Aug 9, 2021 | Energy & Water, Green Home Building/Remodeling, Green Home Living, Landscaping, Toxins & Chemicals, Water
We depend upon bees for so many things that bring joy and comfort to our lives: cotton, coffee, flowers, berries—about 1/3 of our food supply needs bees for pollination! We can all do something to help save the bees. But transforming your lawn into wildflowers does so...
Jul 1, 2019 | Energy & Water, Green Home Building/Remodeling, Green Home Living, Landscaping, LEED Certification, Water
The fourth in my monthly series that I write for Rise, translating the LEED rating system into what it really means for homeowners, this is all about water efficiency–both inside your home and outside in your yard. Read on BuildWithRise.com.
Feb 4, 2019 | Energy & Water, Green Home Building/Remodeling, LEED Certification
Since installing our faucet aerators about 8 years ago, we’ve saved about $50 per year on our water bill–that’s $300 so far–plus more on our energy bills, since we’ve used less hot water too. We went from 2.2 gallons per minute (gpm) to...
Feb 1, 2019 | Energy, Energy & Water, Green Home Building/Remodeling, Green Home Living
Sustainability metrics? What’s that? Where do you begin? See the From the Editor article I wrote for Rise for some big, aspirational metrics to get started.
Dec 4, 2018 | Energy, Energy & Water, Green Home Building/Remodeling, Green Home Living, Green Intention, Healthy Home, Landscaping, LEED Certification, Location, Materials
I had the honor of visiting with Mark and Kate Hanson and touring their home and gardens earlier this year. Here’s the story I wrote about their inspirational home and site–and how it serves their community in Roseville, Minnesota.
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...
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 9, 2018 | Energy & Water, Green Home Living
I have saved this tip (which is really a group of tips) for one of the later weeks in the quarter, mostly because these are the ones you see in all the other typical “Top Ten Ways to Go Green.” To me, they are the boring, same-old-same-old tips that we saw at the end...
Mar 2, 2018 | Energy & Water, Green Home Living
Here’s an energy-saving tip–and pollution-saving tip–that some people don’t always consider because it’s been so ingrained in our culture that we must have vast lawns: get rid of some of it! Portions of lawns can be converted to many different things:...
