Use less, and create more!

We at Casa Verde Realty, Inc. would like to show you how you can benefit seven generations of your grandchildren in your housing choices today.  How our actions effect the environments of our children is not just a Native American concern but a concern of all of us.  We also wish to explore with you how an investment in a greener home will not only improve the environment but will also give you a competitive market advantage that will enhance your property investment.

Attuning our lifestyles to a more beneficial exchange with the natural environment is our decision.  How we go about making our buildings greener and our lifestyles more sustainable is a lifelong process.  Consider the nine areas below and see where you can make a beneficial change now and into the near future.

• Hazardous materials in the immediate environment:  Is there an environmental hazard in your neighborhood, such as proximity to a freeway or high tension lines?  Are there toxins in your home or workplace, such as lead based paint, asbestos, or radon?  Are you generating or storing chemicals on the EPA’s hazardous materials list? Do you have a fireplace? Does new carpet and paint smells bother you?  Hazardous materials in the immediate environment prove a greater and more imminent threat to the people at home than to the world at large.

• Alternative Ecological products for Households.  The packaging and products we use in hundreds of household applications can pollute the environment and create hazardous conditions to our health and safety.  Do you participate in recycling your refuse?  Do you purchase recycled products or those that are biodegradable?  Do you provide your own packaging when you can?  Do you search for products that have minimal negative environmental impacts to accomplish your household needs satisfactorily?

• Energy consumption and generation:  The most purchased worldwide commodity is electricity. Electricity is generated by massive systems that dam great rivers, that burn coal, oil or natural gas, and that explode atoms and then distribute this energy via regional and multi-state grids.  In the face of this grand scale generation, how much energy do you need, use or waste to power your lifestyle?

• Solar power is a natural resource everyday here in Arizona and elsewhere.  It can be harnessed at a massive system-wide level or at your own household level to generate electricity that relieves the burden on the mega-grids.  If you become less dependent on the utility system by generating a portion of your own power, how much might you decrease your costs for electricity?    There are state and federal tax credits available for homeowners who wish to install photovoltaic systems as well as for owners of commercial buildings.

• Water usage for home and landscape:  Water is channeled, gathered and distributed in another massive system of interdependent public utilities.  How much water do you need, use, conserve or waste for your household and landscape needs?  What are the ways you can conserve water?  How might you use dishwashers, washing machines, toilets, or the household or business plumbing systems to perform the same functions more efficiently with less water use?  What landscaping plants are harmonious to your climate and consequently require a minimal amount of additional watering?

• Transportation impact on energy use and pollution:  Do you travel alone or with others?  If you do not use a more energy efficient but less convenient public or shared means of transport, then your daily travel routine causes two impacts beyond your lone cost of commuting per mile: (1) the consumption of gas and oil for your vehicle, and (2) the per mile unit of pollution caused by your vehicle times the number of miles you drive per year. If your new neighborhood had biking trails, would you use them?  How can you conserve and meet your budget, routine, place and time commitments? Where you choose to live has the most impact in any environment.

• Food and Gardens:  Apart from the concerns of nurturing yourself and your family with a healthy diet, food is an ecological concern.  The greatest component to the cost of food is the expense of transporting it long distances to a store near you.  Were you to buy food directly from local growers, or grow some of your own food in your own garden, you could decrease dependence on the trucking of food that consumes oil and increases environmental pollutants.  Were you to engage in sustainable gardening, you could also improve the conditions of soil, air, flora and fauna in your immediate home area ecosystem.  You might also improve your health!

• Home and building, design, construction and material impacts on the environment.  The buildings in which we work and live condition our ability to conserve thermal energy.  You can evaluate insulation ratings, efficiency of heating and cooling systems, and designs and uses of materials that maximize heat exchange. There are many businesses in Arizona which sell flooring, paints, furniture and other products that are earth friendly , made from recycled materials and that conserve the energy you use and pay for!

• When you build a new home or remodel an existing one, it is time to consider how your place can be made more energy and cost efficient.  It is also time to consider how your home will connect and interact with the regional utility companies.  What changes can you make to your home or office building to improve energy efficiency? What energy generation systems can you incorporate that meet your budget?  This calculation is a complex consideration of investment costs, life cycle savings, efficiency gains, and outside monetary incentives offered by utility companies and government agencies. 

Each of us can evaluate our personal situations of house, office and property to learn how well our buildings use energy, electricity, water and where we could save money in these categories.  Each of us can evaluate our landscaping to determine how easily sustainable it is within our climate zone, how well the plants support our food and health needs and what we can do to enrich the soil, air, and web of life in our own backyards.  We at Casa Verde Realty, Inc., hope to have raised a few more questions to prepare you to ask the marketplace for what you want.   You, the home buyer have many options and choices to enjoy.

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