Blog
Home Efficiency Tip #6: Insulate!
Insulation sounds like a really boring thing to even think about, but the number one recommendation coming from a home energy audit is almost always that: improving home insulation will decrease your energy bills and provide a more comfortable, less drafty home. But...
Home Efficiency Tip #5: Get A Home Energy Audit
What is a Home Energy Audit? Does not sound fun, right? It’s really just a guy (usually it’s a guy - women don’t seem to enter this field very frequently) who is specifically trained and certified to be a residential energy auditor -- which means he probably knows...
Home Efficiency Tip #4: Pay Attention to Your Car
Almost all of the tips I offer during this first quarter are about saving energy in the home, but most of us know that our car-driving habits can be one of the worst contributors air pollution, global climate change, dependence on foreign oil, not to mention lost...
Home Efficiency Tip #3: Plug-In Timers for Charging Electronics
After last week’s tip on switching to LED bulbs, it got me thinking how to best order the tips and suggestions for this section on energy efficiency. I am basically going in order of easiest to hardest, with the easiest, most bang for the buck going first. So what’s...
Home Efficiency Tip #2: Switch to LED Bulbs
The winters are dark and cold here in Minneapolis, and I had not been not happy with our outdoor lights. They got my attention because we were advised by the police to keep them on all night after a recent burglary. So, in the winter, they are on from about 4:30 pm...
Home Energy Efficiency 101
As promised, the first tip is about developing an awareness of the issue, which for the next 3 months is ENERGY EFFICIENCY. (There will be a bit on water efficiency, but I'll tackle that later.) According to the US Department of Energy, homes are responsible for 22%...
Four Seasons: A Framework for Living More Sustainably
Some great things are in the works for this site, and by publishing this, I'm holding myself accountable. My plan is to post a tip, at least once per month devoted to living more sustainably. Since sustainability is such a massive subject, it will be organized into...
Top 5 No-Brainers for Green Homes
Most people think that going green costs more. Sometimes it does (and in many of those cases, it pays back in a reasonable timeframe). But sometimes, it does not cost more – and in that case, they are really no-brainers. If something does not cost more, but it may...
Where Do We Get Our Electricity in Minneapolis?
Over the years, as I have talked about why renewable energy is so important, I've tried to find accurate statistics on how we get our electricity -- that is, what percentage is from coal, gas, nuclear, hydro, solar, wind, etc. The various websites I've found have...
Hats Off to Minneapolis: Finally Questioning Merits of Mowed Lawns
Steven Brandt’s recent article in the Star Tribune, Yards Can Go Au Naturel in Minneapolis, already has 75 comments on the website. That might make one feel that Minneapolis has a nice community of people who can properly argue the merits of having a mowed lawn...
Top 5 Things to Know About LEED Homes
After taking a year of blogging about getting our home LEED certified, and writing about every minute detail, I wanted to share some key findings. There are 18 prerequisites across eight sections in the rating system. You have to dig through each section of LEED...
The Worst Green Choice We Made
Many people ask me what my favorite "green" features of our home are, since we have now lived in it for over two years and can honestly assess whether we would make the same green choice again. While don't people ask what was the worst choice? What was a complete...
Photo credit: Paul Crosby