Aching to go green but don't know where to start? Making your home more power-efficient and Earth-friendly has moved beyond obvious upgrades like swapping out incandescent bulbs for compact fluorescents or installing a couple of solar panels. A lot of environmentally friendly home renovations have emerged in the last couple of years, and they're easier to implement than ever before. Even better, lots of them look sexier, too. Follow the Continue jump below to read about the 10 newest green renovations you could be seeing in your home or your neighbor's soon, and be sure to check out what other sites in the NBC Universal family are doing for Green Week.
1. The EcoDrain
WHERE YOU'LL FIND IT In the shower
WHAT IT DOES Typical showers use lots of heat, but when that hot water hits the drain, it's still pretty warm. EcoDrain works as a small heat pump, using the leftover heat from "used" water to help warm the incoming stuff. Don't worry: clean and dirty don't ever mix, and it squeezes out the extra heat that would otherwise help warm your city sewer system.
HOW IT'S GREEN Heating hot water is one of the biggest single energy costs in a typical house, and therefore possibly one of the biggest sources of your home's carbon emissions. EcoDrain cuts energy use for a normal shower by almost 50%. The downside: It's an extensive installation, since it's hidden in the floor under your shower.
2. Bluenergy Solarwind turbine
WHERE YOU'LL FIND IT On the roof
WHAT IT DOES Combining solar and wind power generation, the turbine's wind vanes are covered with solar cells that are themselves coated with a patented Teflon-like fluoropolymer. That means they can capture sunlight from any angle. Unlike the typical propeller windmill design, the Solarwind is virtually silent and poses no threat to birds or drunk partiers.
HOW IT'S GREEN The efficiency of the design means the Solarwind generates electricity in breezes as low as 4 mph.
3. Reclamator water recycler
WHERE YOU'LL FIND IT Outside, buried under the lawn
WHAT IT DOES The Reclamator is a self-contained water-treatment system that lets you reuse the same water over and over again. Unlike a septic tank or a municipal system where waste water just goes "away," the Reclamator uses applies a proprietary process to settle out solid waste and draw off clean treated water that passes municipal standards for drinkability. It's not cheap — each system runs around $25,000, there's a monthly charge for maintenance, and if the kids dump motor oil down the toilet, you'll need people to come fix it — but it does allow for self-contained living and depending on your water bill, it could pay for itself over time.
HOW IT'S GREEN Besides cutting down your water waste, the Reclamator can be made from recycled or repurposed materials. But the biggest savings are in energy and infrastructure costs, which are really the biggest part of your monthly water bill.
Advanced Environmental Systems
4. Swash toilet seat
WHERE YOU'LL FIND IT The bathroom
WHAT IT DOES Bringing together the function of a bidet with the sleek styling and luxury of a European sedan, your Swash experience starts with a heated seat and ends with "a warm water wash with temperature, pressure, and pulsation adjustability" that you can tweak from a convenient touchpad within reach.
HOW IT'S GREEN The U.S. uses 3.2 million tons of toilet paper annually — about 54 million trees' worth. The process of making that paper is bad enough, and then there are all the problems of treating that flushed solid waste. The Swash allows you to eliminate 90% of that paper.
5. Redwood Renewable Smart CoolRoof
WHERE YOU'LL FIND IT On the roof
WHAT IT DOES Redwood Renewable's Smart CoolRoof takes rubber from old car tires to create new rubber material, and then embeds solar cells in it. Together, this gives you recycled roofing material with excellent insulation that generates power for your home. Plus it actually looks like a typical roof versus looking like a roof with big, ugly solar panels on it .Best of all, it costs about half of what a typical solar-panel installation would cost.
HOW IT'S GREEN Waste tires are a huge environmental headache. Redwood Renewables uses an ultrasonic, chemical-free process to actually devulcanizes the rubber. (To visualize devulcanization, think about how you'd "unfry" a fried egg.) The renewable energy generated is icing on the cake.
6. GraniteCrete surface
WHERE YOU'LL FIND IT Near your patio or in your driveway
WHAT IT DOES GraniteCrete is a new surfacing material that looks like a "crushed organic surface" on the outside (i.e. small gravel) but has nearly the strength and erosion resistance of concrete. It's also porous, meaning water runs through, not off, a GraniteCrete walkway or driveway, so there are no water-runoff problems or slipping while running to the car in the morning.
HOW IT'S GREEN Storm water runoff is one of the toughest ecological problems we face. This water, carrying oils, trash and other pollutants, gums up sewage-treatment plants or goes straight in oceans or rivers. A porous surface like GrainteCrete allows excess water to run through surfaces, not off of them, and so it sinks into the soil beneath where natural filtration can help clean it.
7. Bonded Logic Ultratouch insulation
WHERE YOU'LL FIND IT In your walls
WHAT IT DOES Bonded Logic has found a way to turn your old jeans into insulation. UltraTouch has better sound-absorption qualities than fiberglass insulation with an equivalent thermal rating. Rather than use the usual chemicals, Bonded Logic uses borate to ensure fire and fungi resistance, so its less toxic than table salt. That also means you don't need to suit up like you're going into a biohazard hot zone to install it.
HOW IT'S GREEN UltraTouch takes material otherwise bound for a landfill and finds another use for it. And it's designed to replace fiberglass insulation, which is an environmental problem to make, shape, store and install.
8. Elevated Landscape Technologies Green Walls
WHERE YOU'LL FIND IT Exterior walls, bathrooms, kitchens, or anywhere damp or smelly
WHAT IT DOES A new twist on the houseplant: Using recyclable plastic or wood as a base, a wall of plants helps filter out smells and particles from the air, absorbs airborne water vapor, and does the usual plant duty of converting carbon dioxide into oxygen. You can plant your own wall, or if you're black-thumbed they're also available preplanted.
HOW IT'S GREEN You don't have to waste power on ventilation since living walls can handle water vapor from steamy showers and cooking, as well as smells, dust and stale air. And using them on exterior walls will add insulation properties, too.
Elevated Landscape Technologies
9. Rhino-Shield ceramic paint
WHERE YOU'LL FIND IT Your exterior walls
WHAT IT DOES Rhino-Shield makes a ceramic-based paint that lasts a lot longer than its non-ceramic counterparts. The paint contains tiny ceramic spheres as pigment "extenders." Ceramic paints look as good as new well after most other paints have faded — Rhino-Shield offers a 25-year guarantee — and those spheres give them better insulation, too.
HOW IT'S GREEN The 25-year lifespan of this product means it's cleaner than applying other paints every five years.
10. Plogs
WHERE YOU'LL FIND IT You may be living in one.
WHAT IT DOES We used to call it prefab housing. Or a cottage. Or a shed, even. But California's Resource Conservation Group has found a novel way to reuse old Douglas Fir lumber, common in house construction in the early 20th century, into Portable Living and Office Green Structures — Plogs. Each one is custom-built, going as large as 16 x 16 feet. You also have your choice of skylights and windows as well as plumbing and electrical options. The designs start at a little under $10,000 and can be made into whatever hideaway your green heart desires.
HOW IT'S GREEN Construction and demolition waste makes up a huge portion of waste in landfills. And we've long since cut down the older forests that provided the lumber in the first place. Plogs take a discarded resource and makes it useful again.
editor@dvice.com
By kizer at 5:53 PM ON 11/18/08
Yeah having bushes on your house looks good until you get a bug infestation or you start to get moss problems.
Other than that I think it looks nice. =)
By Sarah Palin at 7:23 PM ON 11/18/08
I love to be green. I had a green plant installed on my body so I can deal with humidity, wetness or stuff like that, you betcha.
I try to save energy while shooting caribou from my state helicopter at taxpayer's expense.
By Holly at 7:47 PM ON 11/18/08
LOL @ THAT
By Barack Osama at 7:55 PM ON 11/18/08
Yea it looks great. me and kobe are gonna go shoot hoops. but my advisors will make it green.....like money!
By Mel1143 at 7:58 PM ON 11/18/08
hahaha
yea i love it when ppl make political comments where they shouldnt be. hahaha. LOSERS!
By eyeroll at 1:00 PM ON 11/19/08
The election is over....get over it, how about we all move on...together? Does anyone else think that is impossible, especially with jerks like those making comments above? .
Regarding the article, thanks for the links.
By CoolProducts at 1:43 PM ON 11/19/08
I keep seeing these grass walls on articles all over the web. My one question is, how do you keep it from getting infested with bugs?!
By Simon at 1:58 PM ON 11/19/08
The Bluenergy Solarwind turbine looks really sweet! :)
By Anto at 5:22 PM ON 11/19/08
Great ideas and very well explained. Thank you!
By Wild Handyman at 11:22 PM ON 11/19/08
Except for the Bonded Logic Ultratouch insulation, all of the other products are just a bunch of pie-in-the-sky crap. The person who recommended planting trees right on the house apparently nexer heard of bug infestations.
By Scott at 4:05 AM ON 11/20/08
(speaking of the plant wall) Besides the possibility of bugs, the big thing is, who wants to trim weeds off their wall? Can you imagine just how hard that would be, especially if it is a high wall!
Some of the other ideas are cool, and I have seen the Ultratouch Insulation. I like the roof tiles.
By cjjiv at 6:53 AM ON 11/20/08
Some of these are sensible, like the solar roof tiles, the insulation, even the paint if the price is right. But the Reclamator? I have done the math and it makes more sense by about 150 times to sale your 1/4 acre lot in the city for a half acre lot in the suburbs where you can put down a septic and use filtered well water. This is just plain ridiculous for the cost/benefit.
Call me a pessimist.
By Daveman at 8:31 AM ON 11/20/08
RE: Reclamator water recycler.., drinkability? from septic waste water? Elmer, "Who's pee are you drinking?" Delmer, "I dunno, maybe urine or mine.". I Understand the concept and logic of it all but still sounds disgusting.
By Moose at 11:27 AM ON 11/20/08
All of these technologies listed are proven and have been in various markets for quite some time. Green roof and green wall construction have been used extensively, however the energy benefits are somewhat limited as a will insulated and constructed exterior will perform similarly. The main benefit in energy is for cooling. Insects are prevented from entering the house with proper and common construction practices such as a double polyethylene liner. These technologies and practices are not for everywhere, climate, water and energy costs, etc. all have to be taken into account to analyze viability.
By Arron at 11:42 AM ON 11/20/08
Solar windmill... the coating that helps collect light doesn't help the issue that a shaded PV cell will draw the energy from any powered cell. If I recall even 1/4 of a panel shaded makes it not work. It looks like a least 1/4 will be shaded on the spiral.
Reclemator for water? Why not just uses a solar stil and evap water off of sewage/blackwater? A good design would be to use the Grey water (sinks/shower) to irrigate or flush your toilet without processing it much. MOST of the waste water in a home is Grey water.
The SWASH toilet lid? So instead of using recycled paper to wipe... you going to increase water use to wash and electricity to dry. Not to mention the production waste for making a computerised toilet seat... Then land fill all the retired toilet seats. Did I mention the oil used for all the plastic parts on this?
The CFL bulb swap mentioned... skip past the mercury and China made product. A new bulb was introduced here a while back that is quicker on, works in the cold (CFLs do not) and uses less energy with a phospor coated, no coil looking bulb.
The recycled tire roofing... know how they DEVULCANIZE?... yes. You soak the tire rubber in a lovely chemical to break it down then use a whole lot of water and electricity to pressure wash the rubber off the steel belted part of the tire.
Rino paint with micro ceramic beads? Ok hold on... I thought we had an issue with micro stuff getting into things? Nano tubes in produces are bad. The plastic beads/sand are killing things, now we are going to introduce a micro ceramic bead? Betting its smaller then sand grains and gets into a lot of places they weren't supposed to.
Want to make a REAL impact and a REAL differnce. Go Rural and take responsibilty for yourself. Grow food, recycle your own garbage, produce your own energy needs... You CANNOT live a cosmopolitan lifestyle and be eco freindly... Funny? Were do we find most of the environmentalists comming up with goof ball ideas without any common sence or practical understanding?
Sorry i was a part of the Mother earth and Green Building movments back in the 70s as a child. You don't need Sci-Fi toys to fix these things.
Even the current LEED building design work is not addopting practical solutions and is more of a social click and feel good badge to bolt onto an owner's building for trendy bragging rights.
Hold onto your hats though, we are going to see an entire new industry spring up out of nothing for the carbon footprint scam that will make Enron and the .COM bubble look like minor bumps on the road.
Just my views...
By Arron at 11:49 AM ON 11/20/08
PS: Green walls are a good idea. Just hold them OFF the building like Shade trees USED to be planted for. Then use the grey water from your shower and sinks to water them... Only problem, getting the local Building departments to allow the split sewer system that lets you collect the grey water. That and needing to install the new plumbing...
By jillbilly at 3:46 PM ON 11/20/08
Kizer, Coolproducts, Wild Handyman, et al: Green walls come to you without bugs - if you get bugs, it's because they were in the house to begin with. The wall systems also come with plants that have limited growth and are chosen specifically for this application. Exterior green walls will become their own ecosystem in time, like all gardens - the microscopic "bugs" in the soil are what keep it healthy. They're not vermin, they're part of the system.
By D Merchant at 3:49 PM ON 11/20/08
Does DVICE check links? The Redwood Renewables company doesn't seem to be ready for business. The link sends you to an image. Not an image map, just an image. No links. No information. I suppose I could copy down the email in the image and email them. But doesn't seem like a good way to do business. And I couldn't find any pricing, or where to buy, for the Bluenergy Solarwind turbine on their Web site. Maybe I overlooked it. But not making such info obvious isn't a good way to do business (I guess if you have to ask, you can't afford it!).
By Johnny Mopp at 11:54 PM ON 11/20/08
I got the electric wiz-bang toilet seat and it's really nice. Although, do not sit backwards on the seat and jack-off. I did this and hit the flush button and was covered in aqua.
By Man Overboard at 8:03 AM ON 11/21/08
I especially like #8. I think if you were to market them is smaller, self contained modules, even perhaps artistically shaped, they would be very widely accepted as organic art. It would cost a bit of functionality but it would be made up through a wider acceptance.
Great post!
By cooler choice at 12:50 PM ON 11/22/08
some great products here great ideas nice,good post thanks
By anron at 3:23 AM ON 11/24/08
too bad co2 doesnt affect the temperatures, this is nice new stuff.
By Charles at 10:12 AM ON 11/24/08
EcoDrain. If I remember my physics class right, heat flows from the hottest to the coolest. So you are really heating your drain water rather than heating your shower water. Insulating the hot water pipes would be more effective.
By dancesonsnow at 7:04 PM ON 11/24/08
Charles, from the look of the diagram on their website, the EcoDrain pre-heats the water coming in from the cold line, not the hot line.
By David at 7:32 PM ON 11/24/08
The EcoDrain is designed to recapture waste heat and use it to preheat cold fresh water. Typically, a shower valve mixes hot water from a heater and cold water from the municipal supply to get to a comfortable temperature. The EcoDrain takes waste heat and uses it to preheat the cold water. As the cold water gets heated, less water from the heater is required to have a shower of the same temperature.
By abbey at 3:45 AM ON 11/25/08
Yeah too bad we cant all afford any of this.
By TrailHound at 1:30 PM ON 11/26/08
That house looks shopped to me.
By Hayley at 5:06 PM ON 11/26/08
Did you know that in my country Dvice is a sex toy shop, just thought you should know...
By caabe at 7:46 AM ON 11/27/08
David, you must be familiar with GFX waste water recovery then. I used 4 of them in a new 16-unit sort-of-green apartment building. We think it reduces heating domestic hot water costs by about 15% which isn't exactly wow; but it is a move in the right direction. What seemss cool about eco-drain is it uses much less space. Think lean, act green!
By davomatic at 8:37 PM ON 11/27/08
Imagine if everyone bought any of these products. The world would be a huge mess.
Think it through, there are almost 7 billion people on this planet. They all want cool stuff.
Reduce, reuse, recycle, repair, replant, relax.
Stop buying new stuff! :)
By Lila at 7:36 AM ON 12/01/08
Green walls don't have bugs, they have features. Bah-dum bump!
By jnork at 1:41 PM ON 12/01/08
"Heating hot water is one of the biggest single energy costs in a typical house..."
Comes from the same tautology as "Hot water heater." If the water is hot, why are you heating it? Try removing the word "hot" from either phrase, or substitute the word "cold", and suddenly they make sense.
I swear, people parrot all kinds of nonsense quotes and sayings and phrases and never listen to what they're saying.
"Heating hot water". Bah.
By lalitkhungar at 3:32 AM ON 12/22/08
Every one must read this
By digimint at 9:32 PM ON 12/25/08
Great post, we love green homes.
By solargroupies at 10:11 PM ON 12/25/08
Some of these ideas are great and will go far, and some need some fine tuning before prime time. Once thing is for sure, we need to see MORE ideas like these, on a regular basis...
By ac at 12:38 AM ON 12/26/08
This stuff is great. Is any of it affordable?
By Martijn at 5:51 AM ON 12/28/08
It would help more if everyone would consume a little less.