Energy Efficiency

Save green. Energy savings not only means you're saving cash, you're also creating a better future for our next generation by protecting the environment. Just as each home is unique, so are each person's reasons for improving their energy efficiency. Whether your energy goals are to save on your utility bills, improve your air quality and comfort, protect the environment, go net zero energy or get off the grid, saving energy and cash come with the territory.

If your home is inefficient, it can be leaking energy without you even knowing it. Sometimes high utility bills will be your red flag, but with the Central Coast's mild climate, energy leakage can go unnoticed.

Energy leakage can often be traced to:

• Inefficient or incorrectly installed heating and cooling equipment
• Air leaks in your home's walls, floors, ceiling, and attic
• Poorly sealed and insulated ducts
• Inefficient windows and doors

Energy Efficiency Facts:

• "If insulation is installed with just a 5% defect (as little as a 1/4 inch gap between the insulation and the attic floor), the effectiveness of the insulation is cut in half." - California Building Performance Contractors Association (CBPCA)


• The US could save $1.2 trillion through 2020 by investing $520 billion in improvements like sealing leaky building ducts and replacing inefficient household appliances with new, energy-saving models." - McKinsey and Company



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Air Quality

Breathe easy. Do you cough, wheeze, or have the sniffles when you are at home? Does one room in your house often smell musty? Research has shown that the quality of indoor air can be worse than outdoor air. Mold, animal dander, non-functioning vents, and improperly sealed ducts can all contribute to poor indoor air quality that may cause health hazards such as allergies or asthma.

Home Air Quality Facts:

• If your home is on a raised foundation with a crawl space, 40% of your indoor air may come directly from that space – bringing in mold, moisture, animal dander, or other unwanted pests with it.


• "Usually the most effective way to improve indoor air quality is to eliminate individual sources of pollution or reduce emissions." – US EPA


• "Indoor levels of air pollutants can be 2-5 times higher, and occasionally 100 times higher, than outdoor levels." – US EPA


• "Indoor air pollution consistently ranks among the top five environmental risks to public health." – US EPA


• Better indoor air quality is one of the key benefits of green homes.

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Comfort

Get comfortable. Is your living room in the tropics when your bathroom is in the North Pole? Do you have drafts in your home? Your home should be a haven; toasty warm in the winter, cool in the summer with fresh, clean air all year round – and you should find comfort in paying less on your utility bill. Using an improperly sized furnace, air conditioning unit, or air ducts can be like throwing comfort (and money) out the window.

Home Comfort Facts:

• A comfortable indoor environment is between 68 and 78 F. To keep your home temperature consistent, your home's walls, ceilings, floors, and windows need to keep varying outdoor temperatures from getting inside.


• "Air that leaks through your windows, doors, walls, ceiling or ducts is a major source of energy waste, representing 25% to 40% of heating and cooling costs." - CBPCA


• "Each year in the US, nearly $13 billion worth of energy, in the form of heated or cooled air, escapes through holes and cracks in residential buildings." - ACEEE


• "When it comes to heating and cooling equipment, bigger doesn't always mean better. The average furnace is oversized by 2-3 times." - Home Energy Magazine

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Safety

Be safe. Your home is the one place you should feel safe, 100% of the time. But did you know that carbon monoxide, gas, radon, and chemicals in your home's paint, carpet, or other building materials can seep out into your home without your detection? These can give home occupants headaches or nausea, affect their general well-being, or worse. Moisture in your crawlspace can rot out the wood foundation supports, causing structural issues. It can also migrate into your living areas, causing health problems. Using our diagnostic tools, we test for these safety hazards and can quickly tell you whether you and your home are at risk.

Safety Facts:

• 1 out of every 3 homes we've analyzed has a gas or carbon monoxide leak.


• "Combustion products, including carbon monoxide and gas, can come from unvented fossil fuel space heaters, unvented gas stoves and ovens, and back drafting from furnaces and water heaters." – Colorado State University


• Major health organizations (like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Lung Association (ALA), and the American Medical Association) agree with estimates that radon causes thousands of preventable lung cancer deaths each year.

Sign up for a GREEN HOUSE Home Performance Evaluation and save green.