Resolve to be green in home improvements

By Bill Garwood

For the AJC

Over the past year, the news has been full of information on water wars between Georgia, Florida and Alabama, water shortages in the western United States and the recent summit on global warming held in Copenhagen, Denmark. In light of these events, it seems appropriate to focus this year’s New Year’s resolutions on “going green.” Here are seven ways you can help your home be green in 2010.

1. Repaint for energy savings: If your house will need to be repainted this year, consider choosing lighter colors. Lighter colors will absorb less of the sun’s radiation and lower summer cooling bills. The same idea works for roofing. According to the publication The Consumer’s Guide to Home Energy Savings, published by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, using lighter roofing colors can lower roof surface temperatures by as much as 100 degrees, cutting peak cooling demand by as much as 10 to 15 percent.

2. Plant trees or shrubbery: The sun shining on your outside air conditioning unit can significantly increase its energy usage. Consider planting shrubbery or small trees around your air conditioning unit. Not only can this reduce the electricity usage by as much as 10 percent but it hides those ugly machines. Make sure when you do this that you leave a space around the air conditioner for adequate air flow.

3. Upgrade plumbing fixtures: In most cases for less than a hundred dollars you can change your sinks and shower heads to low flow. Inexpensive aerators that simply screw on and replace your existing sink aerators are readily available at home improvement and hardware stores. Low-flow shower heads are also available for around $50. Although they are more expensive, low-flow toilets can provide significant water-use savings. New technology in toilets provides a number of options beyond the traditional 1.6 gallon low-flow toilet. These include the 1.28 gallon high efficiency toilets, pressure assisted toilets and dual flush toilets.

4. Look for the Energy Star label: When purchasing home appliances, heating and cooling equipment, computers, lighting or home electronics look for the bright yellow energy star label. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy in conjunction with retailers and manufactures have established the Energy Star designation to assist consumers in making energy-wise purchases.

5. Upgrade your insulation: Many of us avoid going into our attics and crawl spaces. However, a short trip to these places with an energy expert or insulation contractor can reveal some ideas for energy savings. Choices for insulation upgrades vary from simply adding additional insulation to changing the logic of your house by installing foam insulation between the roof rafters or on crawl space walls and incorporating the attic or crawl space into your house’s conditioned area or “building envelope”.

6. Open up: Although typically winter is too cold and summer too hot for opening windows, fall and spring in the South can be ideal for letting some fresh air into the house. Utilizing the cool evening air in the spring and fall can save on energy usage. As a rule of thumb, cooling naturally will work any time the outside air is cooler and dryer than the inside air. Use of whole house and ceiling fans can assist in making the outside air comfortable.

7. Unplug: Simply unplugging computers, fax machines, printers, kitchen appliances and cell phone chargers can save energy. Using plug bars can make this easier.

For additional information on home energy savings visit the Web site for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy at www.aceee.org or call 202-507-4000.