On St. Patrick’s Day, I attended a seminar at our local Realtor organization on “Going Green” which featured representatives from the area talking about how homes, both new and existing, can be made more efficient in their use of water and energy. I was so impressed with the information that I want to share it with you.

First, some facts. These are all averages and occur in our area.

• 51% of household water use is for watering the lawn.
• Progress Energy, our biggest electricity supplier, signs up 600 new customers each week.
• Homes are 40 percent larger than they were in the 70s. They have a lot more appliances and while many are more efficient now, TVs like a plasma TV use more electricity than the old ones.
• A third of all the air conditioning you pay to produce in your home is lost in leaky ductwork. If there’s duct tape in your attic, you’re losing air conditioning!

Interesting, huh? Here’s some more…

• SWIFTMUD, which oversees water use in the counties stretching from Charlotte to Levy including Tampa Bay, has stewardship for 1800 lakes, 13 rivers and serves 4.5 million people. Right now, 45 percent of water use in the district is reclaimed.
• Building codes now require reclaimed water use if available, a reduction in high irrigation landscaping, the use of micro irrigation and the grouping of plants by water needs. Pasco County has put “green building” practices in the Comprehensive Plan for future development, the first county in the state to do so. 
• Moisture sensors can save 30 percent of water use. 
• Pasco County Utilities will rebate money to homeowners who retrofit with new “water sense” toilets. Progress Energy will do a free energy check of your home and pay the first $150 to fix that ductwork. You can add foam inside the concrete block on your house for between $800-$1300. 
• In all, the state offers $20,000 in rebates for using solar energy, from the pool to the home water heater.  You also can get a $2000 credit on your federal income tax for a solar water heating system, about 30 percent of the cost. 
• Building an energy efficient home adds anywhere from 2 to 7 percent to the cost of the home, depending on the incentives and rebates you claim. You can get it all back, conservatively, in 10 years by direct savings. That doesn’t reflect the savings in maintenance or the fact that energy costs are predicted to continue to climb. An energy efficient house is more comfortable, less humid and less noisy. 
• Buyers are willing to pay $10,000 more for energy efficient homes. 
• 85 percent of discarded materials in new home construction can be recovered and reused. 

If you want to learn more, here are some web sites to check: 

http://www.progress-energy.com/save

http://www.savethewatts.com

http://www.floridagreenbuilding.org/db/

http://www.rusawhomes.com/Hallmark_Specifications.html

http://www.sunbuilt.org

http://www.flaseref.org

http://www.watermatters.org/conservation

http://Pasco.ifas.ufl.edu