3 ways to create an energy-efficient kitchen

If you're planning a kitchen remodel, you're probably thinking about ways to make your kitchen more attractive and easier to cook in, but have you taken energy efficiency into consideration? With the largest number of appliances of any room, you have perhaps the greatest chance at energy savings in your kitchen. Keep these things in mind when designing your kitchen for maximum energy efficiency:

• Check on your oven's efficiency. Although stoves and ovens are not rated by the EPA, you should still make an effort to know how much energy your particular model will use. In general, gas models are the most efficient, followed by electric convection ovens.
• Upgrade your fridge and freezer. The older your refrigerator and freezer are, the less energy efficient they are likely to be. Upgrade to modern ENERGY STAR certified appliances, guaranteed to meet the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy's set of strict efficiency standards, to save more than 20 percent of the energy your refrigerator would otherwise be using.
• Use water-saving devices. Touch-free faucets are becoming more popular in homes these days, as they allow for the automatic, immediate shutoff of water after you withdraw your hands, rather than having to wait for you to remember to turn the water off. Other popular devices are faucet aerators, which can bring water savings of up to 50 percent, and toggles that allow you to switch between fast and slow flows of water so that you can quickly fill pots with water when needed and keep the flow low at other times.

To determine which parts of your home could use an energy upgrade, schedule an energy audit with Alban Inspections today. 

When you're trying to follow the latest energy efficiency news, sometimes the dense terminology used in industry publications can set you back in your understanding. However, don't assume that a term has a complicated, difficult definition just because it seems long and technical. Here are some of the more commonly used terms you might find in energy efficiency news:

• Cooperative electric utility: A cooperative utility is owned jointly by all of its customers, placing responsibility for the business on the collective. These organizations are usually tax-exempt and are now becoming more popular with the rise of solar cooperatives due to the dropping cost of home solar panels.
• Demand response program: A demand response program is an initiative by a utility company where customers are asked to cut their energy use during a certain time of day in exchange for a discount on their bills later.
• Fossil fuels: This term is thrown around a lot, often haphazardly, without proper definition. Fossil fuels include coal, oil and natural gas, and are formed by the compression of biological material deep underground over time. Fossil fuel burning is responsible for a large proportion of carbon emissions and are often blamed for bringing about global warming.
• Geothermal energy: This is energy extracted from hot water or steam buried in the earth, and can be used to heat homes or to generate electric power.
• Thermal boundary: A wall, roof, ceiling, door or window that separates an area of the home being heated from the outside or an unheated space. In order to achieve the greatest energy efficiency when heating your home, your thermal boundaries should be as impermeable as possible.

To schedule a home energy audit in the Washington D.C. area, contact Alban Inspections today. 

If you have ever thought that the movement toward more energy-efficient home designs and appliances could be hindered by lack of public interest, you may want to think again, according to a recent Demand Institute poll. The pollsters surveyed over 10,000 households nationwide and found that, though safety, affordability and privacy were all top concerns, energy efficiency beat them all out for the title of Americans' top housing concern.

Specifically, the survey focused on unmet needs, meaning that energy efficiency was the topic on which there was the greatest gap between what people said they valued and what they actually had in their home. According to the poll, 71 percent of households felt that energy efficiency was of high importance, but only 35 percent said that their home was currently energy efficient. 

The Demand Institute, a nonprofit think tank that monitors consumer demand, attributes the strong consumer interest in energy efficiency and energy-efficient devices to the increasing cost of home utilities. 

"Utilities are a significant and regular part of households' budgets, and spending on utilities has risen more quickly than overall consumer spending – 56 percent vs. 38 percent growth since 2000," Louise Keely, president of the Demand Institute, said in a statement.

The institute's report, entitled "The Housing Satisfaction Gap: What People Want, but Don't Have," is part of a larger project focusing on the future of housing and community demand that was carried out over a period of 18 months and surveyed over 10,000 consumers in 2,200 American cities and towns.

To make a step toward improving your home's energy efficiency, contact Alban Inspections for an energy audit today.  

According to a new report from the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center, the smartest investment you can make this year won't be found in the stock market. The study found that in 46 out of 50 major cities in the U.S., investing in a five kilowatt solar energy system for your home can bring better financial returns than investing in a stock market index fund.

Home solar power has long been seen as the domain of wealthy and especially eco-conscious homeowners, but dropping solar prices and increasing public interest in renewable energy have made solar power a viable option for many middle-class homeowners as well.

"This study proves once again that solar makes great financial sense for a large number of Americans," Rhone Resch, President and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), said in a statement.

As this blog has reported in the past, the solar energy market has been booming recently, leading to lower prices and greater savings for homeowners. The solar market has grown by 50 percent or more in each of the past three years. The price per watt of solar energy had fallen to $3.92 by the middle of 2014, a 41 percent decline since 2010. Homeowners can also thank successful government incentive programs, such as the Solar Investment Tax Credit (SITC), and the increasing competition between solar providers for the increased affordability and profitability of home solar energy systems.

To schedule an energy audit and find out where you can make energy efficiency improvements to your home, contact Alban Inspections today. Our certified home inspectors will tailor their recommendations to your specific home and financial situation.

What have you been doing for the past two and a half minutes? According to a recent study, within that short period of time, a new solar power system was probably added to a home or business in the U.S. After a long stretch of uninterrupted growth in the solar industry in this country, the rate of installation of new systems has now reached an unprecedented high.

According to a new report from solar experts GTM Research, the solar industry installed an average of one new solar PV system every 2.5 minutes in 2014 as a result of investments totaling over $15 billion. In 2013, the installation rate of one system every 4 minutes was notable enough for President Obama to mention it in his State of the Union address; now the rate is twice as high.

The number of new installations this past year was more than four times what it was four years ago in 2011, when only 50,000 new systems were installed. The new systems comprised about 200,000 residential installations and about 10,000 for commercial use. 

2015 and 2016 are expected to bring even greater growth to the renewable energy industry in this country. If the solar industry's current rate of growth continues, there will be 900,000 new solar power systems installed in 2015, and 1 million in 2016. By then, the rate of installation will have jumped to one system every one minute.

In the time that you've spent reading this article, another solar power system has probably been connected somewhere in the U.S. For advice on how to take advantage of energy efficiency upgrades in your own home, contact Alban Inspections today. 

If we had infinite money and time, many of us would completely revamp our homes with all the high-tech energy efficiency improvements we can think of, but in reality, financial limits have to come into play. If you're tired of paying exorbitant amounts for heat and electricity, but have to accomplish your renovations on a tight budget, here are the top projects to undertake for maximum financial returns, in order of effectiveness:

• Air-seal the home. If you have to focus on one area of the house to prevent warm air from escaping and raising your heating bill, look at your attic. Sealing gaps in the attic floor, which often appear around chimneys, pipes, wiring and light fixtures, will dramatically increase your home's ability to retain heat.
• Insulate the attic floor. Again, the attic should be your main target when adding insulation to your home for energy savings. Experts recommend maintaining at least 10 inches of insulation in the attic floor to keep rising heat from escaping through the roof.
• Replace your old heating system. Technology in this area is progressing rapidly, so if you still have a heating system that's older than about 20 years, it's time for an upgrade. Even ordinary appliances sold today will lead to savings, and ENERGY STAR certified appliances can save you even more.
• Seal off your ducts. According to Money Magazine, improving the seals on exposed HVAC ducts in your basement or attic can slash your heating and cooling costs by up to 30 percent. Despite its name, don't rely on duct tape alone to do this job; it requires special tape and mastic.

For help customizing an energy efficiency improvement plan, contact Alban Inspections for an energy audit today. 

According to industry experts, 2015 could be a huge year for energy efficiency. Renewable energy is booming across the country, and energy efficient devices controlled by the consumer are becoming commonplace. With continued improvement in this area, 2015 could be the year than energy efficiency replaces outdated energy-inefficient models in mainstream America. Check out these four expert predictions for the coming year:

• Conservative challenges to energy regulations will fail. Conservative groups will continue trying to pass legislation to repeal clean energy standards, but this year, the sheer profitability of the clean energy industry will lead states to reject these old-fashioned appeals to an antiquated sense of best business practices. 
• Customers will have more control of utilities. With the rise of the "smart house" and increased consumer interest in green technologies, many utility companies will be introducing programs that will allow their customers to monitor and customize the services they're receiving.
• States will experience a high return on energy efficiency investments. Many states made large investments in energy efficiency programs a few years ago, and in 2015 they will finally start to reap the financial benefits. For example, the $253 million spent on energy efficiency in Michigan in 2013 is expected to lead to savings of over $948 million in the next few years.
• The solar industry will boom. Solar's share of the U.S. energy market has been rising exponentially for the past few years and shows no sign of slowing down. Experts predict that this year will bring an end to some of the contentious issues that have been causing divisions in the solar industry and lead to more collaborations among industry leaders.

For help making your own home more energy-efficient, contact Alban Inspections for a personalized home energy audit today. 

In the past, most home solar installations have been placed facing the south. This was based on the calculation that the panels receive the most sun overall throughout the day when oriented in that direction. However, several recent studies indicate that we may have been orienting our solar panels in the wrong direction for environmental efficiency all along. West-facing panels are now considered to be the better choice for home solar production.

This shift in ideas was brought on by the realization that solar panels were not providing the majority of their energy during the hours of the day when it was most needed. Southern-facing panels generate the majority of their energy at midday, when the sun is highest, but this is actually the time of least demand, since many people work during the day and leave the lights off in their homes. The more effective time for solar panels to draw their maximum amount of energy is during the peak after-work hours, when people come home, turn on their lights and entertainment systems, and cook meals. West-facing panels produce 49 percent more electricity than south-facing ones during these peak hours, according to a study by the Pecan Street Research Institute.

Utility companies are beginning to implement changes in their compensation programs for solar panel owners in accordance with these new findings. Previously, owners of solar panels were paid a flat rate for each unit of energy throughout the day, but now some companies are considering paying according to demand or offering bonus rebates for installation of west-facing panels.

To see how your home's energy efficiency could be improved, contact Alban Inspections for an energy audit today. We will make customized recommendations based on your particular home and situation. 

A green or living roof is a roof on which a garden has been planted using various green technologies to make the plants able to self-sustain and provide benefits for the inhabitants of the home and the public. Here are just a few of the good things green roofs can bring to individuals and communities:

• Feeds the family: Clippings from a green roof make perfect food for small herbivores like guinea pigs and rabbits. In some cases, homeowners can even grow herbs and vegetables on their roof.
• Fire-resistant: It may come as a surprise, but covering your roof in vegetation actually helps stop the spread of fires because the soil and plants themselves are more damp than ordinary roofing material.
• Helps the roof last longer: Most roofing materials dry out and begin to crack within a few years because of their constant exposure to sunlight. Roof gardens protect the surface from the sun and help it to withstand the changing seasons.
• Increases property value: These days, green home features are all the rage, bringing in a premium on the market compared to homes without such modifications. A green roof is a good investment even if you're planning to sell your home soon.
• Keeps the home cool: In summer, a green roof absorbs the sun's rays and shades the roof itself, reducing the amount of heat that is absorbed and transferred into the house and helping the homeowner save on air conditioning.
• Reduces rainwater runoff: Plants need water, so if you install a green roof, about 80 percent of the rainwater that hits your roof will be absorbed immediately by the plants. This helps prevent flooding and excessive runoff collecting in gutters.

For more information on how you can add green features to your home, contact Alban Inspections for an energy audit today. 

Yes, it is possible to completely overhaul your home for increased energy efficiency by hiring contractors and taking days to finish the process. However, not every energy efficiency project has to be a huge time investment. These easy DIY energy-saving projects will take you just hours to complete, leaving you with plenty of time to kick back and reap the benefits.

• Install door sweeps: To ensure that your doors form an airtight seal against the floor when shut, it can be helpful to install door sweeps. This will keep heat from escaping under drafty doors.
• Insulate your windows with bubble wrap: Spraying your windows with a thin mist of water will allow you to easily apply bubble wrap to the surface, reducing heat loss through the glass. This may make it difficult to see through the windows, but still allows just as much sunlight through.
• Put a blanket on your water heater: To reduce your water heating costs by 4 to 9 percent immediately, simply cover your water heater with a water heater blanket or jacket (available at most hardware stores). This will reduce standby heat loss, which occurs when hot water sits in an under-insulated water heater while waiting to be used in the house.
• Seal heating ducts: A surprising amount of energy is wasted by heat escaping your heating ducts through leaky joints or lack of insulation. Seal all the exposed duct joints you can find with duct mastic to prevent hot air from escaping. This should only take a few hours, but will bring you a substantial chunk of savings over the course of a few years.

To learn more about the energy efficiency possibilities for your own home, schedule an energy audit with Alban Inspections today.