Feature: energy efficient home

Feature: energy efficient home

Homeowners in New Jersey and across the United States who are looking to reduce their carbon footprint and contribute to a sustainable earth by making their homes ultra-efficient can explore electricity providers in NJ for their renewable energy needs in their move to green.
In addition to making use of local renewable energy sources, homeowners can take inspiration from eco-conscious dwellings when designing their own sustainable residence. A home in Fairview, Tennessee was recently featured on USAToday.com, and is an example of taking green to the extreme. The Jeanty family's home design was planned by Phillippe Jeanty himself, using the Google application Sketchup, which is a 3D modeling program that was originally designed for use by architects and professionals in related fields.
Renewable Energy World reported that the home has been completed with a 9.4 kilowatt solar system, an evacuated tube solar heating system for a water heater, local springs to supply the home with usable water and LED lighting. The home was furthermore positioned purposefully on an East-West axis to provide for ideal conditions that naturally assist insulation and heating systems. The house is equipped with a geothermal heating and cooling system under the wood floors. The family further "greened" their home by holding onto any wood or fixtures from their previous home and reusing them in the construction of their ultimate green energy home.



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Green roof built for NY Post Office

Green roof built for NY Post Office

The U.S. Postal Service recently unveiled an 11,300-square-foot green roof installation in upstate New York, its second green roof to date, reported Environmental Leader.

The green roof construction consisted of verifying the soundness to support extra weight, fitting the roof with a new membrane, and installing layers of drainage sheet, mat, separation fabric, indigenous vegetation and a wind blanket.

The roof is expected to last roughly 50 years, and it will reduce the amount of contaminants in storm water runoff flowing into the municipal water system. The USPS said the roof should “help the post office reduce energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions.”

While the USPS sustainability report released on June 25 does show that the organization's carbon emissions rose 0.7 percent from 2010 to 2011 despite a decline in revenue, USPS is making other strides toward sustainability, with a target goal of cutting energy use by 30 percent by 2015. The green roof installation is part of the USPS’s “greener facilities strategy,” which incorporates the use of environmentally friendly building components and renewable materials, the installation of energy efficient lighting and HVAC systems, and the use of low-water fixtures in facilities, with some photovoltaic systems incorporation. 

Learn more about Affordable Green Energy www.newyorkgreenliving.com