UNLESS someone like you cares about the future, what will it look like? We cannot wait for someone else to fix it. This problem impacts us all and we can all make a change to improve the outcome.
There are many little things that can be done that will make a home last 100 years instead of 30. Designing a home for a lifetime is the first step, adding grab bars that don’t look like grab bars for instance make a home livable. You can create an entry to your home without steps so all your friends are able to visit no matter their mobility. You can have appropriate lighting so everyone can read comfortably, see to cook, and watch television without a glare.
Creating a smart home allows you to control the heating and cooling system over the internet. It will allow you to reduce energy usage. A smart home improves your safety, convenience, and comfort.
Installing systems that collect rainwater for use in landscape watering, flushing toilets, and washing cars reduces the dependence on municipal systems. This reduces future tax dollar demands, saves you money monthly, and helps protect our streams and lakes.
Installing low flow fixtures and dual flush toilets reduce water usage. Small changes around your home all make for a big impact when put together. If you do it and talk about the savings then your neighbor will do it and before long your community is doing it.
Installing systems that allow for monitoring energy usage allows you to predict the failure of a refrigerator a month before it actually stops working. These systems used to be for luxury homes only, but now are affordable and easy to use. Simple solutions for your home make things much easier to maintain, pay for, and will put you in charge of your energy use. You don’t need complicated laws to make things better, you need good planning and design solutions.
Installing solar hot water systems reduces energy usage. This allows for free hot water after a short payback period. Solar PV is another option that will provide electricity for your home. The prices for these systems have dramatically come down over the last five years. The technology is getting easier to maintain and understand. Soon these systems will be the common solution in your neighborhood, you could be the catalyst that drives the change.
If you have questions about these technologies or what you can do to make small changes, join us at the Harrisonburg Green Expo to learn more.
