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Archive for January, 2009

“2009 Southeast and Georgia Wetlands & Water Law Update” Seminar

Filed Under : Green Events by Hoots Group

Jan.31,2009

As We get invited to green events, we will make sure that they are posted on our blog if the invitation is open to all. Here is one that was recently sent over to us:

What: “2009 Southeast and Georgia Wetlands & Water Law Update” Seminar
When: February 19 & 20, 2009
Where: Omni Hotel at CNN Center — Atlanta, GA

Water and Wetlands Management Issues are in the forefront of Georgia’s environmental and development concerns. Unprecedented water shortages have been experienced in Georgia and surrounding states, where water has traditionally been plentiful. Now is the most important time to consider how to address these issues in the future. Read More…

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“Baby it’s cold outside”

Filed Under : Energy Efficiency by Greenlanta

Jan.29,2009

I love Jazz music and I particularly enjoy Louis Armstrong's version of "Baby It's Cold Outside"

Right now it is freezing in most of the country. I just heard on the radio that some parts may see a record blizzard in the near future! Get ready for high heating bills and to see where your house is not comfortable.

At our house, and at most houses, when it is cold outside all we worry about is our comfort and health. Not many people are willing to sacrifice comfort for savings in $$. That is until they get their first heating bill for the season, they they give us a call or they make their family freeze.

The good news is that you can be comfortable AND energy efficient. If you have drafts- you are loosing money and are uncomfortable. If your insulation or windows are not meeting the energy code- you are losing money. By fixing these areas in your house and upgrading your HVAC to a higher performance HVAC you can be more comfortable, healthier and energy efficient.

Just meeting the energy code is not enough! Energy Star products exceed the energy code to save you even more money.

The program that we use to evaluate and make your home more energy efficient, comfortable and healthier is Home Performance with Energy Star. This home assessment finds the energy hogs in your house and we use the EPA guidelines to prioritize which work needs to be completed based on energy efficiency and safety.

The good news is that there are programs that can help you offset the cost of the audit and the improvements. For a full list for GA click here.

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Tags : energy hogs, energy star, health, home assessment, home performance, Home Performance with Energy Star, HVAC, Insulation

“Whack a Mole”

Filed Under : Self Improvement by Greenlanta

Jan.27,2009

whac-a-mole

I say Whack- you say Whac.

Either way- I love the Whack-a-Mole game. When I take the family to Chuck E Cheese this is one of the ones that I get to play along with the boys. If you did not get out as a kid or do not have kids; the arcade version of the game has a series of moles that pop up through the surface an you have to force them pack down with a soft mallet.

I am not sure how this post is green, however time management is green because time is money and wasted time can lead to an unsustainable business. There I did it, I am connecting Whack-A-Mole to my business.

I really wish they had a desktop version of this game for my computer, especially for my e-mail. Every time I open my inbox, my adrenaline kicks in as I anticipate another 100 new e-mails. I get our the mallet and start whacking the junk e-mail then quickly get to the ones that can be answered quickly to diminished the overall amount of messages that still need attention. Once they are quickly down to a manageable amount, I start to go through them and categorize them by the day in which I can respond to them.

While this seems to be entertaining, the bombardment of information that we get these days is amazing. To me it used to be very stressful and overwhelming until I read a book called Getting Things Done by David Allen. His 2 minute rule enabled me to have fun playing whack a mole on my computer. Basically, his book recommends that you force yourself to take action on each e-mail. You either delete it, answer it (if it takes less than 2 minutes) or ag it for when you can answer it. This allows you to go through all of them and quickly prioritize how you will manage your inbox.

If you have lost touch with all of your other New Year’s Resolutions, I recommend reading Getting Things Done so you can free up some time whack-a-mole with your family instead of just on your laptop.

I probably manage my inbox by playing two game simutaneously; whack-a-mole and tennis.

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Tags : chuck e cheese, GA, green, management, resolutions, sustainable, whack a mole game

Green product review- Solar Shutters

Filed Under : Uncategorized by Greenlanta

Jan.26,2009

Powered by the sun to block out the Sun

When we use the projector in our showroom we had a problem because the sun would come in through the windows and interfere with the image on the wall. Around the same time, I was at a “green speed dating” event for builders and vendors to get 10 minutes to talk about different products. I saw this guy with these mechanical shutters that were installed on the exterior of the house. I thought that this would be perfect for my house so my boys would actually sleep in and not get up with the sun on the weekends! What I didn’t know then is the the sun has nothing to to with them waking up at the crack of dawn.

Before installing them on the house, I decided to try the technology out on our Eco Showroom first. The installation went great and we can now block out that solar glare when we are using our projector. Since we are green, I wanted this install to be unique. our building is pretty old and the motors need power so instead of hard wiring them, they are powered by solar collectors! This is the first install in North America where these shutter are powered by the sun.

Here is an excerpt from a recent press release that covers the other benefits of Eco Smart Shutters: Read More…

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Get Paid to go green

Filed Under : Energy Tax Credits and Rebates by Greenlanta

Jan.25,2009

I have been posting info under the category Energy Tax Credits and Rebates about the different solar, geothermal, and energy efficiency rebates here is GA. To make things easier for you here is a page that has all of the ones that we currently offer on it: Get Paid to Go Green.

If you are considering going green this year, do it sooner than later before the funding runs out. In GA there are only 2.5 MM in credits available. First come- first serve.

If you are not from GA here is anther resource to find rebates: dsireusa.org/

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Tags : Energy Efficiency, energy tax credits, Energy Tax Credits and Rebates, GA, geothermal, green, rebates

Green Real Estate Update (GA)

Filed Under : Green Real Estate by Greenlanta

I have been posting stories about Ecobroker houses for sale here in GA. Here is latest in what is going on:

“We belong in the zoo” I mean “….next to the zoo”

Carson and Carol had just started promoting their new develpoment in Grant Park. Update: Here is their new website for Grant Park Place.

Green house for sale

Update: House is still for sale however Jennifer Spivey tells me that they are getting some pretty good inquiries. There are several people that have looked at it and the composting toilets were seen as a plus!

LEEDing Edge open house info sheets

Update: House is nearing completion and is still on track to rack up the LEED points. There will be some upcoming events at the house in February. For more information contact Burke Sisco.

Investing in Energy Savings

Update: Green upgrades are a great investment especially in 2009. I have had so many inquiries about all of the rebates that I had to create a page dedicated to these items. GET PAID to “go green”

Just in-

A friend of mine is building a spec LEED house in Ansley Park. It will be the first LEED house listed in that area. I will post more info on it next week once I get some pictures.

If you have a green house that you want for me to talk about that is located in GA feel free to contact me. Contact

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Tags : burke sisco, composting toilet, ecobroker, Energy Savings, grant park, green, green house, harrynorman, Jennifer Spivey, park place, rebates

Cycle of Life- Weekend Project

Filed Under : DIY projects,Recycling by Greenlanta

Jan.24,2009

Each spring we plant a new garden at our home and last year we bought a bunch of herbs and a few vegetables from a local nursery for our herb garden. The rest of the herb garden was created from propagated herbs from the rest of the yard. The soil for last year’s garden was compost that I made from waste wood scraps from our job sites that I use as mulch. It took a couple of years for it to decompose, but it worked really well as compost!

In addition to the mulch pile we started a compost bin for yard waste and food scraps. The bottom of the pile is full of worms and the mulch is ready for next cycle of life.

Unfortunately, the place where we bought the live herbs is no longer there since we are in a severe drought and it could not sustain business. Earlier this month, I was checking on the herb garden and most of the plants are doing well in spite of the frost. The rosemary, thyme, sage are still alive however the basil died since it is an annual. I pulled all of them up to put in the compost pile and collected the seeds in an effort to see if they would grow indoors.

From previous posts you can see that I am also trying to find new and interesting ways to re-purpose trash. The same day that I collected the seeds, I noticed that we were almost out of eggs. This looked like the perfect container for me to try to grow the seeds! I cut the lid off, got some soil from the bottom of the compost bin and planted the seeds. To insure that the water would drain out I cut a hole in each egg holder and used the lid as a drain pan to catch all of the excess water. By using waste trash to hold the seeds, compost from lasts year’s garden, and seeds from lasts year’s garden we managed to get new basil plants at no cost!

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You can see that each egg holder is the perfect size for a starter plant. I put the seeds in soil and in less than a week I noticed sign of new life. You can see the Basil poking through the compost.

The lid needs to be cut off so the sun can reach the new leaves. The lid then gets placed under the carton so it can catch the water from the holes. Make sure that you put the container in direct sunlight so they can grow. I have to water mine every other day to keep the soil moist as well.

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Dark Hawks

Filed Under : Green Events,Green It Forward by Greenlanta

Each year the Hoots Group sponsors a local home school team that participates in a sustainable competition. They did really well last year winning the region and placing high at state as well. I just found out that they made it the state competition again! From the sponsoring parents:

“They took the top champions award at their qualifier tournament, the second place champions award at their super regional tournament (a new level this year) and they have advanced to the state tournament at Georgia Tech on January 31. “

I will be there to support them on the 31st. I was really proud last year at their attention to detail and with the amount of research they did to prepare for the competition. This year they have been asking us some very good questions about renewable energy that took some research on my part as well to answer. Read More…

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Tags : climate change, energy, Georgia, georgia tech, sustainable, The Hoots Group

Got heat?

Filed Under : Energy Efficiency,HVAC by Greenlanta

Jan.21,2009

Here in Georgia- it is freezing right now. We are getting calls left and right to make homes more energy efficient as well as comfortable. Many of them are looking for a quick fix but a few are thinking long term as well. If you have an inefficient house and you have holes in your insulation, then stop letting your money go through the roof and out the walls! Energy efficiency also makes your home more comfortable. I am sure that your family would appreciate a more comfortable house as well. The colds and allergies will also diminish.

There are 2 main parts to home performance. How your home performs, and how you perform in the house. In the winter, if you have a leaky house then you can either lower the thermostat and freeze (lifestyle change), or you can make your home more energy efficient (home performance changes) and be comfortable and save money!

Within Home Performance you can either do basic changes to your house or advanced changes to save even more money. Basic changes include: upgrading insulation, draft blocking, sealing up your duct work etc. These are all areas that you can get an immediate payback on comfort and energy efficiency.

If you have made the basic changes to your home and still want to save money, then upgrade the mechanical systems in your home. HVAC is the number 1 consumer of energy in the house followed by the water heater. The most efficient water heater on the market is Solar Thermal. The most efficient HVAC on the market is geothermal HVAC. This system is more than twice as efficient as a typical HVAC unit. Combined with the Solar and Insulation upgrades your energy consumption can be cut by over 50% or more!

For more information on this and other rebates and incentives click here.

To learn more about geothermal in person come visit us at Log Home and Timber Frame Show here in Atlanta this weekend. Read on for more details about the show.

Healthy Living Seminar

Filed Under : Green Events by Greenlanta

Jan.20,2009

One of the newest Ecobrokers here in Atlanta is excited to start spreading the word about sustainable building and healthy living. Britton Mcloed from Dorsey Alston (A Real Estate Firm) is organizing a green event at our Eco Showroom for next month. The topic is healthy living and will cover ways to make the indoor environment in homes safe for you and your family. If you are interested in attending, it will be here at our office on February 5th, 2009. For more information and for RSVP contacts read the full flier below.

Find out more about us here, check out our videos, and become a fan of us on Facebo Read More…

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I have a green…

Filed Under : Green It Forward by Greenlanta

Jan.19,2009

Happy Dr. MLK Jr. day! Living in Atlanta, there are many movements that have started or were accelerated here. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an inspiration to many in the civil right movement in the 60′s. He had a dream and it came true. A very inspiring story that helped change our culture for the good.

If you voted for him or not, Obama will become our first green president. He to “Has a green dream..” A green dream to make the US more energy independent.

While in the Marine Corps we had light green Marines and dark green Marines. While this was a great way to remind all Marines that skin color was just the surface of a human, no matter what color you skin is- you can be dark green as well. A darker degree of sustainable- that is.

Sustainability has lost its political divisiveness, green resonates across cultural barriers. All of us want to live in a healthier environment, be more comfortable, and save money. As a green contractor we get calls from all walks of like rich and poor, multicultural, etc. Everyone is starting to get it now. I can have a productive conversation with anyone now, because there is always a part of green that everyone has a little passion about.

I challenge each of you to honor Dr. MLK Jr. by coming up with your own green dream. He had a dream to for all of us to have the same opportunities in a free society; you too should follow the new green movement to become energy independent. This is not just independent of foreign oil; this is also independent of the local utility. Saving money on your utilities is money in your pocket- not theirs.

Go green. Become energy independent. Come up with your green plan to become energy independent today!

Thank you Dr. King Jr. for giving us a peaceful way to make a difference.

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Tags : Atlanta, dr martin luther king jr, green, sustainable

“Dad the builder”

Filed Under : Recycling by Greenlanta

bob-the-builder-tv-03 Every father wants to be able to take care of and provide for their family. That is their job. Secretly, most dads don’t mind being compared to a superhero by their kids. If your spouse calls you Superman, I guess that is okay as well!

Yesterday, I was doing my weekly honey-do-list and my son looked up to me and called me “Bob the builder.” Being a green builder, I actually appreciated the title, and to me, it was better than being called Superman. Not only does Bob get to work with talking machinery, he teaches kids about sustainable building. With the slogan- “Can we do it? Yes we can!” he runs his business with a can do attitude. When dealing with waste he emphasis the principles of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

I remember my youth days and debating with my friends about whose dad was better. I think I finally won when I convinced them that he could build and fly airplanes, as well as build skyscrapers all by himself. While this might have been an exaggeration, my father did have the mechanical skills to build houses. He also led me to believe that I could do anything that I put my mind to as well. I still believe this! I can only hope that my sons argue that I can build house that takes less energy to operate that their friend’s dads can or build a city that is self sustaining. Luckily, for my sons this is not too far fetched!

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Tags : Bob the builder, green, recycle, reduce, reuse, sustainable, sustainable building, waste

Fun in the Sun

Filed Under : Solar Power and other renewable resources by Greenlanta

Jan.18,2009

Most of the nation had the pleasure of experiencing record low temperatures late last week. Here in Atlanta we saw temperatures dip into the teens. If you have an outdoor pool, you probably wouldn’t even think about cleaning it, yet alone taking a dip in it.

What if there was a way to extend you swimming season?

In most climates, the middle of the summer is the perfect time to dip in the pool. Spring and Fall are a bit cooler and the pool water is frigid. If you are from Alaska or like to cut holes in the ice to go swimming then this post is not for you. Traditionally, to regulate the water temperature in pools you had to add a supplemental heater. Most of these are gas heater and cost a lot to operate. I had one client complaining about a $1000/month gas bill partly because of their pool heater.

Great- we can swim in warmer water but it will cost an arm and a leg!

Not so, you can heat your pool with the sun! You have seen the other posts on solar water heaters for the house, well- there is a similar technology for pool heaters. The Olympic pool for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta used the sun to heat the pool. They also installed the largest Solar Power array in the SouthEast (that’s a whole story in itself). The product that was used on the pool was heliocol.

The Hoots Group is an installer and dealer for Heliocol in the Atlanta area and beyond. The technology is great especially since is can double you swimming season and it is saving you money in energy costs over a typical gas pool heater.

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Tags : Atlanta, atlanta area, GA, heliocol, pool heaters, Solar pool heaters, solar power, solar water heater, Sun, The Hoots Group, water

Dual Flush toilet meets its match

Filed Under : Green products by Greenlanta

Jan.17,2009

As a green builder and renovator I am not only looking for ways to be more sustainable, but also to see how I can find ways to save money that are green as well. I was at a trade show today and ran into a seller of composting toilets. I have used composting toilets in the past as part of a structure so I am familiar with the technology. There is one on display at the Southface Energy Institute and one of my friends is selling a house that has one in it as well.

Today I was presented a new way of using composting toilets that makes the job site more eco-friendly. Instead of using a job site toilets such as a portalet, they have a product that can be used in place of that. I had never heard of using a composting toilet for a temp toilet that can be taken away. It is not only a good idea to make the job site more eco-friendly, it also does not need the same sort of maintenance that a regular toilet needs. Most temp toilets needs to be cleaned out once or twice a week depending on the number of users. A composting toilet basically maintains itself with the waste. All you have to do is throw some sawdust in there to aid in the compost every now and then. The compost at the end of the job can be used in a garden as well. All of those burritos and fast food meals can be turned into plant food! I am sure that my homeowner’s will love the free gift that we leave them at the end of the job once we start using these.

According to the manufacturers website here are some other benefits of using a composting toilet:

You are protecting your lake and ground water from being polluted by pathogens and nutrients
You are saving huge amounts of water
You are recycling the nutrients directly back to the plants they came from.

For more info on composting toilets visit: sun-mar

If you are in the Atlanta area this weekend you can find them at a Home Show that is currently in town. Also some see our associates at the Velux booth and talk to them about going Solar!

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Tags : Atlanta, atlanta area, composting toilet, green, Recycling, southface energy institute, Sun, sun mar, sustainable, The Hoots Group

Cutting Home Energy Use Could Be a Game

Filed Under : Green Games by Greenlanta

If you are a gamer and also want to save the environment there may be a way for you to both at the same time. Our friends at EcoGeek wrote up this story talking about how you make saving energy a real time game and save money at the same time.

Hint- if your house needs more work than a newer house looks like you have a better chance at making improvements. If the game is based on actual energy usage per user or getting to net zero than it could cost you more. Either way just playing the game makes you a winner if you save money.

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E-mail

Written by Megan Treacy

Thursday, 15 January 2009

Stanford University professor Byron Reeves thinks that the key to getting people to actively reduce their home electricity use is to make it a competition. At the Behavior, Energy and Climate Change conference, he proposed the idea of combining smart meters with online gaming.

His idea would feed a home’s smart meter data into a massive multi-player online game where the more you reduce energy consumption, the more points you gain. All homeowners in the online community would be competing, but also working together for a common good. The concept is based on hugely popular games like World of Warcraft and Second Life. A demo video is available here.

Reeves is an expert in psychological processing of media and he believes this game would work because people work hardest towards goals where they have an emotional investment. Both the feeling of competition and the sense of community that an online gaming platform would provide, would cause people to be more engaged in reducing their home energy use.

Reeves said that the Department of Energy and utility companies have expressed interest in his idea. Personally, I’d love to see this game come to life. Not only would it be a motivator for people to save energy, but competition breeds new ideas. Who knows what players would come up with to one-up their virtual neighbors? Some really useful tricks could come out of this!

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Tags : climate change, climate change conference, energy, energy use, GA, gaming platform, reduce, saving energy, smart meters

Sustain Word

The Official Blog of The Hoots Group- The Green Builder and Remodeler for Atlanta

Archive for January, 2009

“2009 Southeast and Georgia Wetlands & Water Law Update” Seminar

“Baby it’s cold outside”

“Whack a Mole”

I say Whack- you say Whac.

Green product review- Solar Shutters

Powered by the sun to block out the Sun

Get Paid to go green

Green Real Estate Update (GA)

“We belong in the zoo” I mean “….next to the zoo”

Green house for sale

LEEDing Edge open house info sheets

Investing in Energy Savings

Just in-

Cycle of Life- Weekend Project

Dark Hawks

Got heat?

Healthy Living Seminar

I have a green…

“Dad the builder”

Fun in the Sun

Dual Flush toilet meets its match

Cutting Home Energy Use Could Be a Game

Design/ Build Solutions

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