Hooray for Cycling, But Let’s Be Honest…

Credit to The Bike Tube

Yes, cycling is great- we love it so much at Greenwerks we even added to the many blogposts about it! But here the thing: cycling for all commuting purposes is not practical for the typical woman.  I can’t speak for men, but even if you aren’t wearing a skirt or heels, you’re likely to sweat your face off in addition to through your dress shirt, not to mention gain a not-so-functional wind-blown or helmet-hair style.  The point of this post isn’t to hate on bicycling, but not once in the innumerable posts I have read, ever, have I seen this said, even in the positive and negative-posts about bicycles. I think that it needs to be said because it is the most problematic factor I have experienced in trying to incorporate bicycling into my daily regimine.

During my first spring in Chicago it rained nearly everyday, and although my guy friends were gungho about riding in the rain, it didn’t work out so well for me even after trying. Not only is it somewhat dangerous, if you feel like being presentable at all, riding in the rain is not a possibility.  Come summer I was psyched for the nimbus cloud-free skies, ready to ride.  I loved the idea of saving $80 a month (at the time this was the CTA card fee, doesn’t sound too bad now), getting regular exercise without having to pay for or make time for gym visits or outside runs, and keeping my carbon footprint on the DL.  I was interning and attending classes everyday during the week and always made good time riding to my necessary locations.  I also looked like I just hopped off after an hour on an elliptical upon arrival.  All I could think about was showering and how my sweat-soaked clothes were going to stay stuck while drying against my skin.  I tried to deal, thinking that I didn’t need to feel clean all the time, or that I was just being high-maintenance.  It was only after a ride over to meet some friends for lunch a few neighborhoods over, a brief 4-mile ride, when a friend had to pull me aside to tell me that I had little dead bugs stuck all over my sweaty forehead (the ones you typically clean the windshield), did I reconsider my cycle-based transit routine.

I still love to bicycle and do so somewhat regularly, but I reserve it for times when dead bugs on foreheads won’t be a problem.  While you can still be earth-friendly by taking public transit or carpooling, there is no need to compromise your cleanliness comfort level by bicycling.  Some of the times that are still great for bicycling are going out on those low-key nights, like to a neighborhood bar or hanging out at a friends house- summer nights are cooler and there is less traffic, lessening the chances of your face being stuck behind a car’s tail pipe.  If you’re going to be beach, the park, a festival, etc. and going to be sweating it up anyway (and probably not wearing a full face of makeup), go ahead and bicycle.

There is also a lot of hype about the health benefits of people who bicycle vs. non-bicyclers, and though while not denying them, general exercise or cycling for exercise (not commuting- i.e., treating it as a work out), offers those benefits of good health as well.

So, for those of you who have no qualms with cycling as commute, continue forth! For the rest of us, no pressure- we’ll seek earth-friendly transit and exercise in its other great forms.

Keeping Your Garage Door Safe

Garage doors are sometimes the most neglected parts of the house – but homeowners beware: they can also pose potentially hazardous risks. A lot of home inspectors will tell you that. That’s because these garage doors are often the single largest moving object in a home. For their sheer weight and size, one must take the necessary steps to maintain garage doors and keep things safe with and around them.

Here are a number of helpful tips to properly maintaining operations of a garage door:

1. Mounting: Always be sure to position mounting tracks and hardware properly. Otherwise, the door might come off the track and fall – an unimaginable hazard.
2. Bracketing: Corner brackets typically are attacked to the cables that help lift the garage door. Make sure, then, that these brackets are installed properly and tightly; if they’ve been left loose, they may fly off at any instant at a very dangerous speed.
3. Panel section: In between the door sections, one would usually find joints. To avoid danger, never let yourself or anyone else try to open or close the garage door by putting fingers near or in these joints and their small openings. You can add finger-protection features to these joints to further minimize the risks.
4. Entrapment: Newer garage doors come with modern safety devices and features such as electronic eyes and pressure-sensitive controls. If your door is older and does not have any of these, consider getting one: apart from detecting objects that obstruct the door, they minimize the other risks that garage doors may pose.

Garage doors shouldn’t be the most neglected part of the house. Ensure maximum safety and maintenance by paying garage doors much-needed attention.

Practical and Ready-to-Use Green Technology

Stuff like wearable, data-logging and other nanotechnology clothing or solar celled balloons seem cool and savvy but are hard to support because of their impracticality (so far) and lack of popularity (again, so far), both qualities which make them hard to find to buy in the first place.  Recently, though, Apartment Therapy Marketplace offers up 10 sources for Green Tech which actually seem practical and if not yet popular, at least easy to find and buy.

10 Sources for Green Tech [below is taken from this Apartment Therapy Marketplace post]

Tech is an area where sustainability remains the exception rather than the rule, but a few companies are working to provide green options for consumers. From air filters to energy-efficient computers to solar-powered chargers, here’s our list of good sources for green tech.

Indoor Air and Water Quality

• Allergy Buyer’s Club: This online store sells a big range of high-efficiency air purifiers, as well as vacuums, allergen-proof bedding, dehumidifiers, humidifiers, and other home health products like full-spectrum lights and water filters.

• Gaiam: This online and catalog retailer is a comprehensive source for “wellness” products: air purifiers, water filters, energy-efficient climate control devices, etc. They carry a range of HEPA air filters, as well as humidifiers, heaters, and fans.

Energy Savers

• iGo: Based out of Scottsdale, AZ, online store iGo sells travel chargers and energy-saving devices that plug into an outlet and automatically power down your electronics when they’re not in use.

• Green Depot: Like HomeDepot, but greener, these stores are a comprehensive resource for hardware, lighting, power strips, chargers, etc. Their energy monitors and smart power strips can help you conserve the amount of juice you’re using for your electronics.

Solar Powered Chargers and Laptop Bags

• Solio Portable Solar Chargers: These smart chargers contain tiny solar cells that convert sunlight into power for your iPhone, BlackBerry, or any of the 3200-plus devices that Solio says their chargers are compatible with.

• The Ultimate Green Store: This store bills itself as a “one stop green shopping destination,” and they have a whole solar section with laptop bags and chargers, as well as a good office supply department with green furniture, recycled paper, and recycling bins.

Recycled and Energy-Efficient Computers

• Verdant Computing: They clearly list the green criteria for each product on their site. For instance, Lenovo’s ThinkVision L1700P monitor is EPEAT Gold and GREENGUARD certified, ENERGY STAR 4.1 compliant, and made from 30 percent post-consumer recycled plastic content.

• RePC: RePC (Recycled Computers and Peripherals) has two locations in the Seattle area and online. They’re a progressive example of a store that revamps, reuses and recycles old gadgets.

Energy-Saving Lighting

• Lampa: Based in Aquebogue, New York, Lampa’s lighting is compatible with compact fluorescent bulbs and they have a product take-back policy for recycling fixtures. Many of their drum shades and lamp bases are crafted from FSC-certified woods and veneers.

• 1000Bulbs.com: This online store sell a wide range of dimmable CFLs, LEDs, and rope lights. They also list color temperature and lumen output for each of their bulbs, so you can get a good idea of how much light the bulb will put off, and how warm or cool it will be.

Photo: Solio Portable Charger by Flickr member cogdogblog used under Creative Commons license

Go Green, Ride a Bike

Are you serious about going green and living a more environment-friendly lifestyle? Take that bike out of the basement and start pedaling away. The two-wheeled, human-driven, single-track vehicle is one of today’s most excellent solutions for being able to get around – without harming the environment. There’s also no better place for cyclists than the Greater Chicago area, which features 315 miles (and growing) of bikeways spanning it.

Let’s look at a number of the green benefits of bicycling:

• There’s no fuel necessary – just your pair of legs and you’re good to go. Instead of having to take the car out of the garage for a quick trip to the grocery, the bank, or the post office, why not unchain that bike and take it for a ride? It burns no fuel – just unwanted calories – and thus emits no carbon dioxide.

• It saves you energy and money. A bike makes perfect economic sense. Think of how much cash you have to shell out just using a motorized vehicle: gasoline, car insurance, parking tickets, car repairs, and even towing fines. With a bike, you can generate savings you’d otherwise have squandered on the above-mentioned transportation expenses. It’s pretty low-maintenance, too.

• A bike does not contribute to air pollution. Again, it’s because there’s no fuel burning or smoke belching involved. It even helps reduce the risks of respiratory illnesses that are associated with poor air quality. Even if you use a hybrid bicycle – a bike with batteries installed on it – you’re using a vehicle that has far less pollutants and impact on the environment. It is easy on the earth and a quick, easy, and clean method of transportation.

• Biking keeps you fit and improves your health. The physical and mental benefits of riding a bike are tremendous and widely acknowledged. It’s a great cardiovascular exercise that helps lower your risk of heart disease, tone your muscles, lower your stress levels, and elevate your mood. Just being able to see the local city or town views while biking is relaxing.

• It also reduces noise pollution. And traffic congestion. Come to think of it, biking is a quiet exercise that can spare us the ill effects of the noisy, stressful, jam-packed roads. Viewed from a wider perspective, it can enhance the livability of communities and neighborhoods and make them all socially healthier.

• Bikes save land space. They’re much smaller than cars, and thus require far less land for use. Imagine if there were fewer motorized vehicles and much more bicycles: there’d be far less need for highway development and road construction, two of the things that irk motorists in the first place.

Home Inspections Can Expose Real Estate Deal-Breakers

Is sub prime lending the cause of the housing slump? Many news articles and reports on the housing market will be quick to point this out as responsible for low house sales, but it is also true that potential homebuyers with good credit are becoming more and more cautious.

“It’s a buyer’s market, so people are getting smarter, even pickier, about making decisions,” says Kathleen Kuhn, President and CEO of HouseMaster, one of America’s biggest home inspection organizations and a leading provider in Chicago. “Buyers these days realize that they can negotiate and renegotiate based on the results of professional home inspections.”

If sellers are unwilling to make repairs or sell for a lower price, Kuhn adds, buyers – already aware of the growing number of properties on sale – may not hesitate to consider other options and start looking elsewhere.

Through its franchises, HouseMaster has performed an estimate of two million professional home inspections for clients. This is how Kuhn knows about many of the conditions that put off homebuyers and break deals. Sellers, however, don’t necessarily think that securing a sale fairly is out of their control. “We’ve encountered an increasing number of home sellers who are actually getting home inspections before placing their properties on the listings,” Kuhn notes. “It’s their way of fixing problems and addressing the issues beforehand, so that when the time comes when they have to face the buyers, they will worry less about these prospects walking away.
Kuhn goes on to identify four concerns that buyers and sellers alike consider as potential real estate deal-breakers:

1. Problems with roofing: Homebuyers and new homeowners do not want to close a deal and then find out that they would have to shoulder the cost of repairing – or even replacing – a defective or leaking roof.
2. Electrical concerns: Defects related to electricity turn off lots of homebuyers, especially if they find old panels that are undersized, and which may cause potential fire hazards.
3. Issues with the structure of the house: It’s not a common problem, but it’s a major one. Buyers will not want to shoulder the cost of restructuring a house; that’s why presale inspections would sometimes require calling in a structural engineer, a repair professional, and other qualified specialists.
4. Synthetic Stucco or Exterior Insulation Finish Systems (EIFS): In general, EIFS is a viable and cost-effective alternative to traditional stucco. In some cases, however, moisture gets trapped behind the sidings as a result of improper installation. The structural damage this can inflict can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

According to Kuhn, sellers can leverage home inspections so as not to be caught off-guard by issues. “In today’s market, every edge counts. Because buyers have more choices now, they’ll only be really open to dealing with conscientious, responsible sellers who have taken all the steps to sell fairly and competitively.”

Urban Harvest: Grow Your Own Window Farm

Want to grow your own greens but don’t have an outdoor space? The Window Farms Project started in 2009 by Britta Riley and Rebecca Bray for an artists’ residency at NYC’s Eyebeam Center for Art and Technology and has grown from PDF directions of how to build an entire farm yourself to available kits, assembled by The Mid-Hudson Workshop for the Disabled, for purchase from the website. You can grow up to 25 different vegetable plants including lettuce, herbs, snap peas, cherry tomatoes, peppers, kale, small squash, edible flowers, etc. in your regular window.  Depending on whether you buy all the materials and build it from scratch or if you invest in a kit installation time varies from about 10 to 3 hours. This is a great way to keep your veggie and fruit eating local as well as add some plant-love to your apartment. You can go here to get directions for the different versions (from two to four+ rows).  Rock that fall harvest!

Credit to WindowFarms

Credit to Calfinder.com

Credit to Flavorpill

8 Great Tips on Green Kitchen Remodeling

Remodeling a kitchen makes perfect sense – particularly if you haven’t yet taken the next step to make this part of your home green and environment-friendly. A conventional kitchen can account for most of a homeowner’s energy use, and – according to the U.S. Department of Energy – kitchen lights, refrigerators, and cooking appliances alone are responsible for 41.5 percent of energy consumption at home. That’s not including dishwashers, fans, water systems, and other related equipment.

Going green in the kitchen therefore represents a huge opportunity not only to increase the value of your Chicago home, but also to improve the environmental sustainability of the place where you live. It’s certainly a smart investment. Not only does a green kitchen remodel help you save up on energy and utility bills; it also minimizes your risks of exposure to toxic materials, making your Chicago home and kitchen a safer, brighter, and greener place, one in which you can live, work, wine, and dine without causing serious harm to the environment.

Not quite sure how to start the process of greening your kitchen? Here are eight great tips:

1. Resize

We don’t mean having to crop the floor area of your kitchen. Rather, we talk of getting rid of super-sized, energy-guzzling kitchen appliances like the bulky refrigerator, the huge microwave oven that you only use to heat up the take-out Chinese, the supposedly state-of-the-art dishwasher that’s taking up so much kitchen space since it’s been installed. Ask yourself: which of these huge appliances do you really need? Perhaps it will be more worth your while to replace these oversized energy guzzlers with compact, energy-efficient kitchen appliances that can save you extra money, extra working space, and extra energy.

2. Install energy efficient windows

Going green isn’t just about electrical appliances and kitchen equipment. It’s also about eco-friendly design. Your green kitchen remodeling project will therefore benefit greatly from the installation of energy-efficient windows that promote natural daylight (instead of artificial) and free ventilation (instead of mechanical). By “energy-efficient windows” we mean nothing too revolutionary: operable windows and skylights – which can help clear away vapors and air toxins indoors – are simple and perfect for the green kitchen. With these, you may not even have to use the exhaust fan as much as you used to.

3. Use eco-friendly fans

Ceiling fans or high-efficiency exhaust fans with adjustable speed are great for improving the natural ventilation in your kitchen. These also operate quietly and help you reduce your energy consumption while evacuating cooking fumes, strong kitchen odors, and indoor air toxins.

4. Switch to CFLs

Make the switch when you decide to remodel your kitchen in your Chicago home. Well, you know what? You don’t even have to wait for that kitchen remodel project to happen. Go ahead and replace those incandescent light bulbs now with compact fluorescent lights, which have been designed to use so much less electricity and save so much more energy. The average lifespan of a CFL is also between 8 to 15 times longer than that of incandescents, saving you the time, money, energy, and gasoline from frequent trips to the hardware store.

5. Replace the ten-year-old fridge

If you’re serious about remodeling your kitchen into a greener one, make sure you get yourself a newer, more energy-efficient refrigerator. The conventional fridge is second among home appliances in energy consumption – next only to air-conditioners – so if your model is at least a decade old, it’s about time for a replacement. Opt for refrigerator models with Energy Star logos, as these can maximize your energy and dollar savings without compromising refrigeration features or the freshness of those fruits and vegetables.

6. Separate, recycle, and compost

The rewards of active waste management are most evident in the kitchen, where one might produce lots of food scraps and garbage. As you undertake your green kitchen remodeling, be on the lookout for models of kitchen cabinets that are conveniently designed to help you segregate and take your garbage easily out of sight.

7. Get a purifier

The recommended water purifier is the kind you install under the kitchen counter – as opposed to the one that is simply mounted or attached to the faucet. Not only does this under-the-counter purifier help you conserve water; it also packs in better filtering capabilities, getting rid of metals, bacteria, pesticides, and other similar elements before running water emerges from out of your kitchen tap.

8. Go for eco-friendly flooring and counters

A major green kitchen remodel project wouldn’t be complete without environment-friendly flooring and countertops. Classic linoleum and cork are great materials for your kitchen floor since they’re made with renewable resources. For the hardest-working surface in your kitchen, meanwhile, a butcher block or tile countertop are only some of the eco-friendly options. Or you may work together with Chicago’s green contractors to replace, repair, renew, re-grout, refinish, or install your kitchen countertop. This will really depend on the material with which the surface is made, but the key is to make this part of the kitchen as durable, easy-to-clean, and safe as possible.

Local Efforts: ComEd Smart Meter Program

Credit to Greentechmedia.com

ComEd, along with many other electrical companies throughout the US such as Southern California Edison, Duke Energy in North Carolina, Pacific Gas and Electric in California, Empowerment Institute in New York, and Oncor Electric Delivery in Texas, among others, has implemented the use of Smart Meter programs.  ComEd’s program offers an online Web page that lets people monitor their electricity usage in easy to understand language.  The site compares your energy usage to that of similar households and offers helpful tips on how to conserve energy usage and save money.

Credit to Comed Smart Meter Brochure

Obviously it is quite nice to be able to view daily or however frequently desired your household energy usage to mitigate that pseudo-shock of those $200 bills at the end of the month, but there has been some criticism of how much this will actually help people conserve energy.  The basic tips of unplug appliances and anything else in our electrical sockets not actually in use, turning down/up heat/AC when no one is home, keeping blinds closed in the summer, “winterizing” windows in winter, taking shorter showers, etc. are already pretty popular.  Possibly, those who don’t do those things yet due to lack of effort may be finally pushed into it through smart-meter programs, or possibly ComEd and other energy companies really do have further insight?

Either way, it is great to see any sort of effort from ComEd, especially with the online access, and hopefully we’ll learn a few things and save some energy.

Quick Facts on Insulated Glass

Thermal glass, thermal panes, double- or triple-sealed or –glazed units: they may come in different names, but the most general term for all these is IGU, for insulated glass units. These feature two to three panels of glass that are separated by air spaces. Used for the thermal and acoustic insulating properties of a gas (or vacuum) contained in the space formed by the unit, IGUs can provide good insulation without sacrificing transparency.

Glass in itself doesn’t have the proper qualities for insulation. But by providing for the air spaces between the panes, insulated glass can reduce the rate of heat transfer to less than half the heat loss or gain than what would be observed through a single-pane unit. Insulated glass can also contribute to greater energy efficiency, as it reduces heat gain during air conditioning. Moreover, the use of insulated glass has been known to minimize the drafty feel that one would get standing near a window on a cold day – say, in metropolitan Chicago in winter – and which is commonly referred to as convection cooling.

Manufacturers of IGUs usually add reflecting coatings or high-emittance glass in order to raise the insulation performance of insulated glass units. That’s because the reflection allows for slower heat transfer through the glass. It is also common for manufacturers to use argon and krypton in place of air to reduce the rate of heat transfer.

One of the things that homeowners should be cautious of – and which home inspectors will be quick to point out – is that insulated glass can suffer from breaks within the airtight seal and around the perimeter of the assembly. Whether due to manufacturing defects, improper installation, neglect, or aging, these breaks indicate that repair or replacement may be necessary. Typically, however, IGUs can last about 15 to 20 years, and – if properly maintained – possibly even longer.

Loss of seal is another concern, as it leads to signs of condensation and fogging between the panes. This can be influenced by the general climate or by natural aging. To a degree, the energy-saving qualities of the insulated glass may also be affected, although IGUs will still produce slower heat transfer rates than single pane glass.

LEED and Passive Houses around Chicago

It may seem far-fetched for us renters to consider life that doesn’t include some serious winter bills from People’s Gas but there quite a bit of good architecture that is based around LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), an internationally recognized green building certificate system.

The LEED for Homes Illinois website, run by the Alliance for Environmental Sustainability, outlines the many benefits, financially and environmentally, of living in a LEED-certified home. These benefits seemed slightly vague in the explanatory video, dedicated to describing how LEED homes maintain energy efficiency, water efficiency, high indoor air-quality, etc. through:

• Integrated design
• Durability strategies, avoid common costly repairs
• Location + linkages [public transit instead of car etc.] / urban setting
• Keeping away from parkland/wetland/ endangered species
• Sustainable site promotes native landscaping, reduce impact of home
• Water efficiency, high efficiency toilets, washer machines, etc. / use of rain water etc.
• Energy and atmosphere, use of renewable energy , more comfortable lower utility bills, reduce green house gas output
• Materials and resources low or zero VOC paint less chemicals in air, recycling as much as possible
• Proper venting
• Awareness and education, home owner’s manual or maintenance, operation of home

All of these things sound well and good but what it was the project page and links that best conveyed the message of LEED home benefits. Take the Yannell Residence for example, with 88% expected energy savings and 88% construction waste diverted from landfill.

Credit to LEED for Homes Illinois

The “butterfly” roof not only hides the 48 solar thermal and solar PV panels but also collects rainwater and it is a net-zero house, which means the home produces at least as much energy as it uses over a year. Much of the house was constructed with recyclables (ex. pressed wheat and recycled plastic fencing) and fully utilizes its southern access through its design. At 4,200 square feet, this is a one of the larger posted on the site.

This blog covers a more urban –based LEED house located in Logan Square.

Credit to GreenLogan.blogspot.com

Passive Houses seem have to have taken the backburner in popularity but just by hopping around local home development progress blogs it seems as though Passive Houses are relevant and possibly growing in popularity.  This blog outlines the building of a furnace-free house in Oak Park.

Credit to Four Thick Walls blog

This is the embodiment of the passive house, originally practiced in Germany but quite popular all over Europe now. The house will survive the Midwest winters through intensely tight thermal envelope created by modern materials and rigorous design standards. Warmth is generated and maintained from appliances, lights, electrical devices, body heat, and sunlight. Architect Tom Bassett-Dilley provides a Passive house prototype on his personal blog, while also helping build the above discussed passive house and other energy efficient homes that can be found on his site.

The differences between LEED and Passive Houses are explained in detail here by Monique Lee Hawthorne, LEED accredited professional.  Basically where LEED houses are certified and then gain points for any extra green features, Passive Houses are or just aren’t Passive. Passive houses “green” features aren’t as obvious or flashy as LEED houses but ultimately As Hawthorne articulates, Passive houses are climate and location specific and primarily focused on energy efficiency which can be well-demonstrated with a $5 electricity bill for January…

“LEED buildings are found to use 25-30 percent less energy than non-LEED buildings. Passive House buildings can slash the heating energy consumption of buildings by up to 90 percent, and overall energy consumption by 60 to 70 percent.

LEED does not require any minimum air changes per hour, even though building leakage contributes greatly to energy loss. Passive House requires less than or equal to 0.6 ACH at 50 Pascal pressure, which is 10 times tighter than Energy Star.

All in all, the Passive House standard takes a big bite from a building’s impact on the environment.
LEED and Passive House do not preclude each other-a building can obtain LEED certification and also meet the Passive House standard. Some have said LEED is ahead simply because it has been around longer.”