by Alex Russell
It’s clearly no longer summer in Seattle. It’s even snowed in the mountains. Beyond that broad wave of nostalgia for dry Greenlake jogs and Cascade hikes, there really are more pressing issues before it gets any colder. I’m talking about taking the green lifestyle headfirst into winter with a home energy audit. Thanks to King County, there’s a free guide online on how to do one on your own and the fixes you can do without professional help.
A sustainable home is all about energy efficiency, and the small changes really can add up. According to Seattle’s Department of Planning and Development, homes contribute 20 percent of overall greenhouse gas emissions. If everybody did just what this free guide suggests, this number would definitely go down.
Looking through King County’s self-audit booklet, there’s an awful lot that can be done without a professional or even a whole lot of experience in home maintenance. It’s all right in line with today’s Home Depot-inspired DIY culture. The tools needed are minimal—a screwdriver, tape measure, pencil, calculator—and the process is described in detail. There is a list of possible hazards to look out for, like asbestos and fiberglass, and ways to avoid them.
The audit itself, complete with checklist, is comprehensive and completely doable. It ranges, step-by-step through every aspect of the building enclosure and heating ratings and fixes, with helpful information to explain the implications of why it’s all important. For example, while 40 percent on average of home energy use goes toward heating, as much as half of that is wasted if the system isn’t working efficiently. What does your heating bill say about your home? How often do you need the heat running to keep the place warm?
The audit also includes sections on paybacks, and definitions of the kinds of terms—R-value, NFRC, HSPF—surely thrown around at every sustainable building cocktail party in the Pacific Northwest. There’s a whole section on new technologies if you’re flush and want to do this whole sustainable home deal properly. In drain water heat recovery, for example, a length of plastic drain pipe from a tub or shower is replaced with copper, then wrapped with copper pipe coils that tie into a hot water recirculation loop. Solar energy companies and their customers right now are benefitting from Washington State’s photovoltaic incentive. There’s no limit to how much you can making your home green. Consider the admiration all of it would draw at Thanksgiving, and Christmas gatherings.
Hiring a professional to find coldspots and other low-efficiencies throughout your home should be part of an overall long-term plan for sustainability. If that’s not on the present radar—nobody wants any extra expenses in this economy—set aside a weekend to get started with this energy audit and do the small things before the cold really sets in. Not only will you save on heating bills, you’ll be conserving resources—which is central to sustainable living. I know I’ve at least got some caulking to do.
To get started, download the King County Energy Guide PDF.
