May 31, 2010 | Green Home Building/Remodeling, LEED Certification
In my last entry, I committed to writing about each of the 35 sub-categories that I need to fill out in order to get points. Here is the framework. Everything revolves around the LEED Checklist. Within each of the eight sections of the checklist, you can gather a...
May 17, 2010 | Green Home Building/Remodeling, LEED Certification
One of the hardest things about doing something like getting a home LEED Certified is getting started. Back in 2008, we registered the project with the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), found a LEED for Homes Provider and a “Green Rater”, who would be...
Apr 5, 2010 | Energy, Green Home Building/Remodeling
Our electrician stopped by to do what is called a solar site shade analysis. He used a solar pathfinder, which tells you how much, if any, shade will impact your solar panels. It is pretty exact — its panoramic site reflector provides a full year’s worth of...
Mar 22, 2010 | Energy, Green Home Building/Remodeling
Yesterday we decided to take the plunge and told gave our electrical contractor/installer a deposit. We felt pressure to make a decision before the March 31st deadline, at which point the State of Minnesota’s incentive drops from $2.25/watt to $2.00 per watt...
Mar 8, 2010 | Green Home Building/Remodeling, LEED Certification
one step at a time When we set out to build our home, we wanted to go for LEED Certification, which is the United States Green Building Council’s seal of approval that a home has been built to their standards and verified by a third party. Personally, I wanted...
Mar 1, 2010 | Energy & Water, Green Home Building/Remodeling, Green Home Living
This week I have started preparing all the paperwork for the April 15th tax deadline. I wanted to make sure we could take all the tax credits that surely were coming our way after investing so much time and money into building a soon-to-be LEED Certified home. It’s...
Feb 22, 2010 | Energy, Green Home Building/Remodeling
I have received four bids from two different contractors to install solar our house. I am considering a “conventional” PV system, looking at sizes varying from 2.62 kw to 3.15 kw. There is also a new type of system we are considering, which is manufacturedin the...
Feb 1, 2010 | Energy, Green Home Building/Remodeling
I used to live in Arizona, where everything should be solar-powered. I also used to work part-time for a solar installation company in Minneapolis in order to understand why solar energy is not more widespread. Right now, it’s purely economics, driven by very...
