Pieces in the new line are made from organic cotton, recycled polyester, recycled polyamide and Tencel. Shoppers are encouraged to bring in their old items to receive discounts on their purchases. ”Ninety five percent of the clothes people throw away can be reused, but they just end up in landfill,” Stroup said.
See more at: http://blog.sfgate.com/chronstyle/2013/04/05/new-eco-line-from-hm-is-sustainability-stylish/
WASHINGTON — If you buy or own an energy-efficient house, does this make you less likely to default on your mortgage? Is there a connection between the monthly savings on utility costs and the probability that you’ll pay your loan on time?
A new study by the University of North Carolina suggests that the answer to both questions is a resounding yes.
Do you have an energy-efficient property that needs to be appraised? Contact the appraisers http://www.scappraisals.com; the forerunners in green property appraisals.
Using a sample of 71,000 home loans from across the country that were originated between 2002 and 2012, researchers found that mortgages on homes with Energy Star certifications were on average 32% less likely to default compared with loans on homes with no energy-efficiency improvements. Energy Star homes, which can be renovated dwellings or newly built, provide documentable savings of 15% or higher on utility bills compared with houses containing minimal energy improvements.
Researchers took pains to statistically separate out factors other than energy-efficiency savings that might account for the strikingly different performances by borrowers on their mortgages. They controlled for house size; age of the house; neighborhood income levels; house values relative to the area median; local unemployment rates; borrowers’ credit scores; loan-to-value ratios; electricity costs; and even local weather conditions.
Read more at: http://articles.latimes.com/2013/mar/29/business/la-fi-harney-20130331
Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only
Posted in energy retrofitting
Tagged energy efficient home, home mortgage, loan default, solar
About five years ago, writer and renewable energy aficionado Warren Weismann was researching ancient Greece for his novel when he stumbled across information that the Greeks had built anaerobic digesters to produce methane. He then read about similar archaeological evidence in ancient Syria and China. But it was the modern biogas boom in China that got him most excited and distracted him from his writing career: Tens of millions of home-scale biodigesters have been built in China over the last century, with the pace of construction still accelerating. Warren wanted one for himself.
After a few years of further research, including conversations with colleagues in India and Nepal, where small-scale biogas production is prevalent, Warren modified traditional designs to create a plan for his own 700-gallon biodigester. He was living at Maitreya Ecovillage, a threeblock community and green-building-oriented neighborhood near downtown Eugene, Oregon. After building his first biodigester last year, he’s become increasingly excited about the possibilities for home-scale biogas, and has established Hestia Home Biogas to build biodigesters locally and consult on biodigesters across the globe.
Disclaimer: For information and entertainment purposes only
Posted in Renewables and Energy
Tagged diy methane, make cooking gas, outdoor cooking
Green Real Estate Appraiser 