Tere are various easy steps you can take to improve a home’s interior while minimizing harm to the indoor environment. Painting your family room with paint that is low in or free of volatile organic compounds (VOC) is a simple and easy ‘green’ activity, for exam- ple. (When exposed to air, VOCs produce air-pollut- ing and health-endangering ozone.) So, minimizing the use of paint that contains VOCs improves indoor air quality. Caulking existing windows and doors to reduce draſts is a highly energy-efficient and low-cost move. In fact, more than 50% of a home’s heating and cooling loads are usually caused by outside air infiltra- tion through gaps around windows, doors, at build- ing corners and joints, vented crawl spaces, around or through pipes & ducts, etc. Installing a new, high-per- formance window with the best glass in the world will not make much difference if it is improperly installed and leaks air around the edges. Although many of these small-scale, simple renovation projects can be done by home owners, more complex and larger projects usu- ally require professional experience and expertise.
Historically, much of the infrastructure in the United States was built on the assumption that we would al- ways have access to cheap oil and unlimited oppor- tunities to expand geographically and, thus, acquire more resources. Within this context, living with draſty windows was not an issue. If it was too hot or cold, you simply turned up the heat or air condition- ing. We assumed that the environment and energy were there for our unlimited use and we built and used energy sources accordingly.
Te United States’ centralized power system, which was built in the 20th century, relies on coal and natu- ral gas power plants to provide electricity to build- ings through a wired distribution network. But, many people do not realize that 70% of the energy produced by coal or natural gas to make electricity is wasted in the combustion and transmission process- es. Our long-standing disregard for this type of waste can no longer be sustained and it can be reversed. Commercial and residential buildings use 48% of the nation’s energy, transportation–24%, industrial–24% and other uses–2%. If we reduce the amount of en- ergy our buildings use by 50%, it would reduce the nation’s carbon footprint by more than 30%.
Why is “green building” so important? Because en- ergy costs, environmental pollution and the result- ing climate change demand our atention. It is im-
portant to be energy-efficient and environmentally friendly to ensure good health, but also for political and financial reasons. On a societal level, it is impor- tant because it will lead to wonderful spaces to live and work that are healthy, comfortable, energy effi- cient and sustainable. On a national level it’s impor- tant because it can help us to achieve independence from foreign oil sources—which, of course, has national security implications and would improve our economy, as we deploy American ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit to forge an energy-efficient, sustainable future for us and generations to come. In short, our dependence on energy is dangerous to us and to the planet. Everything each of us can do to reduce energy use, reuse resources and recycle helps incrementally. When tens of millions of people join in, the results are sure to be greatly magnified.
Welcome to the future.
Alex Dean, LEED AP Homes, CGP, GCP, is the founder, president & CEO of The Alexander Group, Inc in Kensington, Maryland. He can be reached at adean@
alexandergroup.net or via
www.alexandergroup.net or
www.askthegreenbuilder.net.
“We Build With A Difference”
10488 Godwin Ct, Manassas, VA, 20110 Office: 703.530.3030 Fax: 703.530.3031 Email:
deckbuildersva@gmail.com www.deckbuildersva.com
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