Energy Star Rated Homes
Have you ever heard the expression “saving money is making money”? If someone offered to put hundreds of dollars a year in your pocket would that interest you? In this paper, we will discuss how it is possible to not only put money back in your pocket each year but also how you can do your part to make our environment a healthier and more environmentally friendly place. This is all made possible by owning an Energy Star Rated Home (ESRH). My goal is to bring to light the overall benefits associated with owning an ESRH for the homeowner as well as the environment. To achieve this goal, I will define Energy Star, give a brief description of the history of the program, discuss the requirements that must be met to qualify
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Hoffman, inventor of the Green Programs at EPA. The program was intended to be part of a series of voluntary programs, such as Green Lights and Methane Programs that would demonstrate the potential for profit in reducing energy consumption and green house gases by power Plants (“History”. ENERGY STAR. N.p., n.d. Web.) The program started primarily with computers and printing products but quickly lead to many other products including residential appliances and heating and cooling systems. As of 2006, more than 40,000 Energy Star products were available (“2006 Annual Report: Energy Star and other Climate Protection Partnerships”. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency N.P. Web. Sept …show more content…
A Complete Water Management System - A comprehensive package of best building practices and materials protects walls and foundations from water damage, protects roofs and reduces the risk of indoor air quality problems. Energy-Efficient Lighting and Appliances – Certified Energy Star appliances, lighting and fans are commonly installed throughout the home. This not only reduces monthly utility bills but also provides high-quality performance (“How New Homes Earn the Label”. ENERGY STAR. N.p., n.d. Web). Once these homes are built a third-party verification by a certified Home Energy Rater is required before the home is signed off on to ensure it meets the guidelines. The homes energy rating is an analysis of a home’s energy efficiency, as per the Home Energy Rating System (HERS) (“Hers-Index”. Resnet. N.p., n.d.
Instilling this new way of energy usage into off-grid communities will inevitably increase the state of living for those in cities and other well-populated areas. The change to renewable energy sources could drastically lower the pollutants currently being dispersed into the atmosphere by coal mines and other harmful power options, increasing the supply of renewable energy would allow us to replace carbon-intensive energy sources and significantly reduce U.S. global warming emissions. a 25 percent by 2025 national renewable electricity standard would lower power plant CO2 emissions 277 million metric tons annually by 2025—the equivalent of the annual output from 70 typical (600 MW) new coal plants (“Benefits of Renewable Energy Use”). Electricity production accounts for more than one-third of U.S. global warming emissions, with the majority generated by coal-fired power plants.
All in all, the efforts put in place help to ensure low energy rates for business and residents while also providing economic resources and opportunities for residents in my
However, it is important to be able to both protect water and sources to ensure water supply. In this day and age, there is
The Code for Sustainable Homes, which was introduced in 2007, is a national standard for sustainable design and the construction of new domestic buildings. This Code accounts the whole home as a complete package, evaluating its sustainability against nine categories as follows:
High energy efficiency that will save money of each user if we consider general future benefits of the product, while product durability provides the use of the product for many years and reduces the need for its replacement. Am I right when I say we all want to save energy?
These products can range from small kitchen appliances to entire homes and buildings (“About ENGERGY STAR,” n.d.). As a result, Energy Star is very business oriented, and primarily concerns itself with the consumer, proclaiming that “Energy Star can help reduce energy use, save money, and help protect the environment” (“Did you know?,” n.d.). Here, “protecting the environment” is only a convenient by-product of saving consumers and corporations money by saving energy. To the EPA and by extension, the Energy Star program, sustainability is much easier to sell if the consumer has some sort of incentive for it. As a result, a big selling point for the label is that it will save people and companies money in the long
Energy and Building technology - Offers a wide range of products and solutions from the areas of HVAC, solar energy and security systems
For example, PG&E has a program called Energy Upgrade California that has a contractor inspect a resident’s home and they suggest how the homeowner can upgrade their home. In return, the homeowner gets money back for improving their home which could be up to $2500 if they make basic adjustments to their home (6). This program is one of many that could strengthen the effort of making California more energy efficient. For instance, the government should implement a program that installs solar panels on homes that specifically have more sunlight throughout the year. This way if the homeowner generates more than is used the homeowner gets a tax break depending on the amount of energy generated. Southern California and the Central Valley both have plenty of sunlight to generate solar energy and a large population that is ideal for programs like this (7). In addition to the benefits of a program like this habitat loss and ecosystem disruption is not a concern because this program is directly targeting residents (7). A program like this can utilize the land that is already inhabited and lead to a more energy efficient
The Diamond Building was named the most energy-efficient building at the Asean Energy Awards (AEA) 2012 held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and won the top prize in the category of “New and Existing Buildings”.
Clean water is an important part in our life. We use water to bath, drink, wash and a lot more. Therefore, having a full and complete water system is important in a building. The common system that we need are cold water system and hot water system.
Ecover was founded in 1979 by Frans Bogaerts.It was a modest little detergent company in Malle in northern Belgium. Pierres Magnin a successful Swiss businessman dealing with pharmacies and health food stores, suggested Bogaerts to develop an eco-friendly detergent free of harmful chemicals (which was to be banned by the Swiss government as a part the proposed environmental regulations). Thus they entered the detergent market in Swiss and other key markets. Environmental disasters have made more and more people aware of the urgent need to protect the natural environment.
Household energy conservation is a very practical and realistic approach to conserving energy within our society. US households consume a tremendous amount of natural gas as well as electric energy. It has been calculated that the amount of energy consumed within the US increased exponentially from about 1850 to 1975. If energy continued to increase at this rate, we would be experiencing severe energy shortages in our current society. Luckily, steps towards conservation, including various energy regulations, have curbed that growth somewhat, brining the predicted 160 Qbtu/yr for the year 2000 down to around 93.8 Qbtu/yr by the year 1996. However, household energy usage is still a major issue as households consume about 38% of the total consumed energy and contribute greatly to natural gas consumption and issues such as global warming. Therefore, it is important that people understand how we use energy in the household and what steps can be taken to conserve that energy.
Kats, G., Alevantis, L., Berman A., Perlman J., & Mills, E. (2003, October). The Costs and Financial Benefits of Green Buildings: A Report to California’s Sustainable Building Task Force. Retrieved from http://www.usgbc.org/Docs/News/News477.pdf
„X Encourage household water security by making enough water of adequate quality available year-round to ensure family survival, health and productivity, without compromising the integrity of the environment.
There is a very solid reason for selecting green technology as compared to the other technologies available because there is a very limited amount of natural resources like coal, petroleum available to man kind and these are getting depleted at an alarming rate. Moreover, green technology is turning out to be a good business these days as the market for greener products is increasing day by day. Consumers know that green products reduce their energy bills and these are always safer and healthier products to use, explains [1].