Designing Your Perfect Houseglobal warming

Reduce Your Electric Bill

Bill — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:09:57 +0000

Electric bills always seem to be going up. Wouldn’t you like to find a way to reduce your electric bill? To reduce our electric bill, we usually think of ways to use less electricity, which is a good thing. You can reduce your electric bill by making your house more energy efficient. You can reduce the wattage in the lights in your house. I’m not a fan of Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs, as I’ve written in an earlier post to this blog. But advances in LED technology are quickly changing the way we produce light and much lower electrical consumption. Although it helps, changing light bulbs is not the quickest way to reduce your electric bill. You can immediately reduce your electric bill by 20% to 40% by installing a Computerized Energy Management System.

One company I’ve worked with here in North Carolina is Smart Energy Solutions. They have a computerized system that manages the big consumers of electricity in your house, like water heaters, air conditioners, dryers, and such. Here’s how it works. In the background, without any noticeable change in your daily living habits and convenience, this system prevents the big electricity consumers in your house from coming on simultaneously. The dryer might wait to start its heating element until the air conditioner is done with its cycle, for instance. This prevents peaks in your electrical usage from occurring and levels out your electrical consumption throughout the “on-peak” period. In most places, the “on-peak” period is usually from around 8:00am through early evening during the weekdays.

To get the money savings with this system and reduce your electric bill, you switch from having the electric company bill you on the normal “residential rate” and bill you on the “demand rate” instead. The way the demand rate works is the power company can monitor your consumption and based on the highest peak usage they monitor during the on-peak hours, they establish the rate you will pay. The higher the peak, the higher your rate will be. If you keep the peaks low, the cost per kilowatt hour will be less.

This is the same way industries have paid for their power for years. Now there is this smaller system for your home. It manages the peaks in your demand, thus reducing the rate the power company can charge you, thus reducing your electric bill. And best of all, you never know it’s doing anything because it doesn’t change anything about the way you live. Plus, you are helping the environment.

You might be wondering how this helps the environment if you are still using the same amount of electricity but just paying less for it. Well, if everyone had this system, the power companies would not have to produce as much power. They would not have as high a demand to meet during high-peak periods. You might already realize that power generating plants can’t be setback from hour to hour like your thermostat. They keep generating the same amount of electricity almost twenty four hours a day. And that amount must be enough to fulfill the highest demand. If the peak demand could be limited, less electricity would need to be produced. That means less fuel will be consumed, less pollution will be produced, and fewer new power plants will have to be built. So this is why a computerized energy management system is a very “good deed” for the environment and for your wallet. You’ll be reducing pollution, preserving fuel resources, and reducing your electric bill all at the same time.

You can learn more about designing your house to be energy efficient by reading Designing Your Perfect House. It’s contains lots of tips on passive solar design and energy efficient building.

We would love to here your experiences with energy savings. Post a comment and share it with us.

If you would like to read more articles about house and home design, please visit my other website, www.about-home-design.com.

Green and Sustainable Building in Historic Old Town San Diego

Bill — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:16:12 +0000

Passive solar design, green and sustainable building are not new inventions. Who would have thought that we would be returning to the house design principles of more than a century and a half ago?

I was in San Diego recently and visited the part of town they call Old Town San Diego. I don’t think the buildings are the actual original structures, but they are reproductions that are authentic to the mid 1800′s. One house La Casa de Estudillo, is built in the Spanish Colonial style of the early California settlers. You can see from the photographs that it is built in a “U” shape with a covered veranda wrapping the inside of the “U”. In the center is an outdoor space that is planted and has a water feature in the center.

Green and Sustainable Building in Old Town San Diego

This is passive solar design at its essence. The climate is dry and the sun is harsh. So what did the builders do? They shaped the building so as to create a protected courtyard. The hot sun is kept from streaming into the windows and the thick adobe walls don’t heat up in the sun because they are shaded by the veranda roof. This prevents them from radiating heat into the living spaces. In fact, the high-mass adobe walls will hold the cooler nighttime temperatures, providing a measure of cooling that requires no electricity. After all, they did not have that luxury.

Veranda Roof is a Key to Passive Solar Design

The air that moves beneath the veranda roof is cooler than the air of the sun-drenched desert, so any air that enters the room is also cooler. The shape the building and the use of the veranda as a corridor between rooms means that every room will have openings on two sides so that even the smallest breeze will ventilate the room.

The courtyard is protected from the desert climate making it easier to grow plants that would not survive the desert. But beyond the practical benefits, the courtyard adds to the sense of security. And isn’t this the emotional definition of “home?” It’s our safe haven.

It’s these simple principles that we should be incorporating into our “modern” designs to reduce our demands for energy. The pleasant by-product of designing in this manner is that the spaces become more inviting and comfortable for people. Rooms with daylight on two walls are wonderful. Transition spaces, such as verandas, improve the quality of the spatial experience. Smooth transitions from outside to inside soothe our souls.

And what’s more sustainable than adobe clay, sun-baked clay tiles for the room, and timber cut from the immediate area. Trees, when managed properly, are a very renewable resource.

Click on the comment bar to tell us your story.

If you would like to read more articles about house and home design, please visit my other website, www.about-home-design.com.

Green Roofs

Bill — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 13:36:24 +0000

Green roofs are roofs that have grass of other plant materials growing right on top of them. The theory is that the roof will stay cooler and reflect less heat back into the atmosphere.

There was an interesting article in the Raleigh News and Observer today. It was about how the local Universities are going “green” in an effort to attract students. They discussed some of the green projects, especially the green roof at Duke University Hospital.

Green Roof at Duke University

Photo by Tim Pennigar

I was particularly struck by these last few paragraphs of the story that note that these green roofs have an emotional benefit. Here’s what they said:

“The roof is receiving positive reviews.

Beth Yoder of Durham, a physical therapist at the hospital, said she notices the green roof as she helps patients walk down hallways. One patient joked that it was the doctors’ baseball diamond.

‘I never even thought about the psychological impact of green roofs in a hospital setting,’ Yoder said. ‘It’s very uplifting. It makes me feel almost more alive and have a more positive outlook.’ ”

I believe that our buildings, and particularly our houses, have a profound and often unappreciated impact on us emotionally. Our buildings can either promote or damage our sense of well-being. It’s an issue I feel we need to pay more attention to than we currently do. Wouldn’t you like you house to be uplifting?

Click on the comment bar to tell us your story.

If you would like to read more articles about house and home design, please visit my other website, www.about-home-design.com.

Some Solar Energy Is Unwelcomed in Summer

Bill — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 01:52:08 +0000

Yikes! It’s nearly 100 degrees here in North Carolina and the humidity nearly matches it. It was still over 90 degrees at dinnertime! I, for one, don’t find solar energy all that welcome this time of year. Maybe if I was generating electricity from it I would feel differently. But the solar energy I’m talking about makes me roast whenever I step out of the shade and it makes my attic a veritable furnace. But, I’ve found a building product that comes to the rescue.

I’m talking about a radiant barrier. A radiant barrier is a reflective material that acts like a mirror to reflect heat back out of the attic just like those silver umbrellas you might have seen or the shiny foil that is wrapped around the space station and satellites to keep them safe from solar rays. When used as roof sheathing, just under the shingles, this same foil radiant barrier can keep your attic much cooler and significantly reduce your cooling costs, up to 30% according to some claims, cutting your energy bills by up to 17%.

I can attest to it’s effectiveness. Since I started specifying LP TechShield roof sheathing, or equal, I’ve noticed that the attics of my porjects have been significantly cooler, even on the hottest days. Not only does that mean that there is less heat transmitted into the living spaces below, but if your air conditioner and ductwork are located in the attic, as many are, the cool, air-conditioned air in the ductwork will stay cooler as it travels to where it is needed. This is a product that will pay for it’s added cost by way of energy cost savings in a very short time.

If you would like to read more articles about house and home design, please visit my other website, www.about-home-design.com.

Bill Hirsch

www.designingyourperfecthouse.com

www.williamhirsch.com

Green Mansions – Part Six

Bill — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:26:07 +0000

Sustainable building materials are more and more available these days. “Sustainable” means the materials are manufactured in environmentally responsible ways. They may be made from recycled materials, such as tile or wallboard. Some are made from agricultural wastes, like wheat straw and rice hulls. Still others are made from rapidly renewable materials, such as bamboo or hemp. Wood products from managed forests and “engineered” wood products that make use of all of the parts of the tree, can qualify as sustainable, as can salvaged and reused materials like brick, stone, or slate roof shingles taken from demolished buildings. Newly manufactured materials with long life cycles, like bricks and porcelain tiles, are sustainable in the sense that they do not have to be replaced, so that no future resources are required to manufacture replacements.

Plumbing fixtures that reduce water consumption, landscaping that requires less watering, stormwater management and retention, and materials that limit toxic off-gassing all contribute to making a house “green.” You can do all of these things without changing the look of the house in any way. You might think of this as building a stealth “green” house. You will be building responsibly without making a show of it just to impress your friends and neighbors.

If you would like to read more articles about house and home design, please visit my other website, www.about-home-design.com.

Bill Hirsch

www.designingyourperfecthouse.com

www.williamhirsch.com

Green Mansions – Part Five

Bill — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 20:22:55 +0000

An energy management system can reduce your electric bill and help reduce energy demand at peak times. This system monitors and controls what equipment can come on during certain hours of the day. It may block an electric water heater from starting until an air conditioner that is already running has completed its cycle. Most power companies allow residential customers to switch from the standard residential billing rate to a demand rate, which can be substantially lower if your peak usage is not high. When you change to a demand rate, you allow the power company to monitor your usage throughout the day, checking for peak demand. They will then bill you at a rate that is based on the highest peak they see. The energy management system suppresses peaks by controlling what is turned on, thus controlling your billing rate. You will not be using less electricity, but you will be using it at cheaper times, and you will be contributing to the overall “leveling” of electrical consumption in your community. This leads to less pollution being produced by the power generating plants.

An energy monitoring system can generally pay for itself through savings on your electric bill in about three years. Thereafter, you will be saving about one-third on the cost of your electricity and doing an environmental good deed.

If you would like to read more articles about house and home design, please visit my other website, www.about-home-design.com.

Bill Hirsch

www.designingyourperfecthouse.com

www.williamhirsch.com

“Green” Mansions – Part Four

Bill — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 20:21:57 +0000

When it comes to “building green,” There are other energy-saving measures that can occur behind the scenes. Proper insulation, including draft blocking to prevent convective loops of cold or warm air within walls and ceilings will reduce heat loss in winter and heat gain in summer. I’ve found that in southern climates insulation and building tightness are often not seen as critical issues. This might be because in the north, in the wintertime, we can feel cold drafts indoors and we want to eliminate them. But in the summer, we are not as aware of warm drafts, even though our air conditioner is working very hard and costing us money.
Attic ventilating fans and new products, like reflective faced roof sheathing, do a great job of keeping an attic from overheating, thus reducing the work of the air conditioners. High quality windows and doors, programmable thermostats, lighting that is controlled by dimmers, and compact fluorescent lighting will reduce your energy consumption.

If you would like to read more articles about house and home design, please visit my other website, www.about-home-design.com.

Bill Hirsch

www.designingyourperfecthouse.com

www.williamhirsch.com

Summertime Energy Tips

Bill — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 20:36:26 +0000

Are your windows locked? We don’t tend to think of air leakage in the summer like we do in the wintertime. When it’s cold, we can feel the cold drafts wafting through the house. But in the summer, warm drafts are not as easily felt. But the more hot air that seeps into your house, and conversely, the more cool air that seeps out, means that your air conditioner will work that much harder to keep you cool.

So, check your windows and see if energy (read dollar signs) is sneaking out your windows.

If you would like to read more articles about house and home design, please visit my other website, www.about-home-design.com.

Bill Hirsch

www.designingyourperfecthouse.com

www.williamhirsch.com

Brick Mortar Is Important

Bill — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 01:57:31 +0000

Here’s a discussion that came up today on one of my projects. We were making a brick selection for the exterior of the house. The brick companies readily provide sample boards that have thin pieces of actual bricks, not just photos, for you to see. That’s very helpful, but the problem is that the cardboard sample boards do not have any mortar between the bricks. If there are sample boards with “mortar,” they use a synthetic mortar substitute because real mortar would break out on a board like this. It may or may not be the color of the mortar you will be using. Either way, the true, final color that your brick wall will produce is not readily apparent.

Why do I say this? The mortar in a brick wall comprises 15% to 18% of the final finished surface area. It’s color has a significant influence on the way the wall will look when it’s finished. Two walls, each built from the very same brick, but using different mortar, can “tint” the color of the wall. The mortar can also lighten, darken and even change the visual texture of the wall.

So when you select a brick, ask for some houses where that particular brick has been used. Then drive by and see how it looks in its final form. If one of the houses stands out as looking better than the others, find out what mortar was used and make sure your new house has the same mortar to ensure your end results will be what you envision.

Remember, brick is a “green” and “sustainable” building material.

If you would like to read more articles about house and home design, please visit my other website, www.about-home-design.com.

Bill Hirsch

www.designingyourperfecthouse.com

www.williamhirsch.com

Are They Green or Hazardous Light Bulbs?

Bill — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 23:40:09 +0000

Last week, at BookExpo America, I was discussing my book with a young woman and I mentioned that it concerned me how there is such hysteria and fanaticism surrounding anything touted as being green or environmentally friendly and often these things are not very “green” and maybe have negative environmental implications that are not readily appreciated. I pointed to compact fluorescent lightbulbs, known as CFL‘s, as an example. These spiral shaped fluorescent bulbs can be screwed into a standard socket and now even produce a decent color of white light. They consume much less electricity than traditional light bulbs and are being presented as a way to save energy and save the planet. They are even being mandated in some locales.

But the dirty little secret is that these bulbs contain mercury, a dangerous neurotoxin. I fear that soon our landfills will be receiving many, many of these and when they inevitably break, that mercury will contaminate the soil and surrounding groundwater. That kind of contamination is a known and real deadly hazard, unlike the unproven, and highly suspect theory about man-made global warming. I, for one, do not want a pleasantly cool, but poisoned planet. Don’t use these light bulbs! Wait for the LED’s to make their way into the market at more affordable prices.

You can read more about this at this NPR website: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7431198#share.

If you would like to read more articles about house and home design, please visit my other website, www.about-home-design.com.

Bill Hirsch

www.designingyourperfecthouse.com