Do Your Part: Host a green Super Bowl party

Arlington, TX hosts this year's Super Bowl. If you are driving to the game, carpooling will minimize your fuel consumption!

Many thanks to Terri Bennet from The Miami Herald for this excellent article.

If you have plans to host a Super Bowl party you may have to deal with trash talking between guests, but you don’t have to deal with bags of trash from the party. Do Your Part by hosting a greener party, no matter what colors your team sports.

You’ll probably be stocking up on most of your party supplies at the grocery store. If beer is on your list, consider trying a few varieties of organic or locally brewed beers. If you’re having a large crowd, renting a keg is both more economical and less wasteful. A full size keg holds the equivalent of 165 12-ounce containers of beer and can be refilled and used over and over again.

For individually packaged beverages of all kinds, the greener choices are ones packaged in aluminum cans. Aluminum is the most valuable and cost effective material that we recycle. Plus aluminum can be recycled and back on the store shelves as new product in a matter of weeks. When serving water, the best choice is to provide a pitcher of ice water and reusable glasses for your guests. If bottled water is a must, buy bottles made with less plastic and make sure they get recycled.

Reusable dinnerware and utensils are the least wasteful means of throwing a party but it’s not always practical. When shopping for the disposable products like napkins and paper towels, look for ones made from recycled paper. Paper plates are a bit trickier but non-coated ones are your best bet because they break down in the landfill more quickly. There are also fun and eco-friendly plates, bowls, and utensils made from bamboo or other sustainable materials. However, these are easier to find online, so plan ahead.

And of course, there are all the things you’ll be putting on those plates. From carrots and celery sticks to wings and chips, buying in bulk creates less packaging waste and you’ll save money too. Keep a few reusable containers on hand to send extra leftovers home with your guests.

Don’t forget to make it easy for your guests to recycle. If you have designated recycling bins for things like cans and bottles, they’ll be a lot less likely to end up in the trash.

Go ahead and cheer on your favorite football team without creating a lot of waste. It’s another way to Do Your Part while still enjoying the biggest, and hopefully the best game of the year. Not to mention some pretty entertaining commercials.

(Terri Bennett is a veteran TV meteorologist, syndicated columnist, and host of DoYourPart.com where you can find everyday green living ideas that are better for you and the planet. Send questions to terri@doyourpart.com.)

Major Breakthrough in “Micro” Wind Power

SkyStream 600: The World’s First Fully Smart Grid-Enabled Wind Turbine

by Timon Singh

SouthWest Wind Power showed off their latest turbine – the Skystream 600 – this week at CES 2011, and we’re impressed. The latest in SouthWest’s long line of turbines, the Skystream 600 is equipped with a unique Skyview system that can be accessed via the internet to provide users with information about how much energy it is producing in real time. In fact, the turbine is said to be so efficient that it produces 74% more energy than its  predecessor – the Skystream 3.7.

The SkyStream 600 is estimated to average about 7,500 kWhs of energy per year with an average wind speed of 12 mph. However it is the fact that the turbine provides ‘real time’ information that is most interesting. This feature makes it the first “fully smart grid-enabled wind turbine” and it is expected to be popular when released in April.

While the price has yet to be announced, households that are interested in diversifying their energy supply would do well to consider this item. Not only is it expected to be cheaper than solar panels, but wind power efficiency is growing each year and anticipated to become the leading form of domestic renewable energy.

Only 1 Week Left to Register for Green Boots 2011!

Register Now for “Green Boots” ! Austin Energy Green Building’s (AEGB) Green Building Education Series for Single-Family Construction and Residential Remodeling

Course Schedule  Sustainable Design, January 18 Planning Process, February 3 Building Envelope, February 15 Plumbing, March 3 HVAC, March 22 Electrical, April 5 Indoor Air Quality, April 26 Landscaping and Site Management, May 17 Graduation and Networking Party for All Participants, May 17 Optional “Green Reboot” Field Trips For more details, download the brochure. For questions, contact Miki Cook, Austin Energy Green Building, (512) 482-5358

“Green Boots” is a residential green building education series offering over 40 sessions presented by members of the Central Texas green building community. The series starts January 18.  Instructors include architects, builders, trade contractors and manufacturer representatives with years of experience. Classroom training consists of eight 4-hour modules (noon-4:00pm) over four months. Five optional field trips focus on challenges and opportunities in the field. Cost for HBA Members Eight-module series for first registrant: $250 Additional registrants from the same company: $120 Per module fee: $25 for first registrant; $10 per additional registrant Field trips: $25 each, five for $100 Register Online Today

Two Simple Ways GreenTex Reduced Project Wood Waste This Week

Reducing wood waste from a job site is one of our easier waste conservation tasks. It is easy and requires less effort because it can go to many different uses. Unfortunately, many people still send their unused wood to the landfill. We should make every effort to stop trashing leftover wood, because of the ease of reducing, reusing, or recycling it. The no-brainer approach to reusing wood that nearly every contractor practices….. save it for another project or for form building. After doing any kind of framing work there will inevitably be pieces of wood leftover ranging anywhere from a couple of inches long to a couple of feet. Rather than throwing these pieces away, they can be easily saved for use at other projects. Every piece counts regardless of size. For the wood we gathered from one of our smaller projects that was too small to be used for form building or other framing projects, it traveled with us to another project where we are gathering waste for a different purpose.

After demolishing a small pool house earlier this week, we were left with a lot of unpainted wood debris. While the wood could also be used for various other construction needs or sent to the recycling center, we will be recycling the wood at this project on-site by mulching it when landscaping takes place. The wood is ground down, nails and metal debris removed magnetically, and then it is mixed and spread appropriately. Recycling wood waste for our customers in this way is a good deal of fun, because it allows them to directly see the product of their conservation efforts.

So this week, we have used leftover wood for other purposes, saved it for recycling, and stored it for mulching. These simple practices may not seem like a lot, but small efforts can add up positively or negatively. If we do it, then every piece of new wood purchased can have a purpose and a place. If we don’t do it, then eventually all of the wood scraps from GreenTex projects alone will add up to many trees that were cut for no purpose. The fun/scary thing to think about is how much wood waste is generated on a daily basis from every construction project around the world…. what is happening with all of the scraps from these projects, and how much wood does it add up to?

If you have recycled wood waste in different ways from your projects, let us know about it. We would love to hear about your efforts big or small.  Left over scraps from sites can be turned into mulch, reused, recycled, or used in many creative ways. It just takes the small commitment to not throw them in the dumpster.

Austin Energy Ups Rebates For Efficiency Upgrades

Austin Energy has again upped their rebates for residents that make efficiency improvements to their homes. The previous rebates offered by Austin Energy were to reimburse customers for about $1300 in improvements, but between Jan. 1st and March 15th, AE has announced they will throw an additional $200 in for customers, bringing the total reimbursement up to an amount near $1550.

Austin Energy’s Power Saver Program offers local residents the Home Performance with Energy Star Rebate. The rebate covers up to 20% of the cost of specific improvements that will reduce stress on the grid by saving energy and save you money as a result of the lowered usage. Because of the reduced usage, these improvements can significantly lower the carbon footprint of a home. The improvements included in this particular rebate can be found on the website and are as follows:

• Air conditioner or heat pump (14 SEER/12.0 EER or greater)
• Duct repair and sealing
• Additional attic insulation
• Solar screens, window film, and Low-E glass
• Caulking and weather stripping
• Attic radiant barrier/reflective material

There are currently many rebates offered by local, state, and federal entities, but many of them expire quickly. The State of Texas is currently offering a rebate for appliance upgrades you can read more about here. It would be a smart move to take advantage of these rebates now and start off 2011 committed to making simple home improvements that quickly pay themselves back and help out the environment. Take some time to respond to our poll and help us gauge awareness and interest in rebates offered around the country.

Reclaimed Floor Installed By GreenTex in Austin Remodel

Installing a reclaimed floor in your house or business is a great way to build sustainably. It doesn’t require the use of fresh cut trees and it saves waste that often is unnecessarily directed to the landfill. Reclaimed floors usually offer greater durability than a new floor. This may seem strange, but it is often that the wood from a reclaimed floor is made of old-growth wood that came from forests hundreds of years old. New floors are made from new-growth wood coming from trees in young agricultural forests. The old-growth wood is much denser and harder from growing years longer and creates a floor that is more resistant to scratches and dents. In addition to being stronger, reclaimed floors have a striking look that cannot be reproduced. New products try, but there is simply nothing that can mimic the character reclaimed floors have acquired from years of use and because of their origin from old-growth trees.

We wanted to show you a very cool reclaimed wood floor that GreenTex is currently installing in one of our current projects. This floor came to us via House+Earth. The floor is thin strip oak that came from a project in Naperville, Illinois. Though the floor had to travel a long way to get to Texas (the greenest way to install a reclaimed floor is by sourcing it as locally as possible), it is very unique and very tough. The wood came from a building dating back to the 1920’s. Here it is during installation, and it looks fantastic. This is the floor before sanding takes place.

As the floor is finished we will post pictures of the finished product and some short videos of the installation process. For more information about installing reclaimed floors, contact us. If you would like information about some of the reclaimed wood available at this time in the Central Texas area, contact Scott Kuryak or Zach House at House+Earth.

FLOR Modular Carpet: Unique Designs From Sustainable Minds

If you are considering new carpet anytime soon, you may find that the advantages and versatility of modular carpet best meet your needs and desires . Modular carpet tiles are steadily rising in popularity as people are beginning to discover their practical advantages, as well as the unique designs they offer.

Rather than being rolled during installation from a single roll, modular carpeting comes in pre-cut squares that you place down and piece together using non-toxic stickers. The most common tile size is usually around 19 in. X 19 in. For your floor’s design, modular carpet offers a huge variety of creative opportunities not available to single roll carpet simply because you can easily mix and match varying colors and patterns. Most of the companies that produce and distribute the carpet sqaures have a wide range of patterns and colors to choose from that offer appearances from a simple look to the way far-out.

Because of the relative ease of piecing modular carpet together, many homeowners are also using modular carpet to create their own unique area rugs.

The last project GreenTex installed modular carpet, we went with a pattern provided by FLOR. FLOR is a modular product sold under Interface, Inc. The company is run by environmentally-minded people who have committed to a Mission Zero goal: completely eliminate any negative impact the company has on the environment by 2020. FLOR products are made from renewable and recyclable materials and installed using nontoxic adhesive stickers called FLORDots. The dots are placed on the ground, adhesive side up. The dots only stick to the bottom of the carpet tiles themselves, meaning that there is no use of toxic carpet glues. The FLOR tiles off-gas significantly less VOCs than conventional carpet (because of the materials they are made of and the reduced use of adhesives) and therefore achieve a healthier indoor air quality.

On this GreenTex project, the homeowner decided to go with the same pattern on every tile, but by alternating the direction in which they were installed, the FLOR tiles produced a checkered appearance.

Probably the biggest way in which modular carpet helps us out is by eliminating the need to replace huge rolls of carpet as a result of a few stains or damaged areas. If an area of the carpet becomes unsightly because of wear-and-tear or accidents, one or two tiles can be lifted and replaced very easily by the homeowner. Instead of having to replace 130 sq. ft of carpet, everything can look as good as new by replacing only 6 sq. ft. of material. This is the primary reason that most businesses and hotels have switched to modular carpet in their new buildings. Using renewable and recyclable materials is extremely important in today’s construction world, but being able to cut down on the material that enters the waste stream is equally important, and modular flooring presents opportunities for the homeowner to meet green criteria in multiple areas.

Prioritizing The Green Remodel: The First Step

When many think of a green home, the first thing that comes to some minds is a roof covered in solar panels. While solar panels are very cool, they represent only a small aspect of sustainable building practices, and in terms of a remodel are a much lower priority than you might think. With all of the amazing new efficient/alternative energy/environmentally-friendly technologies available to us today, the less flashy and most basic aspects of a high-performing sustainable home are frequently overlooked.

The first, and most obvious necessity in a remodel is to ensure that your home has aged well and maintained its structural integrity. This is the case for all builders and remodelers, whether they practice sustainable building methods or not. After it has been assured that you aren’t going to be spending thousands of dollars superficially remodeling a home that will potentially fall down in a few years, then the planning can move forward. In a remodel, the first priority should always be an assessment of your home’s envelope. In most cases anywhere from 35% to 50% of a homes annual energy use is dedicated to heating and cooling. A huge chunk of this percentage can be eliminated with a tighter envelope. A solar panel addition meant to generate on-site energy will do a homeowner little good if they don’t first “stop the bleeding” of air in and out of the house. One of the best ways to lower the carbon footprint of your home, thus making it greener,  is to get the lifetime energy use of the house as low is it can possibly be.

Ideally, you should hire a specialist to come to your house and get a clear picture of the envelope through a series of tests. Professionals with experience using blower door tests, thermal imagery, and their knowledge of building science can provide very accurate information about how and where your house is leaking air. Air can enter the house from a number of places, and insulation won’t always catch some of these entry points, but running accurate tests on the house will find these trouble spots and give the best opportunity to appropriately seal them.

A tight envelope can be achieved a number of ways, but in most remodels it means by checking out the insulation. Homeowners should be insulating everything from the basement to the ceiling, using the best performing insulation the budget allows. Different types of insulations work better for various applications (spray foam may be great for your attic and basements, while you may decide you want cellulose for other places). Doors and windows should be evaluated, and if the budget allows, should be upgraded to the highest performing product available.

Once every effort is made to control the airflow in and out of the house, and ensure that the flow is planned in such a way that allows the super-tight home to breathe appropriately to stop mold from building in the walls, then you can move on to other aspects of the remodel, but the first step should be to assess the performance of your home’s shell and build it to its highest potential.

Thoughts on the 2010-11 Cost vs. Value of Remodel Report

The 2010-11 Hanley Wood report of Cost vs Value for remodeling projects has has been released and we would like to highlight some of it for you, and in doing so, generate some food for thought. To view the full report, follow this link. It will provide you with information for regions and cities across the US. For more detailed information regarding specific neighborhoods within the Austin community, contact GreenTex Builders.

Reports issued by Remodeling (remodeling.com), an industry source, have provided some interesting numbers for Central Texas residents to mull over. In their 2010-11 Cost vs. Value report, hypothetical estimates and projects are pieced together by researchers and an assessment of the project cost vs. the value at sale are compared to give a percentage of the total cost recouped. It should be noted that while the report provides us with a pretty accurate picture of the housing market, it is stressed that it should not necessarily be used for interpretation in an individual project, as the numbers vary widely based on your city, your neighborhood, and on your own specific material selections.

The news is not what most what consider favorable, but there is always good in the bad. At a national level, the cost-to-value ratio of projects is at it’s lowest level this decade. Though the report indicates that 2010 saw lower construction costs, sagging home values continued to push the cost/value percentage down, and the real estate market has remained slow despite low mortgage rates because of continuously tight lending practices and uncertain foreclosures. The numbers, however, are not as low for all. The numbers have shown that out of the nine regions the report divides the nation into, the West South Central Region (TX,AR,OK,LA) is figuring out how to keep the Cost vs. Value numbers more favorable than other regions in the country. At the local level, the report is also finding that the numbers for Austin,TX well exceed the national averages and are typically higher in most categories than the West South Central percentages as well.

The report breaks down many different types of home improvements ranging from a steel entry door replacement or deck addition to a master suite addition or a major kitchen remodel. The cost vs. value numbers for 2010 have shown that the highest percentages of cost are being recouped for exterior improvements like door and siding replacements, deck additions, and window improvements. The numbers in the report are highest for a steel entry door replacement. Nationally, the numbers reported show an average job cost of $1,218 and a value at sale of $1,243, resulting in 102.1% of cost recouped. Numbers for the West South Central regions and Austin, TX are better because of slightly higher resale value and significantly lower job costs. Cost recouped for West Central South region is reported as being 116.6% and a whopping 138.8% for Austin.

The lower percentages recouped in the report across the board are represented in the more costly and less common major improvements such as the additions of sunrooms and master suites, and the remodel of rooms like the home office. Improvements such as these recouped only about half of their value at sale at costs to the homeowner well into five or six figures.

There are a number of ways one could interpret these numbers, but overall, we would like for you to take into consideration the idea that resale value should not be the decision guider when investing in your home. While the stars of Flip This House may strongly oppose the idea, there are other factors in home investment that should not be driven by monetary gain. From a sustainably-minded, and simply logical perspective, your home should be built to function for your long-term lifestyle and needs. Consider this intentionally over-blown scenario. Imagine a place where everybody purchased houses and renovated them in the interest of fattening their pocketbook and moving on to the next project. Everybody supported the trend in many minds that bigger is better, and that to have real value a home should come with exotic wood offices, a swimming pool, a sunroom, and a shower for every person. On top of generating higher levels of construction debris into the waste stream than we already have, excessive energy use heating and cooling massive houses with infrequently used spaces, what would happen to our lifestyle and sense of community?

Wood-clad steel doors represented the highest return and can boost home efficiency.

One of the things that we really like about the report is that improvements that contribute to the base level function of a home are still seeing significant recouped percentages. Doors, siding, windows. Just as the human skin is your largest organ, and one of the most vital, a healthy and well built home must have a well-functioning exterior shell to ensure longevity and quality of life. This report shows that you will see the highest return for installing a steel entry door. For an Austin resident to see 138% return on a steel door is fantastic, because replacing an old door with a high-quality steel door will also generate dollars on top of the ROI in the form of energy savings generated by the tighter seal wood-clad steel doors offer and the higher insulating values they achieve when compared to wooden doors. Small exterior improvements like these can save you big. If you have further questions, or if you would like more information on how you might be able to improve the function, and possibly the value, of your home, contact us today.

More on this topic to come.

LED Christmas Lights: Efficient Holiday Lighting

If you are looking to save money and energy with your holiday decor this season, you should check out the wide selection of LED Christmas lights that are on the shelves this year. If you are only lighting up an outside lamp post, or if you’re the type that lights the house in a way that it can be seen from space, LED lights are sure to offer many advantages to your holiday light display.

The benefits of using LED holiday lighting are much the same as using LED lights anywhere in your home. Because of the long lasting nature of LED lights, you will be saving much money and time in the long run because your strands will last longer and the need to replace burnt out bulbs will be much less commonplace. A Department of Energy study found that the best white LEDs have a life somewhere around 35,000 hrs, or 4 years of continuous light. Many of the strands are 90% more efficient than old-style incandescent lighting, and the LEDs stay cool when lit, so they are much safer and pose a lower risk of fire.

I went out this week searching for a few strands of lights that I could put up to add some holiday flavor to my windows and outside balcony. I knew that I was searching for LEDs, because I was already well aware of their amazing efficiency when compared to incandescent lights, but I thought I was going to be limited to the strands of Cool White that I have seen on some homes around the neighborhood. When I found the aisle of holiday lights, I was greeted with some pleasant surprises.

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The first great thing I noticed was that LED Christmas lights were not out-of-this world expensive. Because they are not yet as widely produced and because they contain more advanced technologies than older standards, one will often find EnergyStar labeled products (like LED Christmas lights) carry a significantly higher cost premium when compared with the inefficient standard form of the same product. I found that with Christmas lights, this was not the case. The LED lights were usually just a couple of dollars more, or the same price, when compared to incandescent lights of the same style. I was not going to be breaking the bank by purchasing LEDs as opposed to incandescents, and I will actually get those dollars back in the first month, plus much more due to the lower operating and replacement costs.

The other thing I was delighted to see was the wide variety of colors and styles that LED lights came in. Indeed it seemed to be the case that with just about any style of incandescent light (icicle lights, ceramic lights, white, multi-color, blue) was also offered in LED. This means that with just about any creative lighting scheme you can come up with, there will be LED options for you.

I ended up going with old-style multi-colored ceramic lights on my back porch (the kind with the colorful fat glass bulbs that were a common sight on houses and trees years ago), and Cool White mixed with Blue icicle lights in my front windows (producing a very cool color mixture that creates an icy appearance). Total I spent just under $30 for a modest, but very hip and striking light display. If you haven’t already considered them or shopped around, I highly encourage you to do so.