Tips for a comfortable, healthy home

Green building is a holistic concept that starts with the understanding that the built environment can have profound effects, both positive and negative, on the natural environment, as well as the people who inhabit buildings every day. Green building is an effort to amplify the positive and mitigate the negative of these effects throughout the entire life cycle of a building. While there are many different definitions of green building out there, it is generally accepted as the planning, design, construction, and operations of buildings with several central, foremost considerations: energy use, water use, indoor environmental quality, material section and the building's effects on its site. There may be some financial incentives for energy efficiency improvements. Check out this website to see what might apply for your situation https://www.huduser.gov/portal/consumer/financial_incentives.html. The incentives for your state can be found at https://www.dsireusa.org/.

Here are a few steps you can take to make your home efficient and healthy:

• Shop for sustainably produced furniture. Look for products certified by Greenguard of the Forest Stewardship Council
• Search for green, non-toxic cleaning products at https://www.grove.co/home
• Visit your local used building materials yard or store
• Check out https://www.energy.gov/articles/resolve-save-energy-year for more tips on energy savings
• Contact Pepco at https://homeenergysavings.pepco.com/residential/energy-assessment or BGE at https://bgesmartenergy.com/residential/help-me-save/quick-home-energy-check to have a free home energy audit.

• When buying appliances look for the blue ENERGY STAR mark
• Install and set a programmable thermostat
• Use weather stripping and caulking to eliminate air leaks around exterior windows and doors
• Install low flow shower heads, faucets and toilets
• Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with your county/town recycling guidelines
• Connect with neighbors and community members through Freecycle.org or another to give away or sell items you no longer need