You THINK it's easy to make your home greener while and saving money comfortably? Actually, it IS.

BUILDINGS ARE the single largest contributor to global warming, accounting for almost half (48 percent) of total annual U.S.energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, according to Architecture 2030, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization established to bring awareness and reform to the building sector (www.architecture2030.org).Andfree-standinghouses are particularly wasteful. How wasteful? If you burn a 100watt incandescent bulb for 10hours, you're using 1,000 watt-hours, or one kilowatt-hour (kwh), of electricity. On average, that causes some power plant to spew out 1.5pounds of carbon dioxide. Now, the average household uses 19,000 kwh of electricity per year, resulting in 28,500 pounds- more than 14 tons-of carbon dioxide. (One ton of carbon dioxide fills about 17,360 cubic feet, approximately the space of a 2,177-squarefoot home. Now multiply that byl4. You get the picture.) As for water, there's a reason reservoirs and aquifers are depleted: The average U.S. household uses 107,000 gallons a year. And the Environmental Protection Agency reports that nearly 14percent of that water "is never even used-it leaks down the drain."

Problem is, we don't want to give up our refrigerators, gadgets and hot showers. So government agencies, Green nonprofits and profit- hungry businesses have devised practices and products that can reduce your home's appetite for precious resources and its contributions to global warming. Your reward? Amore comfortable home with lower energy and water bills.

Next month we'll look at some serious Green products and services, but this month, let's consider some cheap or free ways to slash your energy and water bills right now. Of course, you may already be turning the water off while brushing your teeth, keeping oven and refrigerator doors shut, and turning off lights. But here are some other current Green practices geared toward improving your balance sheet -and reducing your home's carbon footprint.


LIGHTEN UP

Changing the five most frequently used incandescent light bulbs in the average home to compact fluorescents (CFLs) would lower the typical electric bill by $60 to $100 annually. Replacing them all might save you $350 a year. But how, if CFLs cost more? It's simple. Over 90 percent of the energy burned by incandescent produces heat, not light; a CFL with the same light output as a 60-watt incandescent -about 825 lumens-requires only 13watts. Bonus: It lasts eight times longer.

Today's CFLs fit track, floodlight, even halogen fixtures, and they're safer than regular bulbs becallse they're cooler. For incandescent-like "warm" light, buy CFLs marked 2,700 or 3,000 Kelvin. Visit Energy Star's Web site (www.energystar .gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls) for more information. Don't heat or cool rooms you're not using. That would be like buying tickets to a-concert you can't attend.

"Sky" January 2008