The Dallas Green Zine

Several things to keep in mind when cooking:

• Covered pots boil faster
• Pressure cookers and microwave ovens reduce cooking time
• When cooking multiple things, re-use an already hot burner or heated oven
• Let frozen food thaw before cooking
• Cut food into smaller pieces before cooking - so that it cooks more quickly
• Turn off stove before finishing cooking; the pot will continue to retain its heat for a while
• Pick the right size pot for what you are trying to cook
• Electric heats more consistently than Gas; however Convection heats even more consistently and quickly
• Many foods don’t require preheating the oven
• You can turn the oven off earlier, if you don’t open the door while baking
• Opening the oven door can cause the temperature to drop by 25-75 degrees

Having owned a few properties over the years, one of the biggest disappointments has been the poor insulative quality of the walls. And short of building a new home using insulative concrete forms, earth berms, or straw bale… what is an existing home owner to do?

In an ‘Improving Home Energy’ seminar that I frequently deliver around the metroplex, I discuss foam insulation products that can be injected into existing walls and generally provide an R4 value per inch. In addition to greater thermal insulation, many of these products will provided added sound insulation and fire resistance as well.

However, when asked: ‘Where in Dallas can I get that done?’, it has been difficult to locate local companies that do this for existing homes.

Well recently, I learned of a company called Homesulate that has an office in Plano that will do just that. According to ‘Homesulate’: A simple 1-day project can slice energy bills in older homes by as much as 50%.’

They use a non-toxic, non-expanding foam that contains no formaldehyde or urethane. It was developed with a grant from the Department of Energy. (It is important that any foam products you choose do not contain formaldehyde, urethane, CFC or HFCs. And like many products of this type, you can recoup some of the expense through Energy Tax Credits and Energy.

For more information about Homesulate, contact Carolee.K@HomesulateNT.com or visit here: http://www.homesulatent.com/

And if you’ve had any experiences with the product, good or bad, please share them here.

When purchasing a home, more than ever before, homeowners are concerned about energy efficiency. Consumers are seeking methods and materials to improve the structural integrity of their homes, cut down on energy costs, and become environmentally friendly. Builders, perhaps more than anyone, know the value of a well-constructed home in the long term. And with weather more unpredictable than ever and statewide building codes taking effect, Dallas area builders have been soaking up industry knowledge perhaps faster than ever before.

Meeting the demands of a diverse, growing number of homeowners can be challenging, particularly because homeowners are becoming better educated and more involved in the building process.  When it comes to energy efficiency, home buyers are asking more questions about how to keep their house cool in the summer and warmer in the winter, while keeping their heating and air conditioning costs low.

“Home buyers are taking a more proactive, involved role in learning what can be done to keep their most prized possession running at optimal efficiency,” said Mark Ludwig, DuPont Building Innovations regional manager. “Building weather-resistant homes that maximize efficiency is a top priority, and we couldn’t agree more. We actually remind customers to build for their worst day, not their typical day.”

Ludwig’s strategy during construction is to promote the use of quality building materials, such as a LEED-certified house wrap, which not only impacts energy, but moisture protection as well. Creating a complete building envelope can help create a constant, breathable membrane to protect a home and a home buyer’s wallet.

“Consumers no longer overlook what is being put in the ‘guts’ of their walls,” Ludwig said. “A well-built system is the first line of defense. It also allows for a healthier living space.” Also, according to Ludwig, builders who embrace sustainable building are using a complete weatherization system that includes a house wrap to create an air barrier, window and door flashing systems to prevent water leakage, and adhesive tape to completely seal the building envelope.

Buyers are encouraged to feel comfortable asking their builder or contractor about three key efficiency zones to help reduce energy costs.

Zone #1: The Attic

Unconditioned attic space can be one of the leading troubles spots in a home. If not properly insulated, during the winter, hot air can escape from the attic, while in the hot summer months, warm air can remain trapped. By deflecting direct heat off of the roof, cool conditioned air can remain in the home. Using an insulation or wrap specially designed for the attic can help save energy by keeping conditioned air in the right places. A good website to visit for insulation tips is the U.S. Department of Energy: Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy site (http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer).

Zone #2: The Walls

During construction, builders and contractors should use a house wrap under the siding that meets ENERGY STAR standards. A quality wrap will help protect the house, much like a windbreaker protects a person when it’s raining, forming a protective skin around walls, doors and windows. Installing a house wrap can help lower heating and cooling costs by keeping outside air and water out, while allowing moisture vapor to escape. The adoption of the 2006 International Residential Code in Texas now requires the installation of some kind of weather resistant barrier. Without a house wrap, homes are more vulnerable to exterior deterioration, air and water infiltration, and possibly mold.

Zone #3: The Windows

Finally, windows are perhaps the most obvious potential energy loss area of a home. Windows themselves can be sealed properly by using what is called window flashing, and choosing insulated glass panels will help the house be further protected from air infiltration and minimize drafts and leaks.

Consumer education can help builders to better communicate with their customers. Communicating with the buyer certainly is a must, as Texas home buyers become more energy conscious as well as knowledgeable about the building industry. For more information on ENERGY STAR products for your home visit: http://www.energystar.gov/.

Brian McKay is a marketing manager for Weatherization Partners, Ltd., in Dallas.

This is from Dennis Hyde who is with the Dallas Water Utilities Water Conservation Division…

I would like to bring to your attention one of the Free programs for Dallas Water Utilities customers in which I am responsible. We are offering Free irrigation Audits for homes that have an outdoor sprinkler system. This is strictly a volunteer program, and could possibly save the customer money on a monthly basis, as well as save the natural resource of water. Please feel free to contact me for further information, and if interested we could attend any meetings that are held to share this exciting program as well as others. Thank you very much for your time.

Dennis Hyde
Landscape Irrigation Auditor - Dallas Water Utilities
Licensed Irrigator 7640, Licensed Backflow Tester 9558
1500 Marilla, Room 5as
Dallas, TX 75201

214-670-3434

http://www.savedallaswater.com

When experienced green builder, Jim Sargent, spoke at the Dallas Sierra Club in late summer about ways to improve energy efficiency for existing homes, he addressed a topic that was on everyone’s mind: cooling.

Sargent said that in this region, when looking at cooling, leaks are more important than R value. The most effective method for finding leaks is to have a Home Energy Rater come to your house and do a blower door test to detect for leaks.

The Attic
 
The first place to look for heat concerns is in the attic. When the sun hits the roof in the summer, it takes the roof to about 185 F. This goes through the shingles and roof decking. Sargent recommends moving the insulation from the attic floor into the roof system so that the attic becomes a conditioned space. He said that although radiant barrier will help, it’s really a half step, because ideally, you should foam the bottom half of the decking. Given the intense heat on the room, putting foam against foil would negate the fuction of the foil. If you put foam in the decking, you do not need to get rid of the insulation, but make sure to use an open-cell foam because a closed cell foam will trap moisture between the roof and the foam.

The West Side of the House

Another potential area of concern is the west side of your house. Sargent suggests that you avoid putting windows or a garage on the west side of the house, and west facing windows can turn the house into a furnace. If the garage is on the west side, make sure its west wall is well insulated. Use trees, vines or an awning to keep the sun off west-facing windows. At 10 am, the sun should be on your east windows, not the west ones.

For south-facing windows, overhangs are best for keeping the sun off the windows. You need to keep the sun outside the house. For this reason, in the summer, insulating drapes don’t help; however, they are very useful in Winter.

AC Systems

In Dallas, AC systems are usually one ton per every 1100 sq ft. However, most AC systems are oversized and turn off and on too frequently. It takes a lot of energy to do this, so much so that you can sometimes see the lights flicker. An oversized AC unit goes on and off repeatedly because it’s so large and therefore cools quickly. ‘Humidity in Dallas is worse than most people think it is.’ said Sargent, It’s 80% humidity in the mornng every month. ‘In our house, we want to get humidity down to 45%.’ Having a steady stream of cooling reduces this. He also suggests that when you replace a system that you replace the ducts. Current ducts average a 35% leak factor.

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Jim Sargent is the designer and builder of the Zero Energy Home in Frisco and is currently developing and building the first ecovillages in north Texas. You can contact him through AndersonSargent Customer Builder at http://www.ascbuilder.com.

When I first moved into my house about 10 years ago, the insulation appeared to be fairly consistent across the attic. However, several months ago, when I climbed up there to put in some cable, and I cast a bright spotlight across the space, I could see a few bald patches in places. 

Having heard many times that before you do anything with your doors and windows, you should insulate your attic first, I decided to add blow-in insulation. Many new homes get just ‘the builder’s bare minimum’ insulation and the insulation in older homes tends to break down over time. Consequently, you might want to take a look around your attic when the weather gets cooler. 
 
I went to my local big box DIY store and bought 30 bags of the blower insulation, which is recycled newspaper that is treated to be flame resistant. These bags were around $7/each (as of April 2007).

At either Lowes or Home Depot, when you buy at least 20 of these, you can rent the blower machine for free. Although the instructions for my attic indicated 30 bags, I ended up using only 22 bags.
 
Using the Blower Machine
 
Using the blower machine is really a 2-person job. One person is in the attic shooting the insulation around and the other is loading the bales into the machine.
 
When you set up the machine, try to put it outside or in the garage and then run the blower hose through the house into the attic because it gets very dusty. Unfortunately, for me, I could not put the machine outside, and so I used a large plastic sheet to ‘wall off’ the blower to a corner of the room. (You will still end up with a thin film of dust around the machine though.) 

When you’re up in the attic blowing the insulation around, make sure that you wear a mask! The material isn’t nasty like fiberglass but it gets very dusty.
 
As you’re adding the insulation, make sure that you’re not covering any vents. And given that heat is more of an insulating concern than cold in our region, you may want to add extra insulation to the south facing parts of the house or to areas that do not have tree cover.
 
Results

After I took these measures in April, my electric bill was significantly lower. Granted, the summer was a little milder and I have 2 gas appliances (furnace and hot water heater). However, my Green Mountain electric bill for June was $105 and the July bill was $128. This is for 2250 feet of space in an older one-story house (1600 sq ft house + 250 sq ft sunroom + 400 sq ft of garage). Also, although this was lower than last year, there are other contributing factors that help keep the electric bill down:

• use of CF bulbs
• thermostat set at 78F in Summer
• more efficient laundry practices
• replacing filters regularly
• keeping coils clean behind refrigerator
• it’s a one-story house
• there are lots of trees

Finally, in addition to saving money on electricity, you can also get a tax break on the money that you spend for insulation.

‘Geothermal will cut your electrical bills in half,’ said Rick Horvath of WaterFurnace, speaking at the Dallas Alternative Energy meetup last Saturday. Horvath is one of eight Certified Geothermal Designers in Texas.

He explained that a geothermal pump is basically a heat pump that is tricked into believing it’s ground temperature all the time. Just below the surface and downwards to about 1000 ft., the ground temperature is 68-72 F all the time.  Coils are installed in the ground and water is pumped through them to use the ground for heating/cooling.

Although geothermal installations are often shown as running horizontally across landscape, WaterFurnace usually installs the pipes vertically here in Texas.

They drill one 4 1/2″ hole down to 250 feet and run a 1″ polyethylene pipe to the bottom where it loops as a ‘u’ and comes back up again. To keep the infamous north Texas soil from moving the pipes, a third pipe, a bentonite grout slurry is added to the hole.

One hole is drilled for every ton of AC. So, if you have a 2000 sq ft house that uses a 4-ton system, then you would have a hole drilled for each ton. Horvath, who had five holes drilled for his house, recommends that you add an extra hole. He said that the holes have to be placed at least 20 feet apart.

Typically, 75 gallons of water may run through these pipes, being recycled over and over. The entire system is sealed and so after one year, maybe 1/2 gallon might need to be readded. Horvath said that it’s rare that a system will have a leak, but when it occurs, it will be where the pipes have been welded together, usually just 3-4 feet below the surface. He did warn that it’s very important to hire a company that has a good reputation because a bad geothermal job can be really bad.

Geothermal also provides 100% of your hotwater needs. Before it goes into the ground, it is used to heat water to 140 degrees. 

In the past, air conditioning systems were rated by the SEER standard (Seasonal Electrical Efficiency Rating). However, because ratings can be affected by geographical locations, SEER is no longer recognized in the AC industry, and a new standard EER (Electrical Efficiency Rating). The highest traditional system is 21 SEER; whereas, geothermal systems are at 37 SEER. Horvath said that geothermal systems should reach 40 SEER by 2010 (although by then everything will be measured in EER).

According to the EPA, adding a geothermal system, in terms of carbon reductions is equal to planting an acre of trees. By installing geothermal, your home is automatically rated as an Energy Star home, which can increase its appeal if you later decide to sell it.

The future looks optimistic for geothermal. The geothermal market  is currently averaging 25% growth and over a million units have been installed. WFI  Industries is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.