Sep 25, 2018 | Expert Contributor, Green Home Building/Remodeling, Green Home Living, Healthy Home, Materials, Toxins & Chemicals
Written for House Method. Even though hardwoods are thought to be safer and cleaner than carpet, they may not be as safe as you think. We reviewed the health implications of carpets and hardwoods and talked to a few allergy experts about which flooring type is better...
Aug 17, 2018 | Green Home Building/Remodeling, Green Home Living, Toxins & Chemicals
You know that new paint smell? Does it every give you a headache or irritate your sinuses? That’s because most paints contain VOCs – volatile organic compounds. VOCs are a class of carbon-based compounds that readily become volatile under ordinary atmospheric...
Jul 1, 2018 | Green Home Building/Remodeling, Green Home Living, Healthy Home, Toxins & Chemicals
Let’s start with the obvious question: what is wrong with household cleaners? The big picture answer, which will span the rest of the tips in this Season, is that there are at least 83,000 chemicals on the market today, and for the most part they are not well...
Jun 6, 2018 | Green Home Building/Remodeling, Green Home Living, Healthy Home, Toxins & Chemicals
In green building literature, the primary aspect of a healthy home is indoor air quality. How many times have you walked into a home and smelled a peculiar odor? Does your own home have a smell? That can be a sign of an unhealthy home. Many people think that if they...
May 16, 2018 | Energy & Water, Green Home Building/Remodeling, Green Home Living, Healthy Home, Toxins & Chemicals
We drink water, water is the main ingredient in many things like coffee, tea, and soups, we bathe and wash clothes in water. Because of water’s omnipresence, I put filtered water at the top of the list of priorities for having a healthy home. We cannot live without...
May 1, 2018 | Green Home Building/Remodeling, Green Home Living, Healthy Home, Toxins & Chemicals
Welcome to Season Two, which ties in with Spring Cleaning! In Season One, we looked at reducing energy and water consumption to save money on our utility bills and, indirectly, improve our health by helping to burn less fossil fuel. Energy and water efficiency are...
Apr 1, 2018 | Energy, Energy & Water, Green Home Building/Remodeling, Green Home Living
The tips I have included for lowering energy and water usage in the home really only scratch the surface. They also only deal with today’s technology, which is changing very rapidly. So how to you keep up with the possibilities? Local Resources For those concerned...
Mar 31, 2018 | Energy, Energy & Water, Green Home Building/Remodeling, Green Home Living
Full disclosure: we did not install solar thermal in our home, so I know less about it — but we did consider it, and I used to work for a company that sold these systems, so I know a enough about it to provide a good overview. Solar thermal basically takes the...
Mar 30, 2018 | Energy, Energy & Water, Green Home Building/Remodeling, Green Home Living
Next up: Solar Photovoltaics. The first thing that everyone needs to know about solar energy is that there are two basic types of solar panels: those that provide electricity (photovoltaic panels, or PV), and those that provide heat. They are two entirely different...
Mar 23, 2018 | Energy, Energy & Water, Green Home Building/Remodeling, Green Home Living
“Geothermal” is a bit of a misnomer, because true geothermal works only in specific geographical places where there are hot spots in the ground. Most people who use this term are referring to ground-source heat pumps, which take the relative heat and cooling from the...
Mar 16, 2018 | Green Home Building/Remodeling
The first ten tips I have offered so far have been relatively easy and inexpensive to implement. This final tip before the last “learn more” tip tackles the bigger things that are not easy and not inexpensive—but in my experience can be totally worth it in the long...
Feb 24, 2018 | Energy, Energy & Water, Green Home Building/Remodeling, Green Home Living, Water
This first quarter of the year is supposed to be devoted to tips on home energy savings, but it would not be complete without talking about water. Saving water also saves energy, especially if you are talking about saving hot water, because it takes energy to make it...
