When constructing the HGTV Green Home, the walls were made from ICFs lego like walls. ICF stands for Insulated Concrete Forms and is a good energy saving product that makes the walls 6 inch thick  in reinforced concrete.  It has an R-value of 32 which is the insulation’s effectiveness.  The “R” stands for “resistance” to heat-flow, or cool airflow.

Part of the roof is a Green “Living” roof with special ground mats under the soil that both retains water and drains water as needed.  It makes a good eco-friendly use of a space that you can plant vegetables and herbs on for your use.  There is alsoa rainbarrel to collect the water to use on your plants.

The wood floor is an eco-friendly floor by Shaw Floors.  It is an innovative floor that uses 50% recycled content which means that every part of the tree is used. Also the area rugs are recyclable and the tiles are made from 40% recycled material and they are made in the USA.

Energy Star appliances are used throughout the home with an efficient washer and dryer. Also there is a re-circulating water system and an aerator used by the faucets which pumps air through them to use less water.

This is a wonderful green home in the Port St. Lucie area of Florida. Check out the full project on HGTV Green Home and don’t forget to register to win on this site or directly on HGTV.  You can register once a day until June 5, 2009.  Good Luck to all our weblog readers at Green Earth Friend!

Serves about 4 people.

Ingredients are as follows:

1/2 head cabbage, tough outer leaves removed, thinly sliced
1 pound small red potatoes, scrubbed well and cut in half
1/2 cup thinly-sliced onion
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup milk
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

First:  Steam the potatoes in a steamer basket over boiling water until tender which is about 15 minutes.  Place them in a large bowl and cover to keep warm.

Second: In a heavy skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and add onion, cooking about 2 minutes. Add cabbage and continue cooking about 5 minutes, until cabbage is beginning to brown, stirring frequently.

Third: Reduce heat to low.  Add milk, salt, and pepper, stirring to combine. Cover skillet and cook about 8 minutes, until cabbage is tender.

Fourth:  Add cabbage mixture to the potatoes in the bowl and mash with a potato masher.

Solar panels can be expensive up front,  however they will add value to your home and make living there a lot cheaper, if you are not planning on moving soon.  There are also many rebates and tax incentives available to install solar power systems to your home.  Maybe think about just installing solar power to your hot water heater, if you are not able to do the whole house.  

Instant hot water heaters are very efficient and easy to install.  Not heating the water until it is going to be used and heating the water closer to your sinks can save a lot of water that would generally go down the drain while waiting for it to get hot.  You also save by not maintaining water temperatures in a traditional hot water heater. 

There are also energy saving wood furnaces and fireplaces  that burn wood pellets,  shelled corn or black sunflower seeds.  These heating devices are automatically fed so the only thing you really have to to is load the pellets in a hopper.  No more chopping wood. The pellets are made from sawdust created at saw mills that would otherwise be thrown away or burned, so it is a very sustainable product.

If you have a swimming pool, then think about placing a couple of pool heating solar panels on your roof, which is another good way to save some money on your power bill.  Standard plug in pool heaters use a lot of energy and if your not swimming in the winter, can be a big waste of money. The roof mounted solar heaters work by themselves and your pool will be warm year round, so if you do decide to take a dip and it’s nippy outside your pool will still be inviting.

Just by adding a few of these green items to your home, you will not only add some equity to your home, but your home will also be more appealing to a person looking for a greener home.  If you are staying in your home, you will notice a decrease in your power bill with the added green technology.  All things considered, making your home a little greener creates  a win-win situation for all.

Surrounding the roof is a glass canopy with a decorative band of 60,000 photovoltaic cells, providing 213,000 kilowatt hours of energy per year, preventing the release of 405,000 pounds of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.  The skylights in the roof open and close automatically to maintain a perfect temperature inside the building.  There are special humps on the roof which create a natural cool breeze that is diverted into the building. 

It cost half a billion dollars to complete this project .  The museum also contains it’s own rain forest and several aquariums.  They also have an albino gator in captivity and a living coral reef in a huge aquarium along with 4,000 fish.  Ocean water is pumped in from 2 and a half miles away.  It is filtered and warmed and pumped into the aquariums. There are hundreds of other energy saving systems in the building. 

Below are  some videos so you can see for yourself.

Kron 4 Newscast on the Museum:>

California Academy Of Sciences:>

California Academy Of Sciences Virtual Tour:>

Electric toilets work differently.  There is a company out there that is using cutting edge poop technology.  You place a bowl liner in the toilet and when your done, the liner and the poop, drop down into an incineration chamber where your poop is blasted in seconds. The electric toilet is more versatile as to placement because as long as you have power, you can place this toilet anywhere you want.  With the composting toilet, you have to have a separate treatment container.  If you have a basement it can be placed there, otherwise it would have to go outside.

Both of these toilets are a good durable way to help the environment and your wallet, not having to pay per flush.  Well thats the scoop on the poop.  Here are some informative videos: one is a video of the electric/incinerator toilet.  The other is about an eco rest area and the eco toilet system they are using in Sweden which is quite incredible.

View the Electric/incinerator toilet here:>

View the Eco Toilet System they are using in Sweden here:>

Brad Pitt

In 2004, Brad Pitt became a supporter of John Kerry, who takes the fight for the environment personally and slammed attempts by the republican party to sneak in a proposal attached to a defense bill, to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  Then again, in 2007, members of the John Kerry community worked hard to support passage of an energy bill that contained the first real steps this country has taken to combat the climate crisis in years.

Pitt and close friend George Clooney are both putting in their time to help, along with the cast of oceans 13, who started “Not On Our Watch” that uses their fame to bring to the attention of the world, human rights violations from around the world.  Clooney drives eco-friendly also, owning a Tango electric car.

The beginning of the “Make It Right” project began in July 2006 when Brad Pitt got involved in Global Green USA, to promote the rebuilding of New Orleans.  The company, Global Green USA, after the devastation from Hurricane Katrina and the inadequate attention given by the government, made a commitment to rebuild, in a sustainable manner, New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast that was affected.  They began by constructing 5 single family homes, an 18 unit apartment building and a community center as a landmark sustainable development called the Holy Cross Project. 

Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Home 

If 50,000 homes were built with the same standards the as the Holy Cross Project, the residents of these new homes would save $38,000,000 to $56,000,000 dollars every year also reduce the carbon footprint of New Orleans, by Half a million tons of CO2, the equivalent to removing 100,000 cars from the road.

Through their green, affordable housing community, the Holy Cross Project, the “Make It Right” Project and their work on greening schools throughout the area, Global Green and Brad Pitt are committed to creating a green, sustainable and affordable model for development and rebuilding for New Orleans.

If you installed 3 or 4 skylights in your home you would notice a huge difference in your utility bill.  Skylights provide year round free light for your home and add value to your home.

View this video to see for yourself the benefits of skylights.

Green Bean Casserole

Prep Time: 5 min.        Cook Time: 35 min.       Serves: 6

2 (14.5 oz.) cans Westbrae Organic French Cut Green Beans, drained

1 can Healthy Valley Organic Cream of Mushroom Soup

3/4 cup organic milk

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 tbsp. soy sauce

1 1/3 cups Golden Farms Organic Crispy Onions

In 1 1/2 qt. casserole, mix all ingredients except 2/3 cup Organic Crispy Onions.  Bake 30 min. at 350 degree F or until hot; stir.  Top with 2/3 cup Crispy Onions. Bake 5 min. or until onions are golden.

Jim, the owner of the Newfoundland company, says that the cans have an excellent heat transfer capability and are a very sustainable material.  The system supplies about 2Kw of heat circulating through your home which will feel warmer than a 2Kw electric heater because the electric heater does not blow air.  The only problem with this heater is that it only works when the sun is out, however when installed during the day it will prevent your conventional heater from running all the time, saving you money and making your wallet happy and green.  Watch the video below to see it in action.

Part of having a Green Home is thinking about how you light your green home. Improvements to your lighting is one of the quickest ways to reduce your power consumption. In an average month 11% of your power usage is lighting. Using newer technologies and advances in light bulbs and timers you can save 50% to 65% of that power usage.

Green Tip #1. 

Use tube fluorescent bulbs or compact fluorescent bulbs. They consume 75% less energy and last 6 to 10 times longer.

Green Tip #2

You also need to consider installing timers, occupancy sensors, and photo cells to reduce the amount of time your lights are actually on. 

Green Tip #3

Another way to go green in your home with lighting is using task lighting which only lights what you need rather than garish overhead lighting.  Make sure you have 4 ft fluorescent light bulbs in your garage and other work areas. 

Green Tip #4

In the yard, solar lighting is the best way to illuminate your way.  There are hundreds of different types of lamps for this purpose and they are inexpensive and will pay for themselves in no time.

Green Tip #5

Taking advantage of daylight is very important to your green home.  Open blinds or curtains and think about installing some skylights, if you do not already have them, because skylights will light your entire home until the sun goes down.

Green Tip #6

Placing and setting timers with all your appliances that have standby systems, will decrease unnecessary power usage and save you money, since they use power 24 hours a day. 

By implementing these techniques, you will make your home greener and also notice a substantial savings on your power bill making for a happy green wallet.