If you are building a home, or it’s time to replace the old siding on your house, consider using fiber-cement siding.

Fiber-cement siding has been around for a while, although their benefits just started drawing attention from builders and homeowners.

Fiber-cement siding is composed of cement, sand and wood fiber (often from recycled wood fiber). It comes in a wide range of colors, finish and styles that resemble conventional siding products.

Fiber-cement siding is a great green building material not only because of its  composition, but also its durability and longevity. It often outlasts conventional materials for decades.

Fiber-cement siding resists many common hazards, including fire, wind, rain and insects. It won’t rot in humid areas. No termites can undermine it.  And it is virtually fire-proof. Fiber-cement won’t release toxic chemicals like other materials do.

In addition to its durability, fiber-cement holds paint much better than other materials. It doesn’t need to be re-painted for about 25 years! All these contribute to its low-maintenance and low cost in the long run. 

Because fiber-cement is made of inert materials, even if it eventually ends up in a landfill, it does not endanger the environment.

To learn more, click here.

A conventional tank water heater always loses heat through the wall of the tank while hot water sits unused (standby loss). It can waste up to 20% of the energy if the water heater is a less efficient model.

On the contrary, a tankless water heater does not suffer standby loss because it does not store hot water. It generates hot water when there is a demand. It heats up water rapidly. In a matter of seconds the temperature goes from 50 to 120 degrees.

It is estimated that compared to a storage water heater, a tankless water heater can save up to 35% on the cost of heating water. Also using natural gas instead of electricity saves more.

If the water heater is installed close to a major point of use, it reduces heat loss from hot water sitting in the pipes when the faucets are turned off due to shorter pipe run. This could save a significant amount of energy as well.

Tankless water heater also lasts twice as long compared to conventional one.

Tankless water heater is small, easy to repair, long-lasting and durable. It reduces your family’s impact on the environment by reducing your energy demand.

To learn more, go here.

Habitat Suites

When you are thinking about having an eco-tourism journey, be ready to rest your body inside an eco-friendly hotel. 1000 Green Steps recommend Habitat Suites Hotel as the most eco-friendly hotel in Texas considering ‘green’ features they offer to their customers. Those features include:

• They are solar-powered
• Grounds maintained with the use of natural, nontoxic fertilizers and pesticides
• Nontoxic, phosphate-free, natural cleansers used in cleaning
• Air ozonators/ionizers used for clean air quality in suites
• Biodegradable, recycled, unbleached paper products/recycling program
• Ladybugs populate our grounds, fostering healthy plants, the natural, chemical-free way
• About 20% of our energy needs are satisfied by our on-site 18 Kilowatt 108 solar panel PV (photo-voltaic) system

By those features 1000 Green Steps believe that they have good reasons to make Habitat Suites win awards and the latest was in 2006 they received the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce first ever environmental award, the “Greenbelt Award” and 2007 got us another “Greenbelt Award”

Room Rate starting from $137/night

Happy Green Living!

7-Eleven, Inc. has opened a green Commissary and Combined Distribution Center (CCD) in Long Island, New York as their company’s green steps. Fresh foods are prepared at the new environmentally-friendly facility and delivered to 674 7-Eleven stores in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

The 130,000 square-foot high-tech center includes features to conserve energy, water usage, and utility costs. In addition, a sophisticated inventory and computerized ordering system allows sandwiches, salads, and baked goods to be efficiently prepared on the same day they are ordered.

The CCD qualified for rate incentives and gas efficiency rebates from the National Grid, the local utility.

More information is available here.

Is your company taking green steps? Let 1000GreenSteps.org help you spread the word. Please leave a comment below, or contact us at: 1000GreenSteps@gmail.com Thank you!

Best Buy has announced that it will launch an electronics recycling program at all of its U.S. stores beginning on February 15 as their green steps program.

Consumers can bring up to two items per day, per household, to any Best Buy store.

Best Buy will accept most consumer electronics, including:

• televisions and monitors up to 32″

• computers CPUs and notebooks

• small electronics

• VCR and DVD players

• phones

• accessories, such as keyboards, mice, and remotes

You’ll be charged a $10 recycling fee per unit for items with screens, such as televisions, laptop computers, and monitors. But, then you’ll instantly receive a $10 Best Buy gift card in exchange for the recycling fee. (This fee does not apply for units recycled in California stores, and does not apply for any of Best Buy’s Exclusive-Branded products, such as Insignia, Dynex, and VPR Matrix.) Read more »

Everything is just really going eco-friendly lately! Just look at this beautiful designed lamp. Who says that eco-friendly lamp can’t have a sophisticated design? These lamps are made of rotomolding, in a mix of low density plastic with crushed electronic waste plastic. Its base is even produced with smelted aluminum of beer and drink tins! It is very cool 1000 Green Steps even wanted one for ourselves.

The name of the lamp is N+EW Light which is an abbreviation for No More Electronic Waste. So it is clear now that the main goal of this project is to reduce electronic waste in our environment.

If that is not enough, you can match your N+EW Light with N+EW Handmade Stool! Yes, it is handmade and made of electronic waste, epoxic resin and melted aluminum. These stools are one of a kind and only made through special orders.

Who’s behind this? Actually this project is made by Rodrigo Alonso, a graphic designer with recognized experience in the world of publicity. He has a noticeable academic of different universities and workshops in Chile and Latin America. He has worked in the image of large international brands as Renault, Lucky Strike, Warner Bros, and Sony. He is the one who created of the studio-laboratory Müsuc.

Although traditional concrete is a durable building material for patios, driveways and roads, like other Impermeable materials used in constructions, it prevents rain, snow and other surface water from seeping into the ground, which contributes to the decreasing level of groundwater.

Runoff water may cause floods and carry toxic pollutants into streams. Depletion of ground water may endanger certain plants and trees.

Fortunately, alternative permeable materials are available which permit water to drain into the ground.

A couple of the options are permeable pavers for patios, walkways or driveways, and open-cell concrete blocks for driveways or parking area.

Permeable pavers are solid, but allow water to drain if spaced properly. Open-cell concrete blocks are open enough in their structure to allow water through, while still strong enough to support vehicles. Spaces can be filled with gravel, sand or grass.

Another option is pervious concrete. It contains a lot of open spaces for water to flow through.

Two other choices are Gravelpave2 and Grasspave2 for parking area and driveways. They have a ring-and-grid structure resting on a porous base of sand or gravel for drainage.

Next time you build a driveway, a parking space or a patio, choose one of these eco-friendly products.

Useful websites: www.perviouspavement.org   www.paversearch.com   www.invisiblestructures.com 

For the original article on the subject, click here.

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) recently awarded the South Jersey Technology Park (SJTP) at Rowan University its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver rating for green steps they took.

LEED certification of the SJTP in Glassboro, New Jersey was based on the facility’s numerous environmentally-friendly design and construction features, including:

• innovation in design

• use of recycled materials

• innovative waste management

• pollution prevention

• energy systems

Read more »

Just Like Our Green Idol: Brad Pitt

After having Leonardo DiCaprio, Angelina Jolie, and Lisa Simpson now we are having Brad Pitt as our Green Idol. Brad was twice nominated as ‘The Hottest Man Alive’ by People magazine. However, like many people say it’s the inside that counts. He proved to the world that he also has been hot on the trail of the emerging green-building movement, narrating a sustainable design TV series, and supporting Ed Norton’s Solar Neighbors Program.

He also has been leading an eco cause called Global Green USA’s Holy Cross Project, which is made to push the sustainable redevelopment of New Orleans after the Katrina.

That project will provide affordable-housing project, which will include five single-family homes, an 18-unit apartment building and a community centre. “What happened two years ago was a man-made disaster,” says Brad, “and this building offers a man-made solution.”

1000 Green Steps believe that with more people going green through their green steps, we will be able to create a better living place on Earth

Happy Green Living!

The Eco House

After having an ecotourism, purchasing eco-friendly gadgets by buying cell phone with eco-brands, this option sound a lot more interesting for you. 1000 green Steps had handpicked some beautiful design and came up with this stunning house. The Eco House is located in Spain, which has a roof line which sits wing-like above the building line. The roof form and distance from the building is key, it holds the solar panels at the correct angle to maximize effectiveness whilst also hiding them from view. A rainwater reclamation system will be installed and a photovoltaic system will supply the electricity to run a radiant heating system within the floor. Sounds like luxury, doesn’t it? It absolutely does to 1000 Green Steps.

Happy Green Living!