Just bookmarking the walter filter my folks own.

Recommended by a friend of mine, a permanent, washable air filter.

Hmmm….thoughts for the basement floor.

Wanting to use permeable pavers for our future back patio.

Nice hand-held showerhead that pauses after it warms up….

Looks like a great resource.

It’s pretty interesting, with several levels of certification, some self-reporting by the builder, and some third-party certified. When looking through the list, however, my desire for any sort of certification reached nearly zero. It seems to be a lot of work, and frankly, I felt overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things to consider. I think we will continue to put our energies into pursing the viability of a ground-source heat pump, good windows and insulation, low-VOC paint, xeriscaping, etc. I’d love to do absolutely everything, but financial considerations and the energy that birthing and caring for a new baby are going to be our priority.

What I found out, however, was in this climate the advantage of a reflective roof would be minimal. The average “cooling degree days” (i.e., how many degrees a year you are cooling to get to 65 degrees F.) is 458. Compare that, with, say, Phoenix, that has nearly the same rainfall as we do annually (i.e., desert) but has 4162 cooling degree days! You can look up your heating/cooling degree days on this website.

There does still seem to be some benefit to having a lighter coloured roof in this climate, so we probably will go with that but perhaps not worry about the speciality products. I’m not sure what the cost comparison is between products, which would be the biggest factor, but it does seem to make more sense at this point to concentrate on high-quality windows and insulation, with a long-lasting shingle (reflective or not).

There is a fair amount of helpful information on roofing material types and benefits at the Roofing Contractor website.

Here’s the site with the requirements for the “green” federal tax credits.