Green Building: CAN YOU SAVE MONEY?
------------------------------------------------------------ ---- The night ends and you wake up and find everything has changed. I mean everything has turned green. The coffee is green. Your bed sheets, towels and everything else in your house is green. You bite your lip trying to wake up and then your husband walks into the room and he is green. You know it isn't a dream it is a nightmare. Do I have your attention? My life is all green. I build a green website so my thoughts are on green things most of the day and part of the night. My eyes are turning green but no green coffee yet. Well… not true, we use organic coffee so my coffee is even green. Yet, going green is a good thing and I am thankful I have the opportunity to provide you with this information. The 21st century promises to provide many changes. In fact, lighting speed technology in every area of life is fueling a new method of building. Sustainable building fueled by innovative technology, environmental concerns and economics is advancing at the speed of light. There is absolutely no way to cover all happenings in this field. I am going to touch on a few areas, give a few explanations, examine how green building will benefit you and where to turn to find green building supplies. The primary focus is on residential building. Commercial is a complete different issues and I will cover the subject later. 
What is Green Building?You might have an idea about this new, modern field of construction but if you are like me I really don't understand what it actually curtails. So, let me give you a brief explanation. A sustainable building, or green building as defined in Wikipedia, "is an outcome of a design philosophy which focuses on increasing the efficiency of resource use - energy, water, and materials - while reducing building impacts on human health and the environment during the building's life-cycle, through better siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal. Though green building is interpreted in many different ways, a common view is that they should be designed and operated to reduce the overall impact of the built environment on human health and the natural environment by:" Efficiently using energy, water, and other resources." Protecting occupant health and improving employee productivity" Reducing waste, pollution and environmental degradation. A similar concept is natural building, which is usually on a smaller scale and tends to focus on the use of natural materials that are available locally. Other related topics include sustainable design, green architecture, and energy efficient buildings." Did you get all that information? In earth language, it seems this type building practice is the process of constructing a building, which will last using renewable materials, saves money on light bills, gas bills and water bills. This method can include using all natural materials but for the most part, it pertains to saving money and the environment. It is about time we started building with materials designed to last a family for the duration of their life. It is sort of like making cars to go 500,000 miles before breaking. INTERESTED IN CELLULOSE INSULATION CLICK HERE Cellulose Insulation Information Green Building - Wikipedia 
Non Renewable ResourcesIf you are like me I was wondering about non renewable resources. The definition,"A non-renewable resource is a natural resource that cannot be produced, re-grown, regenerated, or reused on a scale which can sustain its consumption rate. These resources often exist in a fixed amount, or are consumed much faster than nature can recreate them. Fossil fuel (such as coal, petroleum and natural gas) and nuclear power are examples. In contrast, resources such as timber (when harvested sustainably) or metals (which can be recycled) are considered renewable resources."
non renewable energy
Renewable ResourcesRenewable Resources include natural resource is a renewable resource if it is replaced by natural processes at a rate comparable or faster than its rate of consumption by humans. Solar radiation, tides, winds and hydroelectricity are perpetual resources that are in no danger of a lack of long-term availability. Renewable resources may also mean commodities such as wood, paper, and leather, if harvesting is performed in a sustainable manner.Some natural renewable resources such as geothermal power, fresh water, timber, and biomass must be carefully managed to avoid exceeding the worlds capacity to replenish them. A life cycle assessment provides a systematic means of evaluating renewability. The term has a connotation of sustainability of the natural environment. Gasoline, coal, natural gas, diesel, and other commodities derived from fossil fuels are non-renewable. Unlike fossil fuels, a renewable resource can have a sustainable yield. Renewable Energy
My Own Green Tree House in Cambria, CA.Have you ever heard of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council ?The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), provides a suite of standards for environmentally sustainable construction. Since its inception in 1998, LEED has grown to encompass more than 14,000 projects in the United States and 30 countries covering 1.062 billion square feet (99 km˛) of development area. The hallmark of LEED is that it is an open and transparent process where the technical criteria proposed by the LEED committees are publicly reviewed for approval by the more than 10,000 membership organizations that currently constitute the USGBC.Individuals recognized for their knowledge of the LEED rating system are permitted to use the LEED Accredited Professional (AP) acronym after their name, indicating they have passed the accreditation exam given by the Green Building Certification Institute (a third-party organization that handles accreditation for the USGBC).
More about LEED
Will Green Building Save Money?The bottom line is can this method of construction save the consumer money. The answer is maybe. Many factors come into play in determining what the saving would be, if there is a saving. One thing to consider is if you live in the part of the country, which gets extremely hot or cold the factors can change. I lived in South Mississippi one of the hottest most miserable places in the world. If you didn't have an air conditioner you suffered through hell all summer. The heat last forever, it seemed. One summer I lived in a 2000 sq foot home. During the most intense months of summer, our electric bill could run 200 to 300 hundred dollars. We built a new home, it had plenty of insulation and we kept the thermostat high. If we could have built a house more energy efficient, we would have saved money on the electric bill.Today I live in Cambria, California. We don't even have an air conditioner. We heat the house with natural gas and neither bill is a factor in our budget. The climate is so extremely mild all year long. We barely use the heat. I think the only way to save money in this area would be to live in a tent and not pay any mortgage. My point, saving money with eco-friendly building can and will fluctuate depending on your climate.
After a lot of research on this subject I have to conclude a homeowner can save money in the long run with green building. I have to laugh because building anything is not my favorite subject. I would rather be writing about the whales or something. However, this is an important subject and this issue affects many of you. Therefore, I will continue to explore the world of sustainable building. Chris Wiedemann, New York, NY in Earth Talk said, "What surprised Kats even more, though, was the value of the payback. Overall, Kats found that the average cost premium for building green was about $4-5 per square foot, while the financial benefits derived over 20 years from incorporating sustainability features-such as lower energy and water bills-was in the range of $49-65 per square foot, or about 10 times the value of the initial investment. Another 2004 study by Lisa Matthiessen of the consulting firm Davis Langdon came to similar conclusions. According to Matthiessen, incorporating sustainability elements in a project's design from the get-go-not layering them on later in the process-is essential to keeping the costs down." 
Green Building and the EnviromentTypical building construction, use, and demolition, as well as the manufacturing of building materials, contribute significantly to environmental problems. In the United States, buildings account for:
Global Green.org
" 36% of total energy use " 65% of electricity consumption " 30% of greenhouse gas emissions " 30% of raw materials use " 30% of waste output (equal to 136 million tons annually) " 12% of potable water consumption " A typical 1700 sq. ft wood frame home requires the equivalent of clear cutting one-acre of forest No doubt, our building practice affects the environment. If we are going to have, an impact on global warming building from a green, environmental standpoint is the way to go. 
Sustainable Building - Smaller is BetterThe trend in the USA in the last 30 years is to build massive homes with massive mortgages and extremely large gas, and electric bills. A change in thinking is necessary for sustainable building.For more valuable information click on this link. For more information on sustainable building click here Bird Control - Woodpeckers, Beautiful but DamagingBird control and the woodpecker is the topic of this page. The Woodpecker is a beautiful bird but it can do thousands of dollars worth of damage to your home. How do you love the bird but stop the damage without harming the creature.If you are remodeling and have a problem with Woodpeckers you need to read this article WoodPecker Control - The Natural Way!
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