SanJoseGreenHome.com

Solar Panel Supply Will Far Exceed Demand Beyond 2012 – Forbes Mag

The cost of a residential solar system has come down 33% since 2008 improving financial payback¹.  However, have you ever asked yourself about the energy payback of the solar panels?  Energy payback refers to the length of time it takes a solar system to produce, or payback, the same amount of energy required for its manufacture, transport and installation.  A 2011 study² found that it took about one year for a solar system to generate the same amount of energy required to manufacture, transport and install that solar system.  Seven years earlier, in 2004, the US National Renewable Energy Lab³determined that it took three to four years for energy payback.  In just seven years the energy payback is significantly faster.

We can expect the future energy payback time to be even better.  For example, recent manufacturing breakthroughs could reduce the amount of pure silicon used in a solar panel by up to 90%.  Creating pure silicon is an energy-intensive part of making a solar cell, so reducing the amount of silicon used results in a faster energy payback. 

The energy payback calculation also depends on the location of the installed solar system.  In the 2011 study, the PV system was assumed to be in a climate similar to the Midwest or East Coast.  In the Bay Area a solar installation with little shade can be expected to generate about 20% more energy per year.  So the energy payback for a solar system in the Bay Area would be closer to 10 months.

The useful life of a solar PV system is (more…)

Most advice out there on efficient lighting simply states what you already know: switch to LEDs or CFLs, embrace natural light, look for the Energy Star logo, yada yada. We get it. These days, CFLs are in over 70% of U.S. homes, and LEDs are everybody’s hero. But what if you want to go even greener? The answer there is less obvious.

1. Switch your switches.

Three options here.

If you have multiple light fixtures on one switch, you might consider giving them more than one. For instance, you can use different switches for the multiple recessed lights in your kitchen – one switch for the lights over the table and another for the lights above the prep area. This way you’ll only use the lights you need.

The second option is a little simpler – just swap your traditional light switch for a dimmer. Not only will lowering the lumen output of your light source save energy, it’ll also increase the life of your light bulb. Just think – dimming a light by 50% saves 40% of the energy it takes to power that fixture and your light will last up to 20 times longer!

Finally, an occupancy sensor might be the right kind of control for you. Everyone remembers that old energy saving tip: turn the lights off when you’re not using them (duh!), but not everyone remembers to follow that tip. Occupancy sensors do that for you. They’re especially perfect for home thoroughfares like hallways, foyers, and garages.

2. Not all light bulbs are created equal.

Sometimes even CFLs and LEDs fail to make the grade. They don’t work with those nifty traditional dimmers, and though you can save energy by dimming them with a special compatible dimmer, the process still decreases the lamp’s lifespan. Furthermore, CFLs and LEDs don’t respond well to excess heat, and CFLs won’t reach their predicted 7th birthday if they’re turned on and off frequently or exposed to moisture.

So what’s a homeowner to do? Well, there are several different light sources that have flown stealthily under the radar, until now. CCFLs, or Cold Cathode Fluorescents, can work anywhere CFLs do, but they’re much more durable because of their hardy cathodes. They’re easily dimmable and you can switch them on and off all you want. Even without dimming, these lamps last between 2 and 3 times as long as a CFL.

For outdoor light fixtures exposed to high levels of heat and other cruel elements, you may want to try out a pulse-start metal halide lamp. They have a slightly harsher color temperature than the latest LEDs and CFLs, but they can give you a whopping light output for minimal energy use, and man, are they robust. With a lamp life of up to 26,000 hours, they rival even LEDs!

3. Lights are recyclable too.

Good green lighting enthusiasts don’t stop being green when (more…)

A home garden is a popular way to build value and comfort into a house and outdoor space. What better way to sit back and relax at the end of the day than by breathing in the aromas of your own flowers? Because gardening can be time consuming, not everyone thinks they can do it.  But that is just plain untrue – there are plenty of low maintenance flowers that can make your backyard a haven of relaxation and beauty.  The below flowers will naturally do well in the California weather, requiring very little attention after they’ve been planted. So get out your gardening supplies and get going!

1.     Wildflowers are a beautiful, low-maintenance addition to any landscape. Frequently seen alongside ponds, streams, or lakes, they also work well in a backyard.  Because they don’t need any weeding, mowing, or trimming, wildflowers are a perfect option for someone looking to spruce things up a little without too much elbow grease and make a great choice for a homeowner looking to create an organic, sustainable garden in Northern California. Simply pick a spot with plenty of sunlight, remove the weeds, and plant your seeds by scattering them in small areas and covering with a little bit of soil. Keep the soil moist for at least 4-6 weeks. You should see your first blooms in about 6-10 weeks.

2.     California Fuschias are native to the Northern California area and so they’ve adapted to our soil, climate and insects.  These flowers will also attract hummingbirds in the summer and don’t need much water – just a little bit once a week should do the trick. It will not only keep the leaves plump, it will also clear away any cobwebs that might have accumulated. (more…)

“Our environment, the world in which we live and work, is a mirror of our attitudes and expectations.” – Earl Nightingale.

For the uninitiated, living an ecologically friendly lifestyle may seem like a hassle, another chore to be added to the list of things to do every day. Being careful with the types of products you buy and putting in the effort to recycle and reuse is not what many in our society are used to. But, like most things that require thoughtfulness and effort, making the switch towards “going green” can actually be fulfilling and add a dimension to our lives that we may not have expected.

Conserving energy with LED light bulbs, shopping for California avocados at your local organic store, and frying sustainable seafood is all good fun but who could have thought that all this living green can actually make us happier?  When you think about it, it makes sense – when we choose to live a life that’s more in line with our values and the natural laws of nature, we automatically improve our own well being.  Below, I offer a few small small changes that can further improve your connection to environment and make you proud of your daily activities and the overall direction of your life.

Find Your “Ecosophy”

Living a green lifestyle implies a concern that the things we’re doing to the world aren’t sustainable. That worldview—while probably true—can turn into fear. Some ‘eco-freaks’ make eco-friendly living a pedestal, an obsession, or a religion. In these extreme cases, it is no longer a happy middle path—it’s a time sink, a phobia, a soapbox.

Back in the 1980s, the Norwegian book Ecology, Community, and Happiness worked with the idea of living happily with the ever-present concern for the environment and the world. Original author Arne Naess and student David Rothenberg write that the key to a happy co-existence with eco-living is to find a system of belief—a world view or an “ecosophy” that helps us guide our actions and live in line with our values.

Each person can come to value green living (and different kinds of green living) through his or her own thought process. The more individual belief mixes with a widespread movement, the more (more…)

Use Less Energy and Earn 70% OFF Coupons

Once in a while there comes a program that sucks creative juices out of its designers dry and delivers something we can all be proud of.  Green Energy Match (GEM) is one of those programs.  It is brought to you by the City of San Jose and is a cutting-edge energy-efficiency program to assist home owners and renters in San Jose reduce their energy consumption and save money at the same time. It provides a free online software that helps residents use energy more efficiently and presents customized energy-saving recommendations.

This online platform is San Jose’s approach to competing with nine more cities to be named the Coolest City in California. When a resident signs up for GEM this also enrolls them in the Cool California Challenge, a UC Berkeley sponsored contest between ten cities to see which one can sign up the most people and save the most energy. Other cities competing in the contest include Santa Cruz, Davis, and Sacramento. You can help San Jose win — sign up now and spread the word!

But the best part is as participants save, they earn 70% off coupons for San Jose stores and restaurants. This truly engages the entire community of our town.  We are really excited for San Jose residents to benefit from this City-sponsored energy efficiency program.

Please visit  www.greenenergymatch.org to sign up. You can also call 800-314-5997. This program is sponsored by the City of San Jose, Silicon Valley Energy Watch, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, WattzOn and Acterra.

07-14-2012 UPDATE:  We’re so close! The City of San Jose is close to winning the last finalist position in the Cool California Challenge. The last finalist is determined at the end of July. We have about 230 households participating where the current leader for the last finalist slot Sacramento has about 250 households participating, so we are right there. By getting to the finalist stage, San Jose would win $10,000 to put towards San Jose’s Green Energy Match Program.

Living green has many great advantages but we all know it can come at a cost.  Often times we just can’t afford to make those energy efficient retrofits to our home. No matter how bad we wanted those double pane windows, we continue to put it off because we lack funds for the project. However, what most people don’t know is that they can potentially finance their green passion and still come out ahead financially.

Enter Energy Efficient Mortgages! Here is the official lowdown: “An Energy Efficient Mortgage (EEM) is a mortgage that credits a home’s energy efficiency in the mortgage itself. EEMs give borrowers the opportunity to finance cost-effective, energy-saving measures as part of a single mortgage and stretch debt-to-income qualifying ratios on loans thereby allowing borrowers to qualify for a larger loan amount and a better, more energy-efficient home.”

Follow these steps to fund your green home project by refinancing with an EEM:

1) Get a Home Energy Rating Systems Report

The first thing you will need to do is get the home inspected by a professional Energy Rater. The Energy Rater will inspect the house, looking at appliances, windows, roofing, basically anything that will have an effect on your energy consumption. After his inspection, he will rate your house on a scale of 1-100. The lower the score, the more (more…)

When an appliance is powered by electricity, it simply means carbon is being burnt.  Today, people are gaining a wider understanding of the importance of energy consumption and it has indeed become the need of time to choose appliances that consume less energy.  Improving the energy efficiency of products and appliances in industrial, residential, and commercial sectors has vital environmental and economic benefits. The Energy Star rating is an international standard for measuring that efficiency of a large range of appliances and equipment such as refrigerators, industrial motors, televisions etc.

Products or appliances that carry the Energy Star rating enables consumers and businesses to save money and at the same time, protect the environment too. In simple terms, the more number of stars a product has, the higher is its efficiency.

How Does A Product Earn The Energy Star Rating?

An appliance is awarded the Energy Star rating when it complies with the following energy efficiency requirements:

• The product has to perform as per the demand of the consumer while providing increased energy efficiency.
• The appliance must contribute to substantial savings of energy.
• The energy consumed by the product can be measurable and verifiable.
• If the product is more expensive than lesser energy efficient ones, the consumer must be able to save on the utility bills while using the Energy Star rated product.

Energy Star Rated Appliances

The Energy Star rating on appliances simplifies the selection of energy-efficient products. Here is what you can expect (more…)

The mkLotus prefab green home - the latest design by Michelle Kaufmann Designs

Prefabricated homes aren’t really that new of a concept in the building market. For many decades now, modular prefabricated homes have been built and sold as a less expensive alternative to buying a home on the market. The difference today is that prefab has become trendy. With a bit of an aesthetic facelift and a rebranding scheme, modular homes have become the hot new thing in home building and buying. As statistics on unemployment, a failing economy, crippling debt, soaring college costs, and so much more bombard our views, the thought of owning a house is almost impossible. Many young professionals struggle to pay off college loans well into their adulthood and years after they have completed their degrees. This causes major adult life steps like getting married, buying a house, and having children to get pushed back further and further. But, the prefab homes that are on the market today may be just the answer. Keeping many modern-day issues in mind, prefabricated eco-friendly homes have a lot of offer the young home buyer.

1. Inexpensive

One of the most enticing things about prefabricated homes is that they can really cut back on the price of purchasing and owning a home. Though not all prefabricated models are a cheaper option than buying an existing home, they can offer many aspects of financial relief. For one, many prefab eco-friendly home companies are focused on using reusable and highly efficient materials. By working hard to create the most energy efficient constructions, prefab homeowners can actually save a lot of money in the long run. Builders (and therefore owners) save money on materials using (more…)

QUESTION:

During my work with High Energy Homes, I’ve run into several homes with radiant floor heating. Most seem to use quite a bit of energy due to various factors from insufficient thermostat programming to poor insulation. Does anyone know of a contractor who can do an audit of this type of system?

ANSWER:

There are many companies that can do an audit, but none can actually make the radiant heat itself more efficient if it is the embedded concrete type. There, typically the pipes are closer to the ground than to the room – and contrary to common belief – heat does not rise. It follows the shortest route is.

One of the best things to do with these systems is insure the boiler is efficient, that the pipes are clean and not leaking. But the most productive change that I have found was getting a smarter thermostat. Basically it takes nearly 3 hours for the typical radiant heat system to actually warm the room after the thermostat says it is too cold. So a timed thermostat is essential.

It takes some experience figuring out how best to use these. You need to know the (more…)

Guests: Paul Hawken, Author, Blessed Unrest and Bill McKibben, Founder, 350.org.  Both these authors are well-established environmental activists. The presentation was conducted as a panel discussion with the moderator posing questions to the two. At the end there was audience participation. I thought it was a very interesting discussion on climate issues – both the politics and the science. Here is what I captured. In parenthesis I have introduced some of my own thinking:

• “Problem is that government policy has artificially increased consumption. There have been tax incentives for home ownership and government subsidies for freeways to get to all the homes. Thus, we have created a housing/work transportation design, which is very carbon-intensive (driving long distances) and now that carbon based fuels are expensive, it is an expensive design. Nevertheless, studies show people in cities have twice as many close friends as those in suburbia.
• Financial meltdown will take 10-12 years. (I have heard this before. It is not clear to me that without substantial changes to our economy that simply waiting will relieve our problems. The Great Depression was not relieved for 12 years until (more…)