- Five Great Reasons to Go Green in Your Home
- Five Ways a Green Interior Helps the Planet
- Easy Ways to Start Going Green
- Helpful Terms to Know
- Green Certifications to Look For
Five Great Reasons to Go Green in Your Home
According to the EPA, the air inside the average American home is two to five times more polluted than the air outside. A major contributing factor is the large amount of urea formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) off-gassed from the standard paint and adhesives used in interior finishes, furnishings, and cabinetry. Another is poor venting of cooktops and gas heaters.
"Venting out odors, moisture, heat, smoke and other toxins is critical to a healthy home," says New York-based Certified Kitchen Designer Susan Serra. By using only low- or no-VOC paint and adhesives, and paying attention to air circulation and venting, you can significantly improve your indoor air quality (IAQ).
2-Stay Warm in Winter
Did you know that by installing a stone, ceramic, or concrete floor in a south facing room you can significantly improve your heating bill? It's part of a design strategy known as passive solar. During the winter, the hard flooring acts as a "thermal mass," trapping the sun's heat during the day and releasing it at night. This green trick can keep you feeling cozy, while reducing your heating bills by as much as 30 percent.
Believe it or not, incandescent light bulbs are the most expensive lighting out there. While it's true that incandescents have a low upfront cost, they have to be replaced almost 10 times as often as a compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) and about 50 times more often than an LED. That really adds up!
Do you remember the classic Easy-Bake ovens? They used incandescent bulbs for baking because these bulbs give off a whopping 90 percent of their energy as heat and only 10 percent as light. An LED bulb gives off almost no heat at all, so there's no need to run the air conditioner just because you turned the lights on. Energy efficient lighting saves money all the way around.
4-Improve Your Mood
Studies have shown repeatedly the positive effect daylight has on people's moods, yet we still rely mostly on artificial lighting in our interior spaces. Happily, green design strategies initially developed for office buildings are increasingly being used in homes. From (barely there) window tinting and solar shades to a new generation of leak proof skylights and light tubes, the options for letting the sun shine in are better than ever.
5-Improve Your Sleep
Dust mites are a common allergen and a common cause of snoring. These creepy, microscopic critters make their homes in mattresses, pillows, bedding, and carpet. By switching to a healthier, wool-stuffed organic mattress and pillows (dust mites hate wool), and changing out allergen-infested carpet for sustainable hard flooring, you might find yourself sleeping more soundly.
Five Ways a Green Interior Helps the Planet
1-Renews Instead of Removes
Sustainability is all about renewable resources. When materials can be replenished endlessly, future generations will be able to have the same level of beauty and enjoyment in their homes—all without taking anything away from the planet.
2-Improves Air and Water Quality
When designing a green interior, attention is paid to making sure no harmful chemicals are used in the products and installation. Likewise, materials requiring the heavy use of pesticides and herbicides, such as conventional cotton, are avoided in favor of far less harmful, organic choices. This improves both air and water quality worldwide.
3-Decreases Our Need for Oil
Although some synthetic (petroleum-based) materials can be used in green interiors, they are generally made from recycled plastics, such as carpeting and fabrics from PET water bottles. This reduces our dependence on new oil and keeps large amounts of plastic out of landfills.
4-Improves the Lives of Workers
Through programs such as Forest Stewardship Council, GoodWeave, and the fair trade movement, green interiors can have a positive impact on not just the planet, but the people on it as well.
5-Supports Your Community
Green design encourages using local sources and craftsmen to reduce the carbon footprint of the materials and furnishings used. This has the additional benefit of adding jobs and industry to the local economy.
Easy Ways to Start Going Green
Start with what you already have. "It's always best to retrofit something you have into a piece that works in your new design," says Bridget Biscotti Bradley, author of The Green Home: a Sunset Design Guide. "If there's something that really must go, sell it or give it away, don't throw it away." Integrating what you already have into your design will also give your home a more timeless, eclectic style, rather than a uniform, trendy look that will seem dated after a few years.
Think "less is more." This doesn't mean doing without, it just means making sure that all the bells and whistles you want will make the design better. Says Serra, "Being around my Danish family's small, happy, homes for my entire life, I see firsthand how little people really need. I try to impress upon my clients that 'more' can equal chaos and confusion, not necessarily organization."
Start with baby steps. Give yourself permission to begin slowly. Maybe you can't afford to use that beautiful, recycled glass tile you fell in love with for your backsplash, but that doesn't mean you should give up on green alternatives. Look for less expensive remedies and feel good that you have taken a step in the right direction. "Anyone can choose no-VOC paint. It's healthier for the occupants of the house and not any more expensive than a regular quality paint brand," says Bradley.
Beware of "greenwashing." A word of caution: not all products are as environmentally friendly as they claim to be. How can you tell when a company is "greenwashing," i.e. overstating the environmental benefits of its products? First look to trusted sources in print and online for information about the product. Next, check to see if the product claims are verified by a third party certifier. Lastly, look at the product literature. If the company uses a lot of ink explaining what makes its product green, that's good. If the ink is soy based, that's even better. A lot of attractive pictures without much substance may be a warning that the product is not truly green.
Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day, and your home won't be green in a day either. The goal is to make it a little better each time you get the opportunity. Eventually you will have a healthy home that is as wonderful to look at as it is to live in.
Helpful Terms to Know
CFL– Compact fluorescent lamp
Embodied Energy – Energy that is used during the entire life cycle of a particular product, including the manufacturing, transporting, and disposing of the product as well as the inherent energy captured within the product itself.
Greenwashing—Claiming a product is environmentally sensitive when it is not.
IAQ – Indoor air quality. An increasingly important issue as more toxins are introduced into our interior environment while our homes are becoming more tightly sealed for energy efficiency.
LED – Light-emitting diode
Natural Ventilation – Ventilation provided by thermal, wind, or diffusion effects through doors, windows, or other interior openings.
Post-consumer recycled content – The amount of recycled material from household waste collection in a product. For example, glass from empty bottles set out for curbside collection.
Pre-consumer recycled content – The amount of recycled materials from industrial waste collection in a product. For instance, scrap metal leftover from the production of aluminum picture frames.
Rapidly Renewable Materials – Agricultural products such as fiber and animal that take 10 years or less to grow or raise and that are harvested in an ongoing and sustainable fashion.
Reclaimed – A product made from material that has already been used for another purpose. An example is old barn wood that is reclaimed for kitchen flooring.
Salvaged Materials – Construction materials recovered from existing building or construction sites and reused in other buildings. Common salvaged materials include structural beams and posts, flooring, doors, cabinetry, brick, door hardware, and decorative items.
VOC – Volatile organic compounds. Chemicals such as toluene, acetone, and xylene, which off-gas into the air at room temperature and can cause respiratory and other health problems. VOCs are typically found in furniture and cabinets made from particle board, paints, and carpet adhesives.
Green Certifications to Look For
Cradle to Cradle –This certification looks at multiple attributes for a given product to analyze the impact on both people and the environment. "Cradle to Cradle" products have a lower environmental impact.
Energy Star – This is a government-backed program qualifying appliances and homes with superior energy efficiency. The appliances or homes are compared to the performance of similar appliances or homes in comparable climates or conditions.
FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) – A highly regarded, third party certification (meaning it isn't designed or managed by the industry it certifies). To carry the FSC label, wood and paper products must come from well-managed forests that have minimal impact on the land, wildlife, and indigenous people.
GREENGUARD – To be certified, a product must have low chemical emissions and a minimal effect on indoor air quality (IAQ).
Green Label Plus – This Carpet and Rug Institute certification program measures the chemical emissions of carpet and adhesive products.
Green Seal – Products bearing this seal—such as paint, stains, and CFLs—must meet strict standards.
GoodWeave – Rugs carrying the GoodWeave label are certified child-labor-free.
Water Sense – This EPA program ensures the performance of water-efficient products and raises awareness about the importance of water efficiency.
LEED for Homes (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) - A LEED-certified home is a high-performing green home designed and constructed in accordance with the rigorous guidelines of the LEED for Homes green building certification program.
SCS (Scientific Certification Systems) – This third party certifier makes sure products live up to their claims. Especially involved in analyzing recycled content, IAQ , and EPP (Environmentally Preferable Product) claims.