The Real Folsom Blog

Green Tuesday: Cool Energy-Saving Tips from PG&E

At last week's Folsom Broker tour meeting, our guest speaker was a nice lady from PG&E touting the company's energy efficiency programs including rebates and incentives. She also handed out a PG&E booklet called "30 Simple Energy Things You Can Do To Save the Earth." Here is Thing No. 5 you can do to save energy: Cool AC Tricks. Among the simple ways you can save energy:

• Set the thermostat as high as possible. The minimum recommended energy-efficient summer temperature is 78 F.
• Keep the heat out. Minimize the amount of heat entering your home by closing shades and curtains on hot days. Sunlight coming through windows can account for 20 percent of your AC bill.
• Turn off the AC when you leave the house for several hours or more.
• Cool your AC unit by keeping it in the shade. An AC exposed to direct sunlight will use up to 5 percent more energy than a shaded one. Consider building a simple wooden shade screen for your AC if it's in the sun.
• Care for the coils. You can serve energy by taking care of AC coils. They won't work efficiently unless the fins that cover the coils are clean and straight. So check them annually.
• And don't forget to replace or clean dirty filters. Did you know they are the number 1 cause of AC service calls? The filters are easy to replace. Consider putting a new one every month during the summer.

That's it for today!

Green Tuesday: SMUD Offers Renewable Resources Plans

SMUD's Greenergy program may be just what you are looking for if you are interested in making your home a bit more green. According to its web site, more than 30,000 SMUD customers are currently signed up for its Greenergy program, making it one of the nation's top green pricing programs.The program basically offers customers the choice of supporting energy created by green resources. As a Greenergy member, SMUD matches up to 100 percent of your electric needs with purchases of renewable resources for use on the SMUD power system for pennies a day (there are four option plans). Plus SMUD matches 40 percent of the Greenergy premium you pay to help secure new power plants fueled by renewable resources. For more facts on this program, go to http://www.smud.org/community-environment/greenergy/faq.html. This one is worth at least checking out!

Green Tuesday: Turn your desktop green!

I just heard of a desktop application--available for both PCs and MACs--that provides headlines, facts, and tips designed to help you reduce your carbon footprint with newsfeeds from the Environmental News Network.Unfortunately, for those of us who have already gone to the Vista OS, the widget is not yet available. For the rest of you, why not check it out: you can download it at enn.com/static/ecowidget.

Green Tuesday: Green Folsom Home Makes the News

There are lots of reasons to be proud to live in Folsom and it's no surprise that Folsom has been top ranked several times in recent years as a great place to live. Add to that the fact that in the 600 block of Mormon Street, Folsom builder Robert Walter is building a home so energy-efficient he is aiming to have it qualify for a LEED Platinum designation--a designation for sustainable home building given by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. To give you an idea on what an achievement that would be: only one other home in California has achieved that designation.  Walter is working with SMUD to build a home with energy-efficient features that will translate into a combined $24 or so a month for gas and electricity. Jim Wasserman of the Sacramento Bee did a nice piece on Walter's project in his Home Front column this past Sunday. Check it out. The home is scheduled to be open to visitors in late Summer. I'll let you know when that's scheduled.

Today's Green Tip: Eco-Friendly Paint Strippers

For the green-minded homeowner, the California Association of Realtors has started sending out “green tips of the week.” I receive these through my e-mail and thought it would be worthwhile posting them on my blog. This week: Eco-Friendly Paint Strippers, namely--aMAIZEingTM Biobased Solvent & Stripper. This is a 100-percent bio-based solvent and stripper, derived from corn and soybeans, that removes adhesives, paint from concrete, masonry, wood, metal and other surfaces. This multipurpose product also can be used to remove graffiti from concrete. Go to www.greenproducts.net for more info. And for other eco-friendly paint strippers, check out www.m-tc.com/ and www.soyclean.biz/paint_stripper.asp.

When Shopping for a Home, Consider House's Orientation

Home buyers get dual pane windows, they get ceiling fans, they get Energy Star appliances. Those are the energy efficient features in a home they're checking out that buyers are most likely to notice, understand, and see as valuable. But there is one very important factor in the energy efficiency equation that can get overlooked--the home's orientation. Good building orientation can really maximize opportunities for passive solar heating (when it's needed) and solar-heat-gain avoidance (during cooling time). For example, did you know that East and West glazing (glass or windows) is the hardest to control because of the low sun angles and is the greatest contributor to unwanted heat gain? And that well-designed overhangs on a properly oriented building can use the seasonal angles of the sun to reduce heat gain in summer and allow heat gain in winter? Next time you go house hunting, consider the building's orientation. For more info, check out the U.S. Department of Energy's Web site for an article on "Sunspace Orientation and Glazing Angles." I promise it's not at dry reading as the title sounds.

Make it a great day and aim to live a bit greener today than you did yesterday!

New Guidelines Out for Green Home Remodeling

Good news for those of us trying to live a little greener in our homes. New guidelines for green remodeling of residential properties were just released by the American Society of Interior Designers Foundation and the U.S. Green Building Council. The new REGREEN guidelines are conveniently organized by the 10 most common home remodeling projects. You can download the REGREEN guidelines on the USGBC's Green Home Guide Web site. You will also find a link to a green products checklist and case studies showing green design in practice. Check it out!

Green Financing Options Can Be Attractive Options

Have you heard of an Energy-Efficient Mortgage? Don't worry if you haven't. Many still don't know about this green financing option that you can apply for at the time you purchase a home. Here are the basics of how it works: Let's say you've fallen in love with a house you now want to purchase. You notice however that it's lacking in the energy-efficiency department. When you go to apply for your home loan at the time of purchase, you can roll the cost of needed energy improvements into the mortgage, amortizing the cost of improvements over the life of the mortgage, based on the expected savings. What makes this financing especially attractive is that it will not compromise the loan to value ratio for the borrower. EEMs are not for everyone, but they are certainly worth a look when you are faced with needed energy improvements.

Free Tree Program Is Worth A Look

If you haven't heard yet about SMUD's free tree program, consider this a heads up, and if you have, consider it a reminder of a great program that can help you make a positive impact on the environment while reducing your home's cooling costs. The basics: As a SMUD customer, your home may be eligible to receive up to 10 free shade trees. Just call SMUD's partner, the Sacramento Tree Foundation (916-924-8733), and make an appointment with one of their community forresters. The forrester will come out to your home and site your trees. About 10 days later, the trees are delivered to your home, with stakes and ties. All you have to do is plant the trees (I know, I know, easier said then done in Folsom--think crow bar to get those rocks out). SMUD estimates you could be saving up to 40 percent on your home's cooling costs once the trees mature and those trees help remove carbon dioxide from the air and produce oxygen in return. Sounds like a good deal all around to me!

Ways to Green Your Home

Green is all the rage these days. Let's hope for all our sakes it's not a passing trend. This one we need to stick to. The easiest way to start living green is in your own home. Here are a few thoughts on ways to green your home from the latest issue of California Real Estate magazine:

• Use Energy Star Appliances. Energy Star products meet strict energy-efficiency government guidelines and use less energy than conventional products.
• Replace Regular Light Bulbs with CFLs. Compact Fluorescent Bulbs use about 75 percent less energy than a regular bulb and last 10 times longer. Be careful how you dispose of them, though. CFLs contain mercury and also require special precautions if they break.
• Install Energy-Efficiency Windows. Low-emittance glass-coated windows can reduce heat inside your home in summer and keep it in in winter.
• Install Solar Paneling.
• Install Low-VOC Materials in Your Home. Volatile Organic Compunds are compounds that vaporize at room temperature and contribute to pollution. You can reduce VOC emissions by installing low-VOC carpets and natural wood flooring.

Just a few thoughts on greening your home. Have a great week!