This made the front page on Care2, vote for it with all yer might!
When many people think about a “green” house, they picture a small hut made out of mud where people sit on dirt floors, desperately trying to not use any energy. But by doing some careful planning and designing, and paying about 10% more on construction costs, this family’s home uses 50% less water and a whopping 90% less electricity than a similar-sized “normal” home.Some of the things they did are:
- capturing rainwater and snow melt to flush toilets or water the lawn
- “recycling” heat from hot water to help the water heater
- energy-efficient appliances and light bulbs
- Insano insulation
- install solar panels to get some free electricity
Take a looksie at the video:
If you’re thinking about building a home in the near future, and you’d like to cut the water bill in half and the electricity bill by 90%, then here’s how. I plan on one day following some of the tips in the video to make my house as cheap (and eco-friendly) as possible, while maintaining that normal home look.
March 18th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
That’s awesome, now if only all these giant developments they build down here in florida all built their homes like this (minus the snow collection haha).
March 20th, 2008 at 6:58 am
That’s interesting ! thanks for sharing the info !
So, yes, having houses that consume much less energy and water is possible.
And for the many of us that already have a house, insulating it can be a very effective way to save money as I wrote on my blog.
It is based on what we have here in France, but no doubt that some figures might be true for you in the US.
http://www.elrst.com/2007/04/19/on-housing-insulation-part-12/
Hope this helps !
March 20th, 2008 at 8:30 am
Edouard: That’s very true. Maybe if you get all the buildings well-insulated in France, I can do the same in America. After that, two whole countries will be saving energy, and we can move on to the rest of the world. Easy as pie.
March 24th, 2008 at 7:17 am
[...] paying just 10% more, you can get a house that uses 90% less electricity and 50% less water, according to Eco [...]
March 26th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
I am not saying it is easy joe.
it is the exact opposite. it would require in France billions of euros of investments and more than 40 years of work for thousands of people. but it is a project of society.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Edouard, he was being ironic and optimistic, seasoned with a touch of conversational humor. For he is an American, and Americans are insane.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Perhaps the joking tone wasn’t clear, since it’s in writing. But yeah, I know that it would be the “exact opposite” of easy.
March 29th, 2008 at 10:07 am
oh OK, my bad… didn’t catch the irony. sorry
it’s gonna be tough as… as what already ?
but it is the single best thing we can do for the planet, ourselves and our children…
oh, by the way, my latest article is on that very topic :
http://www.elrst.com/2008/03/25/iea-promotes-energy-efficiency-of-buildings/
Hope you will enjoy it !
wishing you a great weekend !