What Are Some Things I Can
Do To Make My Existing Home More Green? The most important way to make a home more "green" is to reduce
its energy consumption. For starters, replace your current lightbulbs with CFLs (compact fluorescent lightbulbs).
In many cases, they use 1/4 as much energy as their standard filament counterpart. Have your mechanical system tested
for leakage. See if there is a better way to insulate your attic with spray foam insulation to reduce the difference
in air temperature between inside that attic and outside. On some summer days in Austin, it can be 100 degrees outside
and up to 160 degrees in an attic. Most cooling equipment is located in that sauna upstairs.
What are the Most Important Factors that Make A Home Green? From our experience, we have learned
that the most imporant parts to making a home green are the design (for window placement), the windows, the mechanical system,
the roof, and insulation. These help insure that a home is a high performance home in terms of energy consumption.
Add Energy Star lighting fixtures, fans, and energy star appliances, and that helps round out the energy side of the home.
As far as water consumption, low flush toilets and low water drought-resistant landscaping help make sure that water usage
is kept to a minimum.
What are Low VOC Paints? VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compounds.VOCs
are the part of the paint which release pollutants in the air and which account for new paint’s noxious smell.Low VOC paints are formulated differently; basically, they don't stink.VOCs are measured
in pounds per gallon or grams per liter.A Green Seal is given to paint if its VOC content is less than
50 g/l for interior flat paint or 150 g/l for non-flat paint.
Have any other questions? Let us know.
Green Places • 3571 Far West #200 • Austin, TX • 78731
