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Programmable Thermostats – Cheap Way To Save Money in the Home

Latest Green News - Mon, 04/23/2012 - 11:17

Programmable thermostats are a cheap and easy way to start saving money in the home.

Programmable thermostats work with your heating and cooling system to control temperatures throughout the day to maximize energy savings. This entails automatically adjusting temperatures according to pre-set or established settings to keep the home comfortable when homeowners are there [...]

3008 W Cavalry Dr, Phoenix, AZ – First Solar Home For Sale in Tramonto

Latest Green News - Mon, 04/16/2012 - 10:41

First solar home for sale in Tramonto

This 3 bed, 2.5 bath Trend home features over 2000 sqft of open, spacious green living with a bright, open kitchen overlooking the family room and dining room in North Phoenix’s premiere master planned community of Tramonto that features 3 community pools, tennis courts, walking/hiking trails, shopping, [...]

Log Homes – An Eco Housing Choice

Latest Green News - Mon, 04/16/2012 - 10:16

Log homes can be a viable and greener choice than some options in today's market.

Log homes are commonly associated with “The American Dream” because of their reputation of high quality and value and their classic outdoors look and feel. Log homes have been built in the U.S. for centuries, but saw a rapid [...]

5 Energy Saving Myths That Cost You Money

Latest Green News - Wed, 02/08/2012 - 12:21

There is no real savings by leaving the lights on in a room when you are leaving a room for a second or two.

Way back when I was beginning to learn about energy conservation and trying to save a buck or two, I had several misconceptions about how to save a dollar or [...]

Low VOC Paint

Latest Green News - Thu, 02/02/2012 - 13:12

There are many options when choosing a "greener" paint for home owners that help to promote better indoor air quality in the home.

Because low- or no-VOC (volatile organic compound) paints have a lower odor and less impact on air quality than higher VOC-content paints, they are excellent for use in buildings where it [...]

Be Careful When Cleaning Your Solar Panels

Latest Green News - Wed, 02/01/2012 - 09:37

Before cleaning your solar panels, be sure to follow these 8 great tips

A friend of mine recently sent me an email that I would like to share with everyone. Every Arizona home owner with solar panels know that the dust, the dirt, and the infrequent rains can dirty up the cleanest of solar [...]

Water Conservation in the Home

Latest Green News - Tue, 01/31/2012 - 05:32

Save money and water with these simple and easy tips

In the U.S. alone, over 410 billion gallons of water is used every day. The average household uses about 350 gallons daily, adding up to over 120,000 gallons a year. Not only does this high water usage deplete our global water supply, it costs [...]

Energy Efficient Mortgages

Latest Green News - Thu, 01/26/2012 - 10:11

Energy efficient mortgages are a great way to create long term savings on your monthly bills while adding to the value of the home

Energy-efficient mortgages are one of the most beneficial and under-utilized programs the consumer can find and capitalize upon in today’s real estate market. An energy-efficient mortgage can add an additional [...]

What Is the HERS Index?

Latest Green News - Wed, 01/25/2012 - 10:04

Shawn Mullins of Earthwise Engineering in Phoenix, AZ conducting a blower door test as part of an energy audit.

The HERS Index is a scoring system developed by the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET). The index was developed as a part of the overall home energy rating system in order to develop a standard [...]

An Energy Auditors Top Efficiency Recommendations for Homes in Phoenix

Latest Green News - Tue, 01/17/2012 - 21:15

While no two houses are the same, Phoenix’s housing stock does have similar construction traits and installation practices that are often the cause of high energy bills, temperature differences within rooms and poor indoor air quality. In this blog series I would like to highlight some of the most common construction defects I find and [...]

What Is My Carbon Footprint?

Latest Green News - Fri, 01/13/2012 - 10:17

There are many simple and easy ways to reduce your carbon footprint.

Your carbon footprint is the measure of your total impact on the environment and, more specifically, climate change. Your footprint represents the amount of greenhouse gases you produce through use of transportation, heat and electricity (primary footprint), as well as the manufacturing [...]

Green Home Certifications

Latest Green News - Wed, 01/11/2012 - 15:03

Certified green homes are designed to save money, increase efficiency, and promote a healthy home.

Over the last decade, home buyers have seen a proliferation of green home certifications that provide them with a variety of green choices when buying a home. Most green home certifications are national programs though many cities and regions [...]

Alternative to Pesticides in the Home – Integrated Pest Management

Latest Green News - Wed, 01/11/2012 - 09:01

Integrated pest management offers concerned home owners ways to reduce or eliminate the need for pesticides in the home.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an effective and environmentally sensitive alternative to pesticide use. Pesticides, as defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), are “any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, [...]

Passive Solar Design 101

Latest Green News - Tue, 01/10/2012 - 14:31

Passive solar design takes advantage of the low sun angle during the winter months while blocking the intense heat from a high angle sun during the summer.

When building a new home, orienting it to take advantage of passive solar heat can help save a great deal of money off of your annual heating [...]