Green building means improving our design, construction and landscaping practices so that the homes we build or remodel today will last longer, cost less to live in, and will not harm our health. It also means protecting natural resources and improving the built environment so that people, communities and ecosystems can all thrive simultaneously.
As part of our building a high performance home, we focus our attention on energy efficiency, water conservation and a healthy living space. We also seek to minimize landfill waste by the salvage and recycling of existing building materials through our relationship with the Habitat for Humanity sister organziation - Restore. Restore is focused on the reuse of building materials to provide more affordable housing to all those that aspire to home ownership.
While there are many high tech products that can reduce your energy consumption - such as geothermal heating and cooling units or solar panels to name two - their cost in years to pay back the initial investment through energy savings, can run upwards of 15 to 20 years. We at da vinci Design Group (DVDG) try to focus on actions homeowners can take today that will pay for themselves within 3 years based on present energy costs. As energy costs increase their payback period becomes even shorter. We strongly encourage all homeowners to consider the below 5 highest impact opportunities for conserving energy, water and improving the health of their home.
Remember resources are scarce; the ones we use today, we borrow from tomorrow!
Energy
Caulk all windows, doors and plumbing holes thoroughly. Ensure your doors have sweeps and weather stripping. Many small cracks add up to a large hole!
Replace your incandescent bulbs w/ high performance fluorescents. The life of one fluorescent bulb is the carbon equivalent of planting 100 trees. So not only will you reduce your Co2’s, but you will also be lowering your lighting bill by 40%.
Install a digital thermostat. Program it to set a baseline of minimum comfort while at home. When not at home or asleep make less comfortable by 3 degrees for a 10% savings on your heating and cooling bill.
Wrap your water heater w/ an insulated blanket and lower its maintained temp to a moderate level. When it comes time to replace your old water heater consider a tank less version. Immensely popular in Europe, they substantially reduce your heating costs by only heating the water you actually use.
Install a ceiling fan and lower your room temp by 4 degree. Be sure the one you get is energy star rated. These use only a lights bulbs equivalent of energy to operate. Many fans offer the option of reversing the blade direction, which pulls the warm air off the ceiling in the winter time to increase your comfort.
Water conservation
Replace your existing shower heads w/ low flow shower heads. On a 10 min. shower this will slow your water usage by approximately 7 gallons of water.
Replace you existing toilet with either a high efficiency toilet or dual flush toilet. A high efficiency toilet costs no additional money and uses .3 gallons less water per flush. A dual flush toilet uses on average .6 gallons less water per flush, and costs approximately $100 more than a standard toilet.
Use as many drought resistant plants as possible to landscape your yard. Use of a rain barrel and drip hoses are very efficient ways to kept your landscape hydrated. If you must use a sprinkler, sporadic early morning or early evening use is best.
Up fit existing faucets with aerators to reduce your water flow and reduce waste.
Choose a steam bath verses a whirlpool - outside of the therapeutic benefits, steam baths use on average 1 gallon of water per use compared to 50 gallons of water to fill a 5 ½ ft. whirlpool and 25 gallons for a standard 10 minute shower.
Health
- Use a no VOC paint. There are several today that do not force you to sacrifice quality for health.
- Chose flooring and cabinet options that contain non toxic finishes. Additionally bamboo and cork flooring are much more renewable as they replenish in 7 to 9 years verses 30 years for pine and 50 years for oak.
- Install a high quality ventilation fan in all baths and kitchen to prevent mold growth and remove any airborne toxins.
- Seal your crawl space. What is under your home will eventurally seep into your living envelope.
- Use a 2 cm quartz countertop product that not only uses less material, but more importantly comes with a Microban sealant that resists all sorts of germs.
As energy costs rise, new techniques and technologies will certainly increase. At DVDG we strive to continue to provide high performance housing by using a common sense approach to green building. We do so by integrating various design principals, craftsmanship and new technologies.
We believe this philosophy provides our clients with a home that is easy to maintain, more comfortable and most importantly, a home you will be proud of for many years to come!
