And one year after I got serious about sustainability
One year ago, I wrote an article reflecting on my personal progress since participating in the first Earth Day 39 years ago. The results were disappointing to the extreme. So I committed to doing something about it.
I embarked on a campaign to make our life more energy-efficient and more ecologically responsible. I had no idea what this would entail, or how easy or difficult it would be. Here’s what I have done and learned in 12 months.
Getting started
As I mentioned in the first article, we managed to do the easy things long ago—things like recycling paper, plastic, glass and metal; replacing incandescent lights with compact fluorescents or LEDs.
By examining the bigger issues like energy and water consumption, gasoline consumption in our cars and the quantity of solid waste that was being recycled, we began to see that there was so much more that needed to be addressed.
Searching in vain for a remodeling contractor that could guide me through each phase of getting our home more environmentally friendly, I finally decided to try to do it myself—not the actual work, mind you, just finding and managing the various specialists required to make things happen.
First: Laying the groundwork
I had heard and read about “blower door tests” that help determine how and where your home is leaking conditioned air and letting outdoor air in through the wrong places. It is a great way to begin a project because you get a clear picture of your home’s walls, roof and foundation. It didn’t seem to make sense to start the project by putting in high-efficiency heating and air conditioning if the home was leaky and under-insulated.
In fact, when I spoke with Ray Dicks from Climate Systems in Atlanta, Georgia, he confirmed that finding problems and fixing the building’s exterior walls (including insulation) was the best way to begin.
So Ray gave my home a thorough inspection, checking all the attic areas, walls and foundation. He took infrared photos, conducted the blower door test and checked the ducts for leaks. What he quickly determined was that my home was leaking like a sieve, letting more than twice the recommended amount of air be exchanged daily.
Armed with his detailed analysis, I hired a painting contractor to seal the leaks inside and out. Then I had blown-in fiberglass insulation added to the attic areas, and spray foam insulation added around the entire home where the stud walls attached to the foundation, which was the major source of air leakage.
I had mixed feelings about using the spray foam insulation but was assured by the contractor that the long-term energy benefits would more than offset the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the spray foam. So we went ahead with it.
Appliances, fixtures and landscaping
Next on the list:
- A new direct vent fireplace. Beautiful and contemporary, this Heat & Glo™ model was a revelation after years of having the old gas fireplace actually make the room colder when we used it. The new direct vent fireplace even came with a remote control that allowed us to adjust the flame to control the temperature. We even turned the thermostat on the furnace down several degrees.
- New Toto® low-flow toilets. Once they were installed, I had to wonder what took me so long to figure this out—they save a bunch of water and look/work great.
- New Delta® water-saving showerheads. And they are WaterSense®-labeled! These use H2Okinetic Technology® to make the shower feel just as powerful and refreshing as a standard model.
- A new KitchenAid® ENERGY STAR® qualified refrigerator to replace a 15-year-old model. A KitchenAid® dishwasher and Whirlpool® Duet® laundry pair are ENERGY STAR® rated and save a huge amount of energy and water.
- New landscaping, with a heavy emphasis on ground cover, hardscaping with stone to replace mulch, and more native, drought-tolerant plants. Also, I eliminated the standard herbicide and pesticide spraying, opting for periodic evaluations to determine if treatment was necessary, and then using the most eco-friendly solution possible. Oh, and no watering, unless it was a new plant, and then only for one season to get it started.
The elephant in the living room –- HVAC
But, the whole time all this was going on, I was also researching the big money issue: the HVAC system. I landed on geothermal as the best choice. But soon realized that it was more complicated than just putting in a high-efficiency furnace. I had to deal with a more complex system that required “ground loops” to be drilled deep into the ground so that heat could be exchanged with the consistent temperature of the earth, then piped back into the heat exchanger.
For over six months, I researched my geothermal options, settled on a contractor to install the system, and now have waited throughout the winter and probably into mid-summer for the ground to be dry enough to allow for the heavy drilling equipment to drill without sinking into the wet soil. Hopefully, sometime mid-year I will have geothermal heating and cooling my home, and providing plenty of hot water as well. Stay tuned.
What I’ve learned (and how you can use it)
Now I know why the newspaper articles, blogs and magazines that talk abut how easy it is to be green ignore the truly big issues: they are complex. Making an old home energy-efficient and more sustainable is no small task.
1. Finding a knowledgeable resource is easier said than done.
For starters, I couldn’t seem to locate a single building professional resource who could provide the knowledge and expertise to handle all of the things I needed to have done. I think there is a tremendous business opportunity here for the construction industry to get serious about focusing on the 116 million existing U.S. homes that need to be brought up to a higher efficiency standard.
In fact, if all homes built before 2000 were just brought up to current building codes for thermal efficiency, residential energy consumption would drop by 22.5%, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.
2. Test your home first to evaluate its needs.
Every home should have a blower door test done by a qualified technician to determine the “thermal health” of the home… and to know exactly what needs to be addressed. In my case, I learned that sealing the right places, inside and out, and adding insulation, made the home instantly more comfortable and energy-efficient.
3. Take time to do your homework when choosing contractors.
I also learned about the need to talk to several contractors about every improvement, as the degree of experience, recommendations and pricing can vary widely. Like any other kind of purchase decision, the more you know, the better decision you will make.
4. Patience (while frustrating) is a virtue.
Everything takes longer than you’d expect. But the time invested is worth it. I expect energy costs to continue rising, so investments in energy efficiency now will pay me back over the coming years. Plus, I’ll have the added benefit of knowing that, by reducing my energy consumption, I’m doing my bit for a sustainable future.
Perhaps the most important thing I learned is that by focusing on these green initiatives, I became more in tune with my home, inside and out. I began to appreciate how it functions, and how important it is to take better care of its various “operating systems” than I had in the past. I feel much more connected, more centered, knowing that it is beginning to operate at a higher, greener, more sustainable level.
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September 3, 2010—Are you ready for some football?
