Green Building Part 1-Resources

For the past few years, I have been very involved with “going green” and “green building”. I became even more intrigued at the 2008 Cool House Tour when I saw the innovative strides that builders, architects, and home owners were making in Austin. While attending a recent conference, I learned that it is easier to “go green” than one might think. It is as simple as changing your light bulbs to the new fluorescents(you know the squiggly looking ones that give you the energy of 60 watts but at 13 watts used). They may look a little weird, but they save huge KW of electricity or you can go a step further and sign up for the “Green Energy” program at Austin Energy (www.austinenergy.com ) which means that your electricity will come from the huge wind turbines out in West Texas! They even offer a fixed rate plan which means your KW rate that you pay now is good until 2022! Yes, Green Choice is Number 1 in the nation and with that offer you can see why! Here is a quote from Austin Energy website: GreenChoice^®

“At 665 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) in subscriptions and growing, Austin Energy’s GreenChoice is the nation’s most successful utility-sponsored green power program. GreenChoice® electricity comes from clean, renewable sources….The GreenChoice charge of 5.5 cents per kWh is fixed until December 31, 2022. For residential customers, it replaces Austin Energy’s fuel charge of 3.65 cents per kWh. This means the average residential customer consuming about 1,000 kWh per month will pay about $18.50 more per month for GreenChoice power” source: www.austinenergy.com

And with rising fuel costs, you can see that although your initial bill may be slightly higher, you will be paying a fixed rate for the next sixteen years! Wow! Do you think someone could do that with gasoline?

So that is my first recommendation after you start recycling and after you change out those old KW eating lightbulbs for the new fluorescents ! And keep checking in for more innovative articles as we learn more on this exciting field of urban sustainability and going green. And I can tell you, from personal experience after living in a “green built” house for 3 years now, it feels really good to do something that is for us (and our children coming up), our city, and our planet! Oh yes, and I rejoice at my very low electric bills every month and my neighbors were stunned until I explained how I did it with a few innovative changes. For more, see the complete guide at Sustainable Building Sourcebook: 50+ Topics . It is just a fantastic resource for everyone who is trying to save money on energy and fuel costs these days!