It's Easy Being Green

Home renovations might look more green in due time thanks in part to the latest economic stimulus plan put in motion by President Obama.  The economic rescue package passed by the Bush administration last Fall renewed the IRS Section 25C tax credit, which credited homeowners 10% of the purchase costs of green renovations with a $500 lifetime cap.  Contractors claimed it wasn’t enough to motivate homeowners to sign contracts and pursue green renovations.

Obama’s latest economic stimulus plan sweetened the tax credit though so homeowners will now have more incentive to make their house more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.  The credit has essentially been trippled to 30% of the purchase cost with a lifetime cap of $1,500.  Some renovations that would qualify for the credits include beefing up your insulation, buying new and more efficient furnaces, air conditioners and heat pumps, installing new roofing and energy efficient windows and doors.  Reportedly the list of qualified items is also about to expand so more green renovations may qualify for a credit.  You have until 2010 to apply for the credits.

For more information on the 25C tax credit check out this link.

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Reduce, reuse and recycle…we all know the now popular mantra.  It was driven into my head as a kid in elementary school every Earth Day and consequently has urged me to turn into the “greenie” I am today.  When it comes to recycling we usually don’t think of building our homes out of recycled materials.  But one Mississippi grandma took the idea to a whole new level.  After a storm practically demolished her wood-framed house, she had another idea that could just take off.  Check out her high-flying home and maybe it will provide you with a little inspiration for your next recycling project!

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With all the talk of the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the glut of foreclosures, why not talk about something positive when it comes to getting a mortgage and living a greener lifestyle.  I’m not yet a homeowner.  The real estate market is just too out of reach for first-time homebuyers like us.  That’s why we plan to move by the end of the year.  Ideally, I’d like to be in our first home by the Summer of ‘09.   In the meantime, I like to keep up on the trends of the current housing market and mortgage market including “green mortgages”.

The idea of green mortgages reportedly started in 1979 with President Jimmy Carter.  His idea was to make lenders offer incentives to consumers to buy or make their current homes more energy efficient.  It’s amazing to think that at the time, our President had the forethought even then to help out our environment!  The savings of energy efficient homes can often be considered income, allowing some families to purchase a bigger house.  These days lenders that offer green mortgages often set them up in different ways.

The first is a lender’s discount to purchase an energy efficient home.  Some will take a chunk of money out of your closing costs while others will give borrowers more credit and a small amount of money off the closing costs.  If you’re buying an older home, some lenders will qualify the buyer for more than the purchase price of the house.  This extra money is for you to put toward upgrading insulation, installing energy efficient windows and a/c units.  The long-term savings of those upgrades is factored into your income, thus allowing you to qualify for more house.

But, there are some catches because it’s not just free money.  If you don’t make the upgrades and squander away the extra money the lender qualified you for, they could put an escrow on that amount of money when you go to sell your house.  So, it’s essential that if you’re going to make the commitment to the lender to make your home more eco-friendly that you follow through on your end of the deal.  Many states are also offering incentives now as well for the purchase of a green home.  To find out more, you can head to the National Association of State Energy Officials website to find contact information for your state energy representatives.  Then you can ask them what incentives they’re offering for energy efficient homes and renovations.

A green mortgage is just another simple step in the process of living a greener life, proving it truly can be easy going green!

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I caught an interesting program on The Science Channel the other day while I was at work, called Invention Nation. The show profiles some pretty cool inventions and developments in the green movement while the three hosts take a veggie-fueled trip across the country to get an up-close look at each one. While I don’t think the production quality or the hosts do the idea much justice, it’s nice to see various aspects of sustainable living shaping up across America, despite the reefer-infused hippie bus theme the show portrays.  Come on, green is more mainstream than that! This one episode got my attention because they were making stops in the Flagstaff area, visiting a LEED certified home. The house, being built in Bellemont just 10 miles west of Flagstaff, is one of only four platinum-certified homes in the U.S.

So what makes this house so green? The list is a long one and amazes me that they’ve packed so many environmentally responsible features into one home. The show focused on the “brain” of the house, an automated control system that essentially runs the place. A weather station installed outside the home monitors all weather conditions and relays them into a computer. That computer automatically opens and closes windows, adjusting the interior temperature with the outside temperature. The system also keeps the interior humidity at a healthy range. Aside from just the way the home feels, the system also tracks water and power useage, providing the homeowner a full rundown of just how much they’re using in the way of resources. The power monitors also look at the power output of the solar system, generating a little more than 7 kW hours of power and a wind turbine harvesting the almost regular northern Arizona wind, generating 2kW.

The Bellemont home is not connected to any water service. Instead it harvests all of its water from the sky through 40,000 gallons of collection tanks. The home’s designers say that’s enough for 2 years of potable water and irrigation uses. It doesn’t matter whether it’s rain or snowmelt, it all eventually finds its way into a collection tank where it’s stores and purified. The computer monitors just how full the collection tanks are. A newly planted apple orchard at the home is watered thanks to the home’s grey water system.

The eco-friendly house produces zero emissions. It’s zero energy and zero carbon emissions and produces more energy than the home itself uses. The extra electricity is fed onto the local power grid where the home actually earns energy credit for the power it produces. The home is outfitted with all Energy Star appliances and lighting. In fact, the house has such a high Energy Star rating that it exceeds IECC 2007 requirements by over 75%. When it comes to heating and cooling, a solar hot water system feeds an in-floor radiant heat system throughout the house. It’s also designed with thermal massing and passive solar design to reap the rewards of the Arizona sunshine during the cold winter months. Sewage from the home is treated with a UV alternative septic system which designers say is the first to be installed in the state of Arizona.

I think this home is truly remarkable and inspiring for the sustainable living movement. As the idea catches on and more and more homes are built with the ideas being demonstrated in the LEED Pilot Home, I think green construction will become more cost effective and mainstream. It shows people that what seems difficult could be really very easy. It would be easy for many to live green if their home was outfitted that way from get-go!

The house was designed by Architectural and Environmental Associates. Carl Ramsey, the company’s owner, seems truly committed to green and sustainable design.

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