Green and Clean – Tips For Better Living

EPA Stats Show How Homes Impact Our Environment

Here’s some basic but vitally important facts about building and living in our homes in the US: land use, energy consumption, air quality, water use and waste.  The Environmental Protection Agency publishes these facts on their website.

1. As of 2000 there were nearly 116 million residential buildings in the United States.

2. As of 2003 more than 1.8 million homes were being built here annually.

3. Total land area in the US, not counting Alaska and Hawaii, is 1.9 billion acres, of which 107 million acres are developed. This represents a 24% increase in developed land over the years from 1992-2002.

4. Total US buildings accounted for 39.4% of total US energy consumption in 2002, and of that, 54.6% was residential homes, and the rest was commercial buildings.

5. All US buildings used 67.9% of the electricity in 2002, and of that, 51.2% was residential homes, and the rest was commercial use.

6. US buildings contribute 38.1% of the nation’s total carbon dioxide emissions, including 20.6% from residential and 17.5% from commercial.

7. As of 1995 US building occupants used 12.2% of the total water consumed in the US per day, and of that 25.6% is used by commercial building occupants, and 74.4% by homeowners.

8. Building-related construction and demolition debris totals about 126 million tons per year, accounting for nearly 60% of the total non-industrial waste in the US in 1996.

9. From a study in 1996, about 43% of the construction and demolition debris was from residential sources.

10. It was estimated that between 20-30% of this construction and demolition waste was recovered for processing and recycling, most often concrete, asphalt, metals and wood.

So what does all that mean?  Well, in a nutshell, the way we live today can’t be sustained!  I think we can all see the impact that we have on our land and its resources.  We’ve started to change with our greener ways of living and we’re learning more and more every day.  Individually and together, by being smarter about how we build our homes, we can make a difference!

Human Destruction of Forest Homes

For our own selfish needs and desires, we destroy what it took thousands of years to create, in a matter of months and years. We have to stop, or what kind of world will we leave behind? Each of us can make a difference in the way we live our own lives, and together change this course of destruction.

Small Home Green Tips

So you’ve bought the small home you’ve been dreaming of!  Now you’re wondering what you can do to remodel it, while keeping green in mind?  Howdini has some basic ideas to get you started. Please see the video below.

What is an “Eco-District”?

Portland planning thinks beyond new green homes and buildings to the greening of existing neighborhoods

According to the Portland + Oregon Sustainability Institute (known as P+OSI) an EcoDistrict is defined as: “an integrated and resilient district or neighborhood that is resource efficient; captures, manages, and reuses a majority of energy, water, and waste on site; is home to a range of transportation options; provides a rich diversity of habitat and open space; and enhances community engagement and wellbeing”.

“Fundamentally, it’s the next generation of green building strategy,” explained Rob Bennett, executive director of the P+OSI, a nonprofit entity created this year to engage government officials, academics, developers, and builders in the formation of a series of eco-district pilots. “We are taking what we’ve learned from green building and applying it at a neighborhood scale.”

The city and Multnomah County recently approved an enhanced Climate Action Plan, which includes eco-districts in its goals, with implementation planned for 2012.  Several options are currently being evaluated, but its still in the early stages.

Portland State University is planning to add lodging for 2000 more students over the next 10 years, so including shared heating systems, waste treatment and shared transportation into their plans along with other attributes of green building fits right into the schools existing sustainability goals.  A 12-block area is currently being explored as an eco-district.

The Portland Trailblazers have indicated they would like an eco-district around the Rose Quarter, and Lentz, Gateway, and the area around OMSI are all being considered as possibilities.  Portland isn’t the only place planning the greening of neighborhoods… Seattle calls their areas in consideration “climate benefit districts” where they plan to integrate energy and transportation solutions to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.  China’s “eco-block” is being used in the city of Qingdao as a prototype for future energy and emission-reducing opportunities.

People love to live in green neighborhoods, so I’ll be looking forward to watching the implementations in Portland over the coming years.  For more information, visit the city of Portland.

Ambitious Green Goals for Portland

Climate Action Plan calls for changes by 2050

The Portland City Council and the Multnomah County Commissioners voted last week to approve provisions of the Climate Action Plan, an ambitious set of goals with a target date of 2050 to reduce carbon emissions by 80% of what they were in 1990.

The plan relies on business, government and residents to make the changes necessary to make that happen.  The leaders hope to draw the right new businesses to accomplish the goals, bringing green jobs and continuing Portland’s quest to be the most sustainable city.

The news that our population is probably going to double by then, illustrates the need for more mass transit projects like light rail and street cars, more bike lanes, and increased recycling and waste management.  The plan also encourages the planting of more trees and preservation of wetlands and other natural areas. Encouraging us to “buy local” is also included in the goals.

The good news is that Portland’s carbon emissions were 19% below what they were per person in 1990.  However if you count the increased population, its actually an increase of 1%, according to Mark Larabee of the Oregonian.  That compares to a 14% increase nationally since 1990.  During the same period, our recycling rate has tripled and bus ridership has doubled according to official data.

The county commissioners adopted a resolution Wednesday directing city bureaus to promote the plan’s initiatives, including a tax credit for businesses that install eco-roofs and solar panels and carbon-reduction goals in growth and transportation planning.

Falling into line with other Portland goals for planning, there is a goal to achieve zero-net greenhouse gas emissions in all new buildings and homes, produce 10% of the county’s energy from onsite renewable sources and develop neighborhoods so 90% of our county live in walkable or bikable communities, such as eco-districts already in the planning.

According to Commissioner Jeff Cogen, the city and county have “come up with something we can be really proud of.”

So what is expected from us as residents?  Considering we’re apparently responsible for at least 50% of carbon emissions, we will need to start making changes and learning how to do things differently.  Small homes and all the energy-savings and efficiencies they bring is one way…. and Climate-Friendly Actions At Home and Business shows many more ways that we can live and work smarter and greener.

Look Who’s Seeing Green in Portland

Portland listed on many Top Green City lists

We like to think of our city as the greenest place around.  We do have many reasons to be proud of our  goals for many decades to preserve our natural beauty.  Alot of others would agree.  Here’s just a few of the cool lists we made:

webecoist.com
Portland #2 Green City 2009

Cars.com
Portland #2 Green City 2009

Mother Nature Network
Portland #1 Green City 2009

Popular Science
Portland #1 Green City 2008

Country Home Magazine
Portland #2  Green City 2008

Sustainlane.com
Portland #1 Green City 2008

Yahoo! Real Estate
Portland #1 Green City 2007

The “Small Home Movement”

Haven’t you heard?  Yes… there’s a movement!  And it can be seen around the country and the world today.  Homes are getting smaller.  As the economy suffers, people are realizing that smaller is simpler, less expensive, and improves the quality of our lives in so many ways.

According to a recent article by Nicholas Riccardi in the LA Times (see article here), the National Association of Builders surveyed its members and found that 90% of them are building smaller now.  The reasons they gave were increased energy consciousness, empty-nest baby boomers downsizing, and the economic downturn.

What really struck me was that between 1973 and today, homes grew from 1660 sq ft to 2500 sq ft on average across the U.S.  Then last year, according to the article, there was a dramatic 11% drop!  Some say that people always downsize in a recession.  But that large of a drop is seen by many as a possible change in the trend toward larger homes of recent decades.  And that’s great news for those of us who believe its time to make less of an impact on our planet.

Jerry Clifford, a Minneapolis, Minnesota Real Estate Agent, writes that smaller homes improve our lives in many ways:  cheaper utilities, easier to keep clean, prevent us from owning too many unnecessary “things”, and getting clutter out of our lives.  They help us be smarter about storage and in better planning of our living spaces, such as unused rooms that are available only for “when company comes”.  Like so many of my generation, I grew up in a fairly large home over 3000 sq ft, and two large rooms of the home were the formal living and dining room, which were separated from the rest of our house by shuttered doors.  They were only opened “when company came”, which was maybe 3 or 4 times each year, especially during the holidays.  What a  waste!

Small homes are also cheaper to maintain, repair and remodel because they require less materials and time.  They are by their very nature more “green” because they take less resources to build.   And especially important today, they are usually less money which means a smaller mortgage and less debt.

By reversing the trend of the last 40 years, we can take better care of our earth so it will be able to support us for generations to come.  Sounds like a great plan to me!