Green Gab Podcast – Green Homes, Green Living And Green Companies

If you take care of your home so that it will take care of you, you won't have to do as much to look after it. Everything you do to maintain your home will pay off in the long run and you won't end up having the big calamities and repairs that you would have to deal with if you did not care for your home properly.  The average home has about 75 different components in it that need to be tracked, so the thought of maintaining it can be a little overwhelming. And we do need to know how to take care of everything in the right way. As you take care of your home, you will have a great opportunity to uplevel it.   Take a moment It's worthwhile to take a moment to consider what you're going to use to repair, maintain, and replace your household components. You need to hold onto your user manuals because they can make your routine maintenance much quicker and easier. If you have lost a user manual, you will be able to find it easily online, on the manufacturer's website.   Some tips to make things easier In Marla's b

We all want a home that looks good and performs well. Today, Steve Spratt, of Home Preservation Services joins us. He is an expert in homeowner operations and maintenance and he has a fantastic website, called Home Preservation Manual. In today's episode, Steve will be giving us lots of great information about owning and maintaining a home, and all the responsibilities that go along with that.     What motivates Steve The home represents some very important things that often tend to go unnoticed by the owners. And many people seem to take their homes for granted, and they don't take very good care of them.   What a home represents Value. (It is a big investment.) A place of nurturing and re-energizing. Steve helps people to maximize the value and the nurturing aspects of their homes by showing them how to take better care of their homes.   The service that Home Preservation Services provides Home Preservation Services does four visits to the home each year, and they provide a checklist of preventative maint

If you take care of your home so that it will take care of you, you won't have to do as much to look after it. Everything you do to maintain your home will pay off in the long run and you won't end up having the big calamities and repairs that you would have to deal with if you did not care for your home properly.  The average home has about 75 different components in it that need to be tracked, so the thought of maintaining it can be a little overwhelming. And we do need to know how to take care of everything in the right way. As you take care of your home, you will have a great opportunity to up-level it. Take a moment It's worthwhile to take a moment to consider what you're going to use to repair, maintain, and replace your household components. You need to hold onto your user manuals because they can make your routine maintenance much quicker and easier. If you have lost a user manual, you will be able to find it easily online, on the manufacturer's website. Some tips to make things easier In Marla's book

We have Tina Gleisner with us today, from Home Tips for Women. Home Tips for Women teaches women how to care for their homes and gain the confidence to maintain and effectively update their homes to become their dream home. Tina's content is different because she puts a lot of thought into organizing her information, to make it relatable.   Dealing with mold It's astonishing how many people are dealing with mold in their homes, and in many cases, it's not being dealt with correctly.  When you buy a home in Florida, you need to get a mold inspection as well as the regular home inspection because so many houses have mold. This is a good idea for everyone because if mold is left unchecked for years, the whole house could even have to be gutted as a lot of mold hides inside the wall cavities.  Although most people are used to visible mold, a lot of invisible molds can also exist in a home. So if a house has been flooded, you typically have three to five days to get the house clean and dry to prevent the mold from

  Matt Belcher works with Hibbs Homes and is well known in the green home world and as the author of Build Green and Save: Protecting the Earth and Your Bottom Line from NAHB Builderbooks. It was written for builders to incorporate green practices into building. Matt has been a long-standing champion of green home building, as well as a hero and mentor to Marla. “Rising tides raise all boats” – Matt. Pat Dodd of Dawson-Dodd Heating and Cooling – we heat and cool the impossible Dawson-Dodd will work installations many contractors will walk away from. Heating and cooling older homes and even homes which do not have ductwork is their specialty. They offer systems and installation which cool from the top down as well. Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page |  Twitter Page |  Stitcher Page Connect with The Green Gab Podcast Hosts: — Marla Esser Cloos on – The Web – Twitter – Facebook – LinkedIn — Tony P

Living green, or sustainably, is about more than just saving on your electricity bill, and doing your bit to protect natural resources. It's about creating a safer and healthier lifestyle without having to compromise on style, quality, or budget.  Today, Tony Pratt joins Marla once again, to talk about green labels. They will be explaining what green labels are, what they mean, and how to use them.   What are green labels? Green labels are there to show us that there has been third-party certification for a product, an assembly, or even an entire building. They are proof that something has been certified, and truly is what it claims to be. If the third-party was not there, anyone would be able to do or say whatever they wanted to, about any product.    Greenwashing The term 'greenwashing' was coined about ten years ago. It's used when someone thinks, or hopes, rather than knows, that a product is green. It is actually nothing more than marketing hype, or the misdirection of consumers because, although somethi

There's a lot of talk about energy efficiency when it comes to green homes. Currently, there are many innovations available to make energy efficiency easier, controlled, or managed. Today, we're going to be looking at ways to gain efficiency through innovation with energy control systems, smart appliances, and renewables.    Energy control systems   Thermostats can be part of an energy control system. Right now, there are controllable thermostats available that you can put in place yourself, to replace your current one. These are linked to the wifi in your house and you can control them from anywhere in the world, using your phone.  There are also more advanced systems available, where you can control everything else in your house as well. With that kind of system, you can set your house up with certain parameters that relate to the scenario that will best suit your lifestyle.    Aspects of energy control   Get-up mode can: ⦁    Turn on the lights.  ⦁    Adjust your thermostat. ⦁    Automate your coffee pot.

We have Kim Owens with us today. Kim is an energy auditor, so she goes to people's homes to give them an overview of ways to make their home more energy-efficient. Most of her suggestions are easy and economical to implement. And there are many benefits to creating an energy-efficient home.   The way Kim works   Typically, Kim contracts Precise Building Performance, the company that she works for, to create energy efficiency for her clients.  Precise Building Performance usually contracts with all the utility companies. because most people in the state of Oklahoma get their energy efficiency through their utility company.   Oklahoma is an energy state   Oklahoma is truly an energy state- and it's not all about drilling for it! Driving down the streets of Oklahoma, one can see oil pumps with all the wind turbines in the background. There are also solar farms, and people find it very interesting to see just how much the utilities in Oklahoma are into energy audits.   About energy audits   Many people don't know

Today’s guest, Kellye Markowski, is a residential and commercial energy audit provider and project manager with Energy Smart Homes. Kellye works independently, which allows her to have an unbiased approach to finding out how to get a home to perform well.  Kellye’s enthusiasm for helping clients and homeowners optimize the comfortability of their space, along with reducing costs, is genuine and powerful. She not only carries out a meticulous energy audit for each and every home but always delivers more than the client’s money’s worth. While every homeowner wants what’s best for their home and family, people often don’t know where to start, and that’s where Kellye comes in.  Taking the Best Course of Action  There are always multiple solutions to every problem. Kellye’s job is to help clients better understand and weight out the pros and cons to each method. Kellye’s go-to strategy consists of helping people recognize the benefits of each solution and what would make it a good option for their individual circu

My guest on today's Green Gab is Rhonda Flint, a wellness advocate with Young Living Essential Oils. Essential oils have been an incredible tool for Rhonda and her family to have healthy bodies, and bring wellness into their home.    A new dimension with essential oils Before discovering essential oils, Rhonda didn't realize that many of the things that she brought into her home were affecting her family's health, their cognitive abilities, and their endocrine systems. Since she replaced those things with essential oils and established some dietary changes, her children no longer frequent the doctor's office nearly as often as they used to. Now, her goal is to help people to change their lifestyle and bring about healthier homes.    An incredible wellness tool Essential oils are nothing new. People have been using them since biblical times. So, whether we ingest them, use them topically, or diffuse them, we're not introducing anything foreign to our bodies, and so our bodies know just what to do with them. Es

On today’s Green Gab, my guest is Kathy Curran. Kathy has been on an amazing journey to incrementally green her life, and now that the holidays are upon us, greening her gift-giving is her first order of business. Sustainable Choices It’s really important to understand where what you buy comes from. Most of us don’t need more stuff. Our homes are already packed to the gills with stuff we don’t need or use. So, as you buy gifts for others, it’s important to make sure that you understand where the products you are buying are coming from. If items have to travel a long way to reach you, that’s not sustainable. If the company you are buying from employs child labor, well, that’s not what you want to endorse. If the company that you are purchasing products from has a record of environmental violations, that’s also not a green choice. When it doubt, look for companies that have achieved B Corporation status. B stands for “benefit”. So they are companies that exist to benefit mankind, not just to solely turn a profi

We live in exciting times. Nev Hyman has come up with a solution to both the global housing crisis and the current situation with plastic waste worldwide. He has set the stage for the global roll-out of his innovative method of creating building panels from all seven codes of recyclable plastics.  Nev Hyman, from Nev House, based on the Gold Coast of Australia, joins Marla today, to give us an international perspective on green ways of getting much-needed housing out into the world. Nev has been spending time in the United States, talking about his mission with Nev House and spreading the Nev House message.  Nev has been involved in the surfing industry for 45 years. He has never had a "real" job because he has only ever made surfboards and sponsored professional surfers around the world. He started two surfboard companies, Nev Future Shapes, and Bio Wire Surfboards. Bio Wire Surfboards was sold to the eleven-time world surfing champion, Kelly Slater, in 2015. Nev's passion for surfing, and traveling the worl

How do you look at your stuff? There’s a lot of stuff that makes up your home. When you think about it, your home is a collection of a bunch of resources, materials, and systems. Or, in other words, a lot of stuff. How can you look at the stuff in your home in terms of the three R’s when you bring in more stuff? The Three R’s and Your Stuff It can be a fun challenge to bring more stuff in your home following the three R’s: reduce, reuse, and recycle. Reduce Anytime you can reduce the amount of material you use, you win. This not only simplifies your life, but also reduces the amount of materials and how much it costs to put those things together for your home. For instance, maybe instead of putting flooring down, you may just want to finish the concrete. The simpler you can make it, maybe even by using a system, that can work to your advantage. Reuse There are secondhand stores everywhere, so this is pretty easy. Have you checked out Habitat for Humanity’s ReStores? They have so much stuff in there, and it

Every parent has said to their children—multiple times, “Turn off the water.” We teach our children the importance of not wasting water, but it’s important for us adults to remember as well. And it’s about so much more than just turning off the faucet. Water plays a bigger role in today’s modern world than it did in the past. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the average American family uses 300 gallons of water each day. And that only accounts for indoor water usage: drinking, cooking, cleaning, and personal hygiene. That’s a staggering amount of water. To put it into perspective, imagine for a moment that you had to carry that much water to your home before you could use it. That would definitely make you think about the amount of water you’re using on a daily basis. The Leaks That Are Upping Your Water Usage Research shows that the typical home loses somewhere between 2,000 and up to 20,000 gallons of water each year because of leaks. That’s a lot of water! Leaks can come from a num

All of us want to breathe well in our homes.  Yet often, the indoor air quality or the indoor environment, may not be allowing us to breathe as well as we want.  There are immediate actions all of us can take to breathe well in our homes.  Years ago, I started switching to non-toxic, safer cleaners and now I even use a few homemade cleaners.  Both your local stores and online outlets offer many safer, non-toxic cleaning products and natural cleaning recipes abound on the internet.  Next, you will want understand how leaky your home is, as leaks bring pollutants into our homes, as well as leaking the heated or cooled air.  There is a lot you can do on your own, yet you may want to bring in a home professional, such as an energy auditor, to help locate the leaks and advise the best way to address them. Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page |  Twitter Page |  Stitcher Page Connect with The Green Gab

Is a new home on the horizon for you? Or would you like to improve the efficiency of your existing home? This time, we’re gabbing with Christy Howell of Align, who provides suggestions to build a green home that meets you where you are and provides sustainability for the future. What Is Sustainability? At its core, sustainability means that it’s built to last. Anything can be sustainable, from your home to your lifestyle. If it lasts and continues to serve you, then it’s sustainable. To build a green home, you want it to work with you—and for you—instead of being a slave to it. You want to build it mindfully with intention in the choices you make. Where to Start to Build a Green Home When you’re ready to build a green home, look first to your building envelope. That’s your foundation, walls, windows, doors, and roof. They make up the main elements of the building. There are lots of choices for sustainability in the building envelope. You can do a stick build, which is traditional framing with lumber. Or you

There is so much to talk about on the topic of lighting. Lighting in your home is of particular importance because there are so many choices. Today, we’ll be providing a few tips of things to think about when lighting your home. #1 Tip for Lighting in Your Home: Choose LEDs When it comes to lighting in your home, my top tip is to choose LED lights whenever possible. If you have working old-style bulbs, throw them out and replace them with LED as soon as you can. While it might sound like a waste to throw out bulbs, the truth is that you’ll save energy and money. LEDs will pay for themselves in a few months. Not only are LED lights more energy efficient, they’re fun to use as lighting in your home. You can create ambiance, and there are just so many choices. Even at big-box retailers, you can find LEDs to replace just about any bulb in your home. #2: Layer Your Lighting for Ambiance Where do you start when it comes to lighting in your home? Think about layering. I like overhead lighting for general light: ch

Today we’re gabbing with Kellye Markowski of Energy Smart Homes, an energy auditing and consulting company. She focuses on home comfort by helping homeowners reduce their energy consumption and costs. By working with a company like Energy Smart Homes, homeowners are able to improve the home’s energy efficiency, whether it is a new construction or remodel. And that puts more dollars in your wallet, not just today but for all of the years you own the home. That makes your home and life comfortable in more ways than one! Don’t Assume Your Home Is Energy Efficient One of the biggest issues Kellye sees in her work is the assumption that the house was built with energy efficiency in mind. Sometimes, yes, but sometimes, no. That’s why the best time to look at an energy audit is before you start a build or even a remodel. But if you’re feeling a difference in temperature in different parts of your home, or your energy bills seem high, it might be a good time to look into the issue. Usually, if there are challenges wi

  Learning to drive a home and the systems in it require some basic training something like learning to drive a car. We talk through some basic training on HVAC filters, thermostat operations/programming, lighting controls, appliance operation, water heater, fan controls, recycling practices/resources, app-controlled stuff and maintenance. Read more at The Green Home Coach Website! The Green Gab Podcast Links Bar:  Subscribe via iTunes |   Subscribe via RSS Feed |  Facebook Page |  Twitter Page |  Stitcher Page Connect with The Green Gab Podcast Hosts: — Marla Esser Cloos on – The Web – Twitter – Facebook – LinkedIn — Tony Pratte on – The Web – Facebook – LinkedIn  Green Gab: About the Hosts of The Green Gab Podcast: Green Gab Podcast Host Marla Esser Cloos is the Founder of The Green Home Coach – a company leading the way to inspire you to learn about, focus on and put into place Green Solutions when it comes to your life, home building and more. Marla is an NAHB Master Certified Green Professiona

Wondering what to do with all of those holiday decorations all around your home? Lea Gallagher is a professional organizer and provides tips to get that holiday organizing handled. After all, there can be a lot of chaos around the holidays, with busyness, deadlines, and—let’s face it—wrapping paper everywhere. As you start off the new year, you can give yourself a gift now that will mean a lot next holiday season: organization! Holiday Organizing Basics As you’re packing up all of your holiday decorations, it’s a great time to think about how you can organize it to find it better next year. The best time of year to evaluate your holiday décor is right after the holiday has ended. As you’re putting things away, ask yourself first: Did I use these things this year? If you didn’t, will you use it next year. Likely not, so perhaps you can purge. Ask yourself these questions: 1. Do I need it? 2. Do I use it? 3. Do I love it? If you answer yes to two of those questions, keep it; if not, it might be time to find t