Posts Tagged ‘greensboro’
What is your idea of an energy efficient home or building
January 23, 2012 | 
Author What do we have to live in to be green ?
What does a house have to look like to be energy efficient , healthy, comfortable , and Green we ask. Well here are my thoughts on this. I think that any home can be all of those things and the way that we get there is using the KISS theory. I know that you have heard of it before ( Keep it simple stupid) . I think that we are trying to make so many of these options more complicated than they have to be or need to be. My thoughts are if we build the main shell or as they say in the energy efficient industry the Envelope as well insulated as we can afford in the beginning the better off we will be in the future . It is not that complicated If you know what you are doing and where what goes and when to put it there. Basically what that means is that you should be working with someone that has taken the initiative to get training in how the house works as a system. Be cause if we do these procedure without doing them properly we will , again We Will have problems and more of them than we have today in the building of home to code.
Here are some thoughts for you to think before you build a new home or remodel another one
- Look at passive solar when possible on new homes or additions
- Build the house shell as energy efficient as possible. You can not go back and do this a a latter time.
- Look at the placement of your windows, It is best if possible to minimize the size and number of windows on your east and west sides.
- A closed crawlspace may just right for you. It will make your floors warmer,heating system work less (if it is in the crawlspace), help to reduce moisture issues,keep animals out of your crawlspace.
- Try to get heating and cooling systems inside the heated space (inside the envelope)
- Try to get the hot water heater inside the heated space too.
- Look at framing the home or addition using 2×6’s (you can use 2×6’s on 24″ on center for close to the same cost of 2×4’s 16″ on center.
- Adding a layer of rigid insulation on the exterior will help with a thermal break and moisture barrier at the same time.
This is just a few of the options to think about while building a new home or adding on.
Good luck and if there are any question let me know.
Posted in Energy savings, Uncategorized | 
Tags: Energy efficient building, energy savings, greensboro, savings | 
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Money, Money, Money
Read All About It
City of Greensboro is giving away five million dollars to ramp up energy efficiency in buildings and homes
Yes that is right, the stimulus money is finally getting to main street America. The only requirement is that you live inside the Greensboro city limits. The first step is to have an energy analysis of the structure, rather it is commercial or residential. The next step is to complete energy upgrades that improve the structures energy efficiency by atleast 15%.
After completing the listed steps the city will pay you back 20% of the energy upgrades to the structure, there is a cap of $4000.00 for residential upgrades.
The commercial projects are handled a little differently. They are paid on a per square foot price and have different circumstances according to the size of building. You can go to Greensboro Going Green to find out more information on this program. This program is just starting up, so there will more than likely be some changes down the road.