Sierra Club Green Home

If your situation demands a more assertive approach, try the following tactics. They could help you avoid air conditioning, and its associated costs and greenhouse gas emissions, entirely. Or–if you really need to flip the AC switch–they’ll help you save money, fuel, and greenhouse-gas emissions as you enjoy the cool air.

The business of greening your home can seem complicated at times. But with refrigerators and freezers it’s simple. These appliances are likely consuming 9% to 15% of your household energy, and the newest ones are models of efficiency. Don’t put up with an old energy hog.

The StopWaste Business Partnership teams up with Peerless Coffee & Tea Company in Oakland to reduce waste and save Peerless over $110,000 a year. Businesses in Alameda County, California can save money and environmental impacts with free waste reduction resources.

LAGUNA BEACH, CA – “FORTUNE Brainstorm Green” is probably the number one environmental business conference in the world. A host of top CEOs, heads of NGOs, and a variety of consultants, private equity investors, venture capitalists and journalists descend upon the spectacular Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel each April — this was my third annual event — [...]

A cat lying in a sunny window knows how to get warm. So do you when you open the drapes on the sunny side of the house on a cold day. Dozens of simple actions like that can lower your heating bill, regardless of the type of heating system you now have. When it comes time to think about a new system, however, the choices become more complicated. You need to consider the differences between furnaces that heat air and furnaces that boil water.

Are your home energy bills out of hand? Does your house feel drafty even when you crank up the heat? Have you been dragging your feet on giving your home an energy-efficiency tune-up because you don’t know where to start? Watch this home energy audit video and then click to read how a home energy audit could start you on the path to having a green home.

The week-long Affordable Comfort, Inc. (“ACI”) National Home Performance Conference kicked-off March 29th this year in San Francisco, bringing together thought leaders from every sector – corporations, small businesses, federal government, state and local agencies, non-profit organizations, politics, private investment firms, and academia – to collaborate and solve issues in home energy efficiency.

When it comes to keeping heating and cooling costs in check, insulation is the first line of defense. In the winter, heated air moves from living spaces to attics, garages, and the great outdoors. Heating systems fire up to replace all that lost heat. In the summer, air conditioners kick on as heat moves from the outside in.

We see the stories of local governments and organizations all across the country that are beginning to develop and implement sustainable solutions and programs throughout their cities. Most of these stories come from cities that are normally associated with already being ‘green’, such as San Francisco or Portland and Seattle. One group of city officials, public and private business owners, individuals and non-profits have decided to band together in what would be a seemingly unusual place to go green; In the middle of the Mojave Desert, in a little place called Las Vegas.

Not sure where to go for your next vacation? Why not combine a visit to an exotic locale with helping needy animals? There are plenty of great volunteer programs throughout the world to help feed, protect or provide medical care to animals or to assist with scientific projects related to tracking migration patterns or counting diminishing populations.