Start at Home

Today we are kicking off a guest columnist series where we will highlight the expertise, experience, and knowledge of some of our fellow green champions.

Marie Hurst, Principal with Studio Interiors, has written a piece on how to promote sustainable practices at home. She will revisit the topic in future blog entries which detail how we can be greener at home and in our business practices. Her ideas are straightforward actions we can take immediately to make a difference.

Her experience in commercial interior design and space planning spans the country and her commitment to sustainability, smart design concepts, and high-performance building is evident in her portfolio and in her passion.

And, here's Marie...

Start at Home

So what does it mean to go green? It means living in a way that reduces the burden we place on our environment. Going green does not have to break the bank…….here are some simple ways and easy fixes to incorporate green living into your life.


1. Move into the light! Switch out incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lights (CFL). Replacing one incandescent bulb with a compact fluorescent light would reduce carbon emissions by half a ton. If every American home replaced their five most frequently used light bulbs with CFLs, it would save almost $8 billion in energy every year.
• Bulb life: Incandescent: 1500 hours ~ CFL: 10,000 hours
• Number of bulbs needed to produce 60,000 hours: Incandescent: 40 ~ CFL: 6
• Cost of bulbs for 60,000 hours: Incandescent: $53.80 ~ CFL: $17.88
• Kilowatts used for 60,000 hours: Incandescent: 3,600 ~ CFL: 840
• Electricity cost for 60,000 hours at $.23 an hour: Incandescent: $821.72 ~ CFL: $191.73
• Total cost for 60,000 hours: Incandescent: $875.52 ~ CFL: $209.61


2. Batteries not included! Use rechargeable batteries. It takes 1,000 regular batteries to equal the life span of one rechargeable battery.

3. Take time to unplug! Few appliances and electronics devices actually turn off anymore. Instead they go to standby. Unplug cell phone chargers, iPod chargers, energy bricks for your computer, stereo equipment, televisions, kitchen equipment, electric razors, and toothbrushes. They are sucking the energy from your home. The U.S. Department of Energy says that as much as 20 percent of a typical American homeowner’s electric bill comes from these energy drainers. If 10 percent of all cell phone users unplugged their chargers after charging their phones, we would save enough energy to power 60,000 homes a year.

4. Leave a message! If you still have an answering machine in your home…ditch it. Switch over to voice mail with your phone service provider. Because answering machines are on 24/7, they use more power in a year than laptops do.

5. Be cool and stay warm! Set your thermostat at 78 in the summer and 68 in the winter. Or even better install a programmable thermostat in your home. You can set the temperature to one setting when you are home, one setting while you are asleep, and another setting when no one is home.
• Change your air filters once a month, get annual maintenance on the system and make sure your air ducts are sealed.
• Close the damper in the fireplace when not in use. Open dampers let heat and A/C escape and can add up to $100 a year to your utility bill.
• Close air vents in rooms you rarely use. It redirects the heat or A/C to the rooms that really need it.

6. You can be a star! Upgrade your appliances to Energy Star appliances. You will use, on average, 30 to 40 percent less energy with one of these products than you would with the standard kind. Front loading washing machines use up to 60 percent less water than regular washing machines.
• Not ready to replace your appliances? Switch to washing clothes in cold water and only wash full loads. Air dry clothes whenever possible.
• Only run dishwasher when full and allow dishes to air dry.
• Unplug small appliances, secondary refrigerators and freezers when not in use.
• Insulate water heater and set temperature at 120.

7. Don’t be a drip! On average, Americans use 100 gallons of water a day. That is 400 gallons for a family of four. Almost a third of that is wasted by letting the faucet run while washing dishes or brushing teeth. Letting the faucet run for one minute uses two gallons of water. Only one percent of this planet’s water is available for human use, according to the EPA, so it is important we pay attention to how we use it.
• Install low flow devices on faucets and shower heads.
• Get a low flush or dual flush toilet. If you don’t have a low flush toilet, keeping a filled plastic container in the tank can cut the amount of water you use by 40 percent.
• Don’t let the water run while brushing teeth or shaving.
• Put food coloring in the toilet tank. If it shows up in the bowl, you have a leaky toilet to fix.
• Replace bottled water with purified water from your tap.
• Fix leaky faucets inside and out.
• Water your lawn only twice a week and install a rain sensor if you have a sprinkler system.