The green product resource for your home remodel.

As homeowners, many of us will use our home remodel as an opportunity to “upgrade” our existing home audio and visual equipment such as televisions, amplifiers, satellite/cable box, DVD players, whole house audio, video games, etc. 

With these upgrades, you have an opportunity to reduce power consumption in your home – making your home a greener home.  Further, if your new equipment is an addition to your power consumption, then there are products that are better choices than others relative to energy consumption. 

Today, we want to talk about the whole house audio category, and innovation which is occurring in the whole house audio market.  Whole house audio is sound that is piped to various locations in your home, and you hear it through speakers in your walls or ceiling.  You select a source (DVD, iPod, Pandora, XM Satellite) in the room you are occupying, your amplifier recognizes your selection, and then delivers the sound/music to your location. 

A key component of whole house audio system is a multi-channel amplifier.  Suppliers of multi-zone multi-channel amplifiers are company’s such as This post continues… �

Quick update on the Panasonic ceiling fan that we purchased a few weeks ago for our GetWithGreen remodel.

If you recall, we purchased the most efficient fan from ENERGY STAR list - the Panasonic WhisperGreen FV-08VKS1.  The fan was installed this week. 

You can adjust the CFM between 30-70 (easily).  What is amazing about this ventilation fan is that it is SILENT when running.  You cannot hear it at all!  We guarantee that your kids will forget to turn it off!   To counter this, we are going to install a motion sensor switch.  

If we had to purchase again we might consider the FV-08VKM1 with the built in motion sensor.   The FV-08VKM1 can be configured to to turn off anywhere between 30s-60min after motion is no longer detected.    

We purchased the Panasonic fan at Galaxy Lighting in San Jose, CA.  It cost us about This post continues… �

Cabinets torn out, walls ripped down to the studs, all you see is the sub-floor. You are remodeling your kitchen, and there is that oh-so-familiar question each night, “What are we having for dinner?” So, are you cooking via the microwave that sits on a stool in your den? Do you grill outside, again?

Did someone say Take-Out?

GetWithGreen was contacted today by Taco Bell, and they asked if we would share their recent green conservation story. We tried hard to find the connection between your interests in eco-friendly home remodeling, and a “run for the Border.” Well if you are hungry tonight, and your kitchen is ripped apart, it might be that Taco Bell is a consideration for quieting the hungry family. If that’s the case, here is how a crunchy taco and Burrito Supreme might align with your overall greener mission (can’t wait to see your comments on this one :-)). Enjoy!

Run for the Border?

Taco Bell is rolling out its new Grill-to-Order cooking cooking method by installing water and energy saving electric grills that will conserve 300 million gallons of water per year, the equivalent of filling This post continues… �

Last year was the year that holiday LEDs broke onto the scene across the US. We are now starting to see the efficient lights make their way into home fixtures as well.

Below is some background on what other consumers are saying. We guarantee that you will see LED fixtures as you are seeking those recessed lights for your remodel!

Consumers Warming To LEDs as an Energy-Efficient Solution for Lighting, Finds Arrow Electronics Study

MELVILLE, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–With consumer interest in energy-efficient lighting growing rapidly, the next wave of mass-market residential and business lighting could be coming from LEDs – light-emitting diodes, also known as solid-state lighting. That’s the key finding of a new consumer survey commissioned by Arrow Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:ARW), a leading global provider of products, services and solutions to users of electronic components and enterprise computing solutions. The survey was conducted for Arrow by Harris Interactive®.

Commonly used today in flashlights and electronic devices, LEDs are being adapted by manufacturers to replace the common light bulb. Although more expensive than other lighting options, LEDs use a fraction of electricity of traditional light bulbs, last longer than regular incandescent light bulbs and compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), and contain no hazardous This post continues… �

When a carpeting company claims to offer a green home remodel solution, what do they mean?   This week Mohawk puts their stamp on an explanation:

• Today, Mohawk will recycle 8 million plastic bottles, turning it into 275,000 square
  yards of beautiful carpeting.
• Today, Mohawk will divert more than 475,000 pounds from going into a landfill,
  recycling it into usable materials.
• Today, Mohawk will produce hardwood flooring that reclaims wood from torn-down buildings.
• Today, Mohawk will use renewably sourced materials instead of petroleum-based
  products to make soft, durable, stain-resistant carpeting.
• Mohawk will do all this and hundreds of more Earth-friendly efforts. And Mohawk
  will do it tomorrow, the day after that and every day following.

The Essence of Green

While many articles have been written on the emergence of green design and the countless discussions of green materials, green systems, and green principles, it is far less often that we take a step back and look at those parameters which truly address what makes up the essence of green design.

For centuries, mankind has designed and built within his environment in many different ways. The less technologically advanced he’s been – the more he has had to depend upon understanding the local climate, geography, and environment for his well being. As we have advanced our building methods and means, the quantity at which we construct buildings, and the intricacies of out living spaces – we have created the path that has led us to suddenly stop and take more notice of what all of that has done to our environment. We have come to realize that we have built without thought of our surroundings or landscape for far too long, and that has resulted in harm to both ourselves and our earth.

To address the fact that while we can talk at great lengths about sunflower laminates, bamboo floors, recycled glass, fluorescent lighting, solar panels, etc. – we constantly overlook the very basic and most simple principles which have guided some of the most wonderful architecture of our time. From the centuries old Indian tepees and Tongkonan rice barns to the works of Frank Lloyd Wright, Peter Zumthor, and Rudolph Schindler there are striking examples of those who have understood how to embrace our built landscape with much more than merely addressing their environment, but weaving their This post continues… �

EarthFriendlyMoving is out to change the way American homeowners move with an environmentally friendly, do-it-yourself (DIY), packing and moving system developed entirely from recyclable trash mined from local landfills.  Something we all need when we are packing away for our remodel!

Spencer Brown came up with a very simple green idea to take our hard to recycle plastic trash (all of that stuff found under your kitchen sink and laundry room) and convert this waste plastic into RecoPacks (Recycled Ecological Packing Solution). 

Made from 74 plastic bottles, a RecoPack is a plastic moving container that you use instead of cardboard boxes for your remodel storage or move.  RecoPacks are rented through EarthFriendlyMoving.com.  

“When you do the math, we have removed over 740,000 bottles to make the first 10,000 RecoPacks,” says Brown.  “For every 100 RecoPack containers we manufacture, EarthFriendlyMoving removes an average of 256 pounds of trash from the country’s landfills!”  Brown also notes that it saves three healthy green trees from being cut down and made into disposable packing products like cardboard boxes.

How do you get RecoPacks for your remodel move or storage? 

To get your RecoPacks you call, email or fax one of the EarthFriendlyMoving.com eco-agents, and they will help determine the right number and sizes of RecoPacks and other supplies you’ll need to complete your move.  RecoPacks come in 5 homeowner friendly sizes  – small (14″x14″x14″), medium (20″x14″x12″), large (22″x16″x14″) and extra large (28″x18″x20″).  A specially designed pallet made from recycled baby diapers called the “Poopy Pallet,” is where you can stack your packed RecoPacks.

The RecoPacks arrive at your home via a vegetable powered/bio diesel truck.  In addition, the delivery truck doubles as mini packing material factory.  The truck harnesses energy it creates while driving, and then powers a machine on the back which produces Geami paper packing material, eliminating your need to purchase plastic bubble wrap.

The company also offers RecoCubes to protect your valuables.  These packing cubes are made from recycled paper sludge.  They compress it into this cool powerful cube and add sugars, starches and B-12 (plant food vitamins). When you’re done unpacking, all you need to do is toss them into your garden and they become compost for your trees and plants!

RecoPack’s rent out at $1/wk for some sizes, and there is a small delivery and pickup fee that ranges between $29- $99.  EarthFriendlyMoving is currently operating in Orange County and Long Beach, California and will expand throughout Southern California in 2008 and ‘09. For more on Spencer’s company, check out their RecoPack YouTube Video.
 

Related Stories on GetWithGreen.com
- Used Cardboard boxes offer a solution to your remodel move

Can you receive more from your home loan if you are making energy efficient improvements?  The answer is yes with an EEM.  But is an Energy Efficient Mortgage right for you?  Watch this video from Local12.com, and learn a bit more about Energy Efficient Mortages or EEMs!