Not all of the emissions that are harmful to our air come from cars and trucks. The various appliances, devices and tools you use every day create emissions indirectly because of the energy they consume to function.
Learn what you can do at home to help keep our air clean.
Conducting an energy audit can improve your home's climate and lower your energy costs.
Reduce the amount of wasted energy consumed by the devices that you use every day.
Reduce, reuse and recycle to reduce emissions.
Innovative techniques and thoughtful design improve energy efficiency.
Conduct an energy audit to analyze the energy flow and consumption in your home. This can help identify areas where it’s being wasted and target upgrades to improve your energy efficiency and decrease your carbon emissions.
The various appliances, devices and tools you use every day — even when you’re just relaxing at home — create emissions indirectly because of the energy they consume to function.
Items that do not run constantly usually last longer. Contrary to popular belief, this is also true of most computers. Items left running unnecessarily not only waste energy, they generate excess heat.
Using the sleep mode when you’re away for a short time and want to keep your machine running saves energy. Don’t mistake your computer’s screensaver for sleep mode; a screensaver keeps the computer at full power.
EnergyStar appliances are more environmentally friendly because they use less energy and options are available for many product categories. Visit www.EnergyStar.gov for more information.
Many appliances use electricity even when they’re turned off. Anything with a remote control, external power supply (that cube-shaped thing on the electric plug), or a clock display is consuming energy. This can account for 10 percent of your home’s power consumption. Unplug these items or turn them off with a power strip.
A more efficient furnace will pay for itself over time. Exchanging your older, low-efficiency furnace for a medium-efficiency furnace can save you about $25 per every $100 in annual fuel costs, upgrading to a high-efficiency furnace will save you even more.
Lowering the temperature when you’re away from home can save about 15 percent on your heating bill. Program the thermostat to raise the temperature to a comfortable level before you return.
Make smarter choices to handle your home’s solid waste to conserve energy, reduce factory emissions and lower overall environmental impact. Here are simple steps you can take that improve our environment and air quality.
It takes energy to make, transport and dispose of the products we use. Buying products with minimal packaging and reusing products whenever possible lets you reduce the number of trips garbage trucks must make to the landfill. Because some waste is disposed of by burning, by creating less trash, you will also reduce incineration emissions.
At work, at home or at special events, recycling reuses valuable materials and saves energy by rescuing them from landfills. It takes less energy and creates less pollution to recycle many products than it does to make new ones from raw materials. By recycling and buying recycled items, you reduce the need to manufacture and ship new products.
We all have household hazardous waste (HHW) in our households in the form of cleaning, home-repair, and lawn and garden products. These materials can release fumes which cause indoor and outdoor air pollution. By disposing of them properly at household hazardous waste collection sites or at collection events, you can keep them from entering the waste stream. To find out more about proper household hazardous waste disposal, visit RecycleSpot.org.
Property owners can use efficient roofs and walls to improve energy efficiency by reducing heat gain, lowering cooling costs and enhancing insulation.
Upgrading insulation in homes and buildings can improve air quality by reducing the amount of energy needed for heating and cooling, which lowers emissions from power plants and fuel combustion.
Green walls (also called vertical gardens or living walls) are vertical structures covered with vegetation, which can be soil based or hydroponic systems. The green walls provide insultation which reduces heat gain and demand on HVAC systems.
Need some copy here for maintaining facilities and HVAC systems?
Green roofs are covered with vegetation and a growing medium, over a waterproof membrane. This layer of plants provides natural insultation, reducing the need for heating in winter and cooling in summer. Through evapotranspiration, green roofs release moisture which cools the air reducing building temperature.
Cool roofs are made from highly reflective materials, like reflective tiles or white coatings, that reflect more sunlight and absorb less heat. Cool roofs help buildings stay cooler, decreasing the use of air conditioning and cutting energy bills.
The MARC Air Quality program has issued an Ozone Action Alert for Wed. Sept. 2. Details >
