one, you can save on your heating and cooling costs. Other benefits include: you don’t have the eyesore or noise of an exterior a/c unit, you can keep your house nice and cool using a negligible amount of electricity, you pocket money you would have spent on utilities, you could increase the quantity of in-floor heating without as much increase in cost and you increase the value of your home. In the Minneapolis area, for example, heating is the most significant cost: You can expect to pay about $1.50 per square foot per year in electricity if you are located in a metro area.

Everyone asks how this works. In simple terms, it works just like an a/c unit except instead of blowing air over a coil, the ground cools the coils, called a loop field. In winter, the earth warms the loops of course. How can 47-degree dirt heat a house to 70 degrees? It’s the opposite of how an air conditioner can make 100-degree air keep a house at a cool 74 degrees in the summer. The heat pump in your mechanical room attached to the loop removes the cool from the loop, raising the temperature of the liquid inside.

Is it safe for the earth? What’s in the loop? It’s actually edible glycol solution and therefore very safe. Leaks rarely happen and if they do, no harm is done to the earth. Since they are usually buried 6 feet below grade, you can even plant trees right on top of the loop field without harming it.

The same tax benefit goes for sun or solar photovoltaic energy-generating systems as well as geothermal. Here in the wooded areas of Minnesota where most of the sun and wind may not be very strong, the amount of energy reduction may take more than 20 years to pay for. While doing solar and wind generation is a wonderful idea, it is expensive and will not likely save you any green for years to come. Planting a tree to shade your windows in the summer may not return the favor for years to come but the investment is small and the long-term return is not only energy saved, but the beauty of nature’s work.

LED Light Fixtures
Select LED light fixtures when possible. The technology is very new and very expensive but life-costing proves they save money and energy in the end. You can simply select the same fixtures and supply all LED bulbs or you can utilize newer product designs that integrate LED into the design of them. LED “bulbs” do not contain mercury like compact fluorescent light bulbs, saving the landfills from poison. The typical LED “bulb” life starts at around 25,000 hours, which is simply means they dim-out by then, not burn-out. Be sure to order “warm” colored bulbs that are 2500-3500 K (Kelvin) unless you want the blue-white tones of a typical bright white bulb. You should also be sure that you have compatible dimmers and order dimmable bulbs where desired. They turn on immediately unlike compact fluorescent bulbs that require warming up.

Buying Local
Forego ordering items manufactured in faraway lands. Part of the cost goes to energy use for transportation. Try to order products manufactured within 500 miles, especially if they are made from raw materials also found locally.

Peter Eskuche

Architect Peter Eskuche is the principal of Minnesota-based Eskuche Creative Group, celebrated for its timeless, one-of-a-kind homes. The firm has been commissioned throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin and as far away as the Bahamas.

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