Archive for the ‘sustainability’ Category

February 24, 2010

What’s so great about a Solatube?

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet For a long time I didn’t know what a daylighting system really was. I thought ok, you have your windows and your skylights. But there is a third thing called a daylighting system and it is neither a window nor a skylight. A daylighting system is a device with highly-sophisticated technology that brings measured, glare-free, heat-reduced sunlight into your interior space. It’s actually a technology that’s been around since the 1960’s but is gaining traction again due to our renewed awareness of sustainability. Today I’d like to talk to you about one of my favorite daylighting devices for your…

February 23, 2010

Why Trex is Way Better than Wood, Especially for Phoenix

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Wood warps, bulges, fades, peels, molds and eventually looks like hell here in Phoenix with our brutal summers. Plus it’s constantly expanding and contracting with the weather changes, causing all sorts of structural trouble. Here’s why Trex is way better than wood if you’re thinking of building an outdoor deck or a patio trellis: 1. Trex is made out of 95% recycled materials. It’s a composite material made from plastic shopping bags, reclaimed wood and sawdust. Trex hasn’t cut down a single tree during the entire lifetime of their business. Trex is an excellent example of “upcycling”, a word…

February 22, 2010

Why you need a Metal Roof if you live in Phoenix

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Metal roofs are one of my favorite roofs because aesthetically-speaking they are so beautiful. But whether you agree with me or not about the beauty of a metal roof, there are a few other great qualities of a metal roof I’d like you to consider if you’re thinking of replacing your roof. The Heat-Island Effect We all know that we have a terrible problem with the Heat-Island effect here in Phoenix. It occurs in cities with large areas of paved surfaces, including dark absorbent roofs that absorb heat during the day and emit it back into the atmosphere, making…

February 11, 2010

Replacing your Water Heater Isn’t The Sexiest Change You Can Make To Your Home, But It Is One Of The Smartest.

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Heating water accounts for up to 30 percent of the average home’s energy budget. So if you have an energy-hog of a water heater that you inherited with your 30-year-old home, you might want to consider replacing it. Like most people, you’ll want to wait until you have a problem with your water heater before thinking of replacing it but making a rushed decision on what system to buy is going to leave you short-changed. Since there are so many efficient options on the market now, it’s worth your time to consider each one carefully and see which would…

January 26, 2010

How to Get a Tax Credit for Remodeling Your Home

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Now that tax season is around the corner, here’s some information on what products are eligible for Tax credits under the ‘Stimulus Bill’ or The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Tax credits are available at 30% of the cost, up to $1,500 total, in 2009 & 2010 (ONLY for existing homes, NOT new construction, that are your “principal residence”) for: Windows and Doors (including Skylights) From June 1, 2009 – December 31, 2010 windows (and doors and skylights) must have a U-factor and Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) less than or equal to 0.30. You do not…

December 16, 2009

Is it Really so Bad to be Inconvenienced by Nature?

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet We’ve had some rain in Phoenix in the past few days and one of the rainy days coincided with our laundry day. As you know, we don’t own a dryer, nor did we provide one for our tenants at 3 Palms. Instead, we’ve installed a retractable clothesline for us and our tenants which works just great 355 days out of the year. But last Sunday it rained, and to be fair, a couple of the days before Sunday had been cloudy and cold so it was hard to get the clothes dry. This inconvenience prompted our tenants to ask…

August 17, 2009

A Convection Oven – A Great Way to Save Energy

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet In my previous blog “Huge Utility Bill and Hot Guests” I talked about how we just couldn’t cool 3 Palms down on a hot summer day when we had guests and I had used my wall oven to bake enchiladas. This blog post is a follow-up on the oven part of that story. At 3 Palms, we kept the original vintage wall oven from the early 1960’s. It’s very cool-looking and wonderful in a lot of ways. But it’s a big energy-hog!!! Not only does it use alot of energy to operate, but it also heats up the house…

August 12, 2009

High Utility Bill and Hot Guests at 3 Palms!

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet All of you who live in Phoenix know well that July is one of our hottest months of the year. Things like “It is like the surface of the sun outside” have been said about this month. Imagine how hard our air-conditioning has to work to keep us comfortable in outside temperatures like 112-118 degrees. Two things happened to alarm me that something is amiss with our air-conditioning unit at 3 Palms: 1. I had a party for my family. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a giant family. Only 50% of my giant family was in…

June 23, 2009

Two Green Strategies at 3 Palms

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Use our glorious sun, nix the dryer! Have you ever noticed how fast things dry in Phoenix in the summer? Make a puddle of water on the sidewalk and it’ll be gone in ten minutes! We decided to harness this wonderful Phoenix drying power to dry our laundry in lieu of using a dryer. Our tenants are on board with this as well and are all for the savings on their energy bill! The first component to our greener laundry system at 3 Palms is our front-loading washing machine. Front-loading washing machines use 40%-60% less water than top loading…

May 27, 2009

Transformation

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet This is what the back wall of the kitchen used to look like. Missing window pane, ugly vinyl tile flooring, old beat-up door, and warped laminate countertop. This is what it looks like now. We replaced the window pane, added a new steel door, replaced the old baseboard and door frame, replaced the old laminate counter top with a new IKEA countertop and best of all – that ugly vinyl flooring is now a beautiful gray laminate floating floor. The original kitchen… The new kitchen…We added a new tile backsplash, new sink and new faucet along with the new…