More Energy Saving Tips- Save Water, Gas & Money

Happy Earth Day!

Here are some simple tips for saving water, gas and (as a bonus!) money. If you're lucky enough to be building a new home, you can start with a more energy efficient home by installing 90% efficient furnaces, blown-in or fiberglass insulation, and Energy Star Appliances, among other things. McArthur Homes offers a wide range of green-friendly products for your new home in our Personal Selections Catalog, available online.




If you're already in your new home or you own an older home, here are some things you can do to save water and lower your bills:

• Take shorter showers to reduce water use. This will lower your water and heating bills too.
• Install a low-flow showerhead. They don't cost much, and the water and energy savings can quickly pay back your investment.
• Make sure you have a faucet aerator on each faucet. These inexpensive appliances conserve heat and water, while keeping water pressure high.
• Plant drought-tolerant native plants in your garden. Many plants need minimal watering. Find out which occur naturally in your area.

You can also help the Earth and save money by conserving gas:

• Walk or bike to work. This saves on gas and parking costs while improving your cardiovascular health and reducing your risk of obesity.
• Drive sensibly. Aggressive driving such as speeding, rapid acceleration and braking wastes gasoline. You can lower your highway gas mileage by 33% and city mileage by 5%!
• Replace clogged air filters to improve gas mileage by as much as 10% and protect your engine.

 

Go Green- Save Energy & Money in Your Home

With Earth Day coming up this month, I've seen a lot of helpful tips for being more Earth friendly. Here are some tips for saving energy in your home, that will also save you money!

• Install compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) when your older incandescent bulbs burn out. They last longer and use 75% less energy!
• Unplug appliances when you're not using them. Or, use a "smart" power strip that senses when appliances are off and cuts "phantom" or "vampire" energy use. You can also plug home electronics, such as TVs and DVD players, into power strips then turn the power strips off when the equipment is not in use. TVs and DVDs in standby mode still use several watts of power.
• Wash clothes in cold water whenever possible. As much as 85% of the energy used to machine-wash clothes goes to heating the water.
• Use a drying rack or clothesline to save the energy otherwise used during machine drying.
• Air dry dishes instead of using your dishwasher’s drying cycle.
• Lower the thermostat on your hot water heater to 120 degrees F.
• Turn off kitchen, bath and other exhaust fans within 20 minutes after you are done cooking or bathing. 

McArthur Homes Receives 2010 ENERGY STAR Leadership in Housing Award

McArthur Homes earns award for building new homes that protect the environment through energy efficiency 

South Jordan, Utah – McArthur Homes is pleased to announce that it has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with a 2010 ENERGY STAR Leadership in Housing Award.  This award recognizes the important contribution McArthur Homes has made to energy-efficient construction and environmental protection by building more than 75 ENERGY STAR qualified homes last year.  Collectively, these homes will save our customers approximately $33,078 on utility bills each year.

The environmental benefits of these ENERGY STAR qualified homes are equal to the equivalent of:

• Eliminating the emissions from 36 vehicles;
• Saving 219,336  lbs of coal;
• Planting 60 acres of trees; or
• Saving the environment 430,162 pounds of CO2 per year.

To earn the ENERGY STAR, a home must meet strict guidelines for energy efficiency set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  These homes are at least 15% more energy efficient than homes built to the 2004 International Residential Code (IRC), and include additional energy-saving features that typically make them 20–30% more efficient than standard homes.

ENERGY STAR qualified homes offer homebuyers all the features they want in a new home, plus energy-saving features like effective insulation systems, high performance windows, tight construction and ducts, properly-sized and installed efficient heating and cooling equipment, efficient products, and third-party verification of energy performance.

“Most homebuyers focus on what's outside the walls,” said Sam Rashkin, National Director for EPA's ENERGY STAR Homes Program, “but they also need to look behind the walls for the energy-efficient features found in ENERGY STAR qualified homes that help ensure comfort, quiet, improved indoor air quality, and low utility bills for years to come.”

More than one million ENERGY STAR homes have been built in the United States since the program first began labeling homes in 1995. Thanks to the dedication of our partners, families living in ENERGY STAR qualified homes will save more than $270 million this year on their utility bills, while avoiding greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 370,000 vehicles.

About McArthur Homes

McArthur Homes is a local homebuilder that builds single family homes in Salt Lake and Utah counties.  Currently they are building in neighborhoods in West Jordan, Lehi and Eagle Mountain.  They will soon break ground at the new Herriman Town Center.  McArthur Homes offers brand new attached single family homes priced at the mid 100’s and detached single family homes starting in the high 100’s.  They have built over 1700 new homes since 1993 and were awarded Best of State 2009 for residential construction.  For more information on the company or currently available neighborhoods, visit their website at www.McArthurHomes.com

About ENERGY STAR

ENERGY STAR was introduced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1992 as a voluntary market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through increased energy efficiency. Today, ENERGY STAR offers businesses and consumers energy-efficient solutions to save energy, money and help protect the environment for future generations. More than 17,000 organizations are ENERGY STAR partners committed to improving the energy efficiency of products, homes, buildings and businesses. For more information about ENERGY STAR, visit www.energystar.gov or call toll-free 1-888-STAR-YES (1-888-782-7937).