Act Green Blog

Archive for the ‘Green Building’ Category

Well, a roof is an important aspect of your house. Hence, every effort must be made to make it energy efficient. The roof is the only part of your house that is directly exposed to the outer heat, rain and storm. So you need to protect it and make is energy efficient.

Green slate roofing is a good option to consider. It is an easy process and highly efficient. It required minimal maintenance and has high longevity. If going green is your motto, then there is no better way than this. Slate roofing has been largely accepted across the spectrum due to the simplicity and longevity of the process.

Green natural slate roofing has a win-win case. It is, on one hand an efficient process which helps you to protect environment thus enabling you to contribute towards the environmental cause and secondly the energy saving can actually transform into low electricity bills thus low pressure on your wallet.

With the cry to protect the environment hitting the headline on a regular basis, it is important that you too play a part in saving the environment from degrading.

There are numerous ways in which you can play a key role to save our environment. Here are 5 such ways you can play a part in saving the planet from global warming.

1. If you still have a single pane glass window then it is time to change. There are modern energy efficient windows that can help you in saving the energy of your house up-to 50%. Use multiple paned windows and always look to install it correctly.
2. Installing an efficient heating system is also crucial in the bid to save the environment.
3. Go for an efficient air conditioner. Use the ones which consume less energy and in the process pinches less hard on your wallet.
4. Kitchen appliances are the key. They often use a lot of energy. It is necessary to make them energy efficient.
5. Insulating is important. Energy efficient window pane, heating system, air conditioner or kitchen appliances are important agents of power/energy consumption. So right and efficient kind should be chosen to make the world a safe and beautiful place, moreover to it can help you relieve your budget by a long way.

You may save money and still save lots of energy if you install solar panels. These include solar cells; 36 or 108 in number (according to your need) and generate .5 volts each. Thus you get good enough power through solar energy.

If you want to DIY your solar panel for a green home, you need to first get quality solar cells. These are best acquired through eBay auctions. Then create a wooden container for holding solar cells. Use pegboards for attachments and silicone material for caulking and wiring.

For wiring attachments, you will need some glue and appropriate knowledge. Set these cells in right manner so that they connect with each other to produce volts. You should use plex glass for covering the completed panel. You may test in direct view of the sun and check whether the panel is producing desired results. Solar panels will not bear you down with costs.

Environmental pollution does not only occur in the wake of factory operations or the smoke from the engine of a locomotive. Homes too are environmental hazards that need to be upgraded in order to maintain a healthy atmosphere in the interior and the surrounding. Green housing is needed for several reasons. One is that homes around the globe account for one quarter of the energy resources that are consumed and that lead to the production of carbon dioxide and other harmful gases.

Cooking, heating, laundry and air conditioning purposes at home account for some of the biggest emissions that are apparent every day in a typical home. One of the starting points with a green home is replacing electricity with solar panels that only rely on the sun energy that is not converted to carbon dioxide. Green housing can also mean living on recycled materials like certified wooden houses, and discounting the use of paper bags at home.

Green building certification is a system that regulates the building industry to prove that the project has been carried out under environmental friendly conditions and has met the set green standards. There are four levels of accreditation that are carried out to give the project a public face that is different from similar building projects. It can be rated gold, silver or platinum. Green building certification is done mainly for commercial establishments.

The basic guidelines of identifying a top green building certification are to have met the following credits in the finished building. These include: The site’s sustainability, which means that the site must be easy to maintain without any health hazard. The building must also be in a water sufficient place. The energy resources used in the building should be non-carbonic. The materials used to construct the building should be tenable both for the surrounding environments and the indoors.

Nowadays, almost everyone is trying to go green, and help make the world a better place. Designing a green home is one step one can achieve this, but there are some tips one can follow to hasten this. In other words, the following tips can greatly help one in designing a green home.

The first tip is for one to opt for natural choices, rather than synthetics. This means that instead of opting for laminates, one can go for stone or wood counters in their homes. Soft rattan furniture can also be preferred over metal frames. One can spend more time asking their dealers to explain which products contain less synthetic, and are more environmentally friendly. One can also minimize spending by opting for items with bigger visual impacts so instead of altering an entire floor, one can lay a rug that matches with the decor of their homes. Also, one should make the best out of natural lighting. This may mean opening one’s windows wide, when there’s plenty of sunlight.

A green home remodeling is a kind of approach that can be used to improve the home, not only to make it look better, but also to make it work better for the owner and the environment. This is to say that the home becomes healthier, and the utility bills are surely going to get lowered. Green home remodeling calls for one to plan carefully, so that one comes up with a home that combines efficiency, beauty, convenience and at the same time conserving the environment. One may for example choose to reuse salvaged building materials, which would otherwise have been thrown to waste.

The idea of a green home remodeling is a timely one, what with the current concerns about the state of our planet due to global warming. One can learn more about this, and how to make this aspiration a reality. However, one should prioritize their health, and safety, when using these recycled materials to remodel their homes.

The concept of green infrastructure originated by the 1990s in United States. The important aspect was to decide on usage of natural environment during planning of land use. Emphasis was given on “life support” functions available to us with a network of ecological system.

This includes clear water, rich soil and planting of trees which can create shade and save the environment. This in turn helps us in creating long lasting sustainability of environment.
In the United Kingdom the green infrastructure has come along way and is widely used for planning in the public sector across nation, regional and local planning.

In the United States with the help of green infrastructure (managed by EPA) the water quality is upgraded. it is done my more efficient management of storm water and treating it through various methods and lift up the stress on the traditional draining system.

To conclude green infrastructure helps to make eco friendly environment for the society at large.

Using solar panels is a great way to generate clean and renewable electricity.
A home solar power kit can be purchased and installed by most people. No specialized technical knowledge is required and they are fairly inexpensive. In fact you can spend less than six hundred dollars on certain kits which will power many items in your house such as a laptop, one light bulb, and a 19? television for more than twenty hours, and many other small appliances.
Home solar power kits are also very useful in the event of a power outage. If the power fails your kit will have stored enough electricity in its batteries to give you light, heat, and hot water, and many other modern conveniences until the lights go back on. The amount of electricity available to you will depend greatly on the storage capacity of your batteries. If everyone in the country were willing to run just one appliance using a home generator the savings would be enormous.

Do-it-yourself solar water heater remains an excellent venture to try out. The easiest among DIY solar water heaters are batch water heaters. The batch water heater utilizes a water tank that is positioned where it’ll heat the power utilizing the sun’s energy. This is then connected to your house’s plumbing system.

Paint the water tank black. Because black absorbs lights, this aids the tank to absorb as much heat as possible. Several DIY solar water heaters integrate portable mirrors located smartly around the water tank. The sun’s rays then hit these mirrors and are reflected onto the system, increasing the surface area that will be heated.

However, if you reside in cold climates the batch water heater may not be a great choice for you. Use a closed loop system instead. The fantastic thing about this kind of system is that they will reduce your electricity cost and decrease your carbon footprint so they are great for the environment.