How To Design Your Own House

All of new energy efficient houses have a good insulation in the roof and walls. They are tightly sealed against air infiltration and
are equipped with energy efficient appliances, heating and cooling systems.

They are built to be energy efficient.

What can be done about old houses?

Quite a few things!

You can start immediately with these 11 steps:

1. Hang a clothes’ line – did you know that your electric dryer receives only 27% of the energy that you pay for? 66% gets lost to heat during production, another 7% gets lost through the wires, but your utility company gets to charge you for the entire 100%!

2. Change all your incandescent bulbs into the new compact fluorescent, if you want. The compact fluorescents are not great either for the environment because they contain mercury- a poison, that only adds to the hazardous conditions at the landfill when the bulbs gets disposed of.

I am going to wait for a new generation of screw-in bulbs, similar to LED lamps, that are being developed in Canada. They will be just as energy efficient as compact fluorescents but not poisonous!

3. Reduce water consumption – 8000 gallons of water per household is lost each day while waiting for hot water to come from the tap.

4. Set a bucket under the tap to collect some of this water to use for watering the household plant.

5. If you can – install the point of use water heaters. You may be familiar with them if you’ve been to Europe. These compact heaters are small and can fit right above or under your sink.They heat water “on demand”, which means only when you need it. Because they are so close to the tap (point of use) the water gets hot instantaneously. There is no heat lost while traversing long pipes from the basement to the second floor. Energy savings? Up to 60%! Check this site to find out more: http://www.titanheater.com

6. Put a barrel under a roof downspout and collect rainwater to use for watering your garden.

During last storm our barrel got ¾ full!

Using thin bungee cord, stretch nylon window screen fabric across the top of the barrel to prevent debris from falling in and add one drop of dishwashing detergent every now and then to the collected water to prevent the mosquito larvae from hatching. Learnt that a hard way!

7. Stop sending your clothes to the dry cleaners. Perc, (short for perchlorethylene), the solution used in the dry cleaning process, is toxic. The EPA qualifies it as hazardous to the environment. It is considered carcinogenic.

If you must have items dry cleaned make sure you drive home with the windows of your car open and as soon as you get back, take your clothes from their bags and air them out for at least 24hrs before wearing.

Try www.greenearthcleaning.com . This organization brings together “green” cleaners who use non-toxic solvents.

8. Save on household maintenance products. The majority of them include isopropyl alcohol and propylene glycol which are listed as hazardous by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Use only baking soda, lemon, distilled vinegar and water to clean most surfaces.

Here is a link to a website that will give you accurate proportions: www.housekeeping.about.com.

9. Save on personal hygiene products and cosmetics. Even some of the most popular health food store brands include propylene glycol.

Inspect all the cosmetics and housecleaning products you have right now at your home. You will most likely find a lot of them containing ”prop” in a list of ingredients, like isopropyl, propylene glycol, etc. Throw them out, regardless of the cost. All the “prop” chemicals create perfect conditions in our bodies for parasites to thrive and cause cancer, says Dr. Hulda Clark.

Dr. Clark is a renowned biologist, author of the books Cure For All Diseases and Cure For All Advanced Cancers.

Our own cosmetic company choice became www.aubrey-organics.com because when we looked at their cosmetics label we were able to recognize all the ingredients!

We also use Microbe Clean to help us with house cleaning.

It literally “ate-up” the pet odors the former owners of our house left behind. You can get it at Whole Foods Market or Petco.

10. Another tip we learnt from Dr. Clark: use vinegar under your arms instead of deodorant.

Many deodorants and antiperspirants contain very toxic and potentially carcinogenic substances.

Here is a quote from http://greenlivingideas.com/deodorants/natural-deodorants-and-antiperspirants.html:

Deodorant ingredients to avoid include parabens, all forms of aluminum, and the following substances:

* Propylene glycol: a penetration enhancer that absorbs quickly through the skin and which has not been fully investigated for carcinogenic potential.

* Talc: classified as a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer if it contains asbestiform fibers, which are unregulated in cosmetic grade talc.

* Steareth-n: (‘n’ may be any number, say 100), may be vegetable derived but is processed with ethylene oxide (ethoxylated), a known human carcinogen.

* Triclosan: an antibacterial found in deodorants and soaps. It has an astounding ability to create resistant bacteria.

Distilled white vinegar ($4.55/gallon, much cheaper then any deodorant) in the mean time, creates a hostile environment for the bacteria that feed on perspiration and cause odor. You smell like a salad for only few minutes but after that it works fine…

See also www.versatilevinegar.org for other vinegar uses.

11. Start your own garden! No excuses for a small yard: the area of 20’ x 20’ can support a family of four for an entire season.

Even if you won’t grow all of your vegetables, the lettuce and tomatoes alone will give you a lot of satisfaction coming from knowing you could feed yourself if you had to!

It is really easy, especially using the methods described in www.squarefootgardening.com.

See, energy efficient houses don't have to be new to help save the planet! If you implement all of the above 11 steps you will already be ahead of the game.

Next we'll talk about passive ways of saving energy at home.

Until then, think personal sustainability…

Bogna

P.S. What about your own energy saving tips? Share them with us in the comment box below!

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