News Picks:

Is Organic Food Worth It?: Real Food author Nina Planck explains why it is worth it to buy organic food.

“Pre-washed” Salad Precaution: A Consumer Reports test found bagged salads may not be as clean as you think.

Tax Rewards for Going Green: Good NYTimes summary of the expanded tax credits that make energy-saving purchases more affordable right now.

Multimedia Link:
Because it’s Friday and I want to pretend that my wardrobe consists of more than work clothes and yoga pants. The best moments of New York Fashion week’s Green Shows.

New and Cool Pick:

Prepeat Printer can erase and reprint on the same paper.

OK–this is by the far the coolest concept we saw this week.  The paper is made of plastic (bummer), but if you only need a few pieces, it will save lots and lots of trees (yeah!).

I’m trying to be greener, but still practical. I guess I’m in the right place.

I’ve owned my home in Eastern Massachusetts for five years, and I’ve upgraded (sometimes by choice, sometimes not) much of the infrastructure in the house: the boiler, the washer and dryer, the refrigerator/freezer in the garage, the deck, and more. I’ve dumped enough money into this house that I’m wary of putting in more. Still, I’m intrigued by the “Cash for Appliances” program.

I’d love to upgrade some of the remaining original elements in the house, especially if Uncle Sam is going to chip in for it. I took advantage of similar programs over the past few years when I re-insulated the attic and put in central air conditioning. Everybody wins: my energy bills are lower and I’m dumping less into the environment. So, it’s a slam dunk, right? Bring it on!

Maybe not. We’re moving next year.

I really don’t want to drop more money into this house if I’m not going to get it back when I sell. Times are tough. And I’m not that hardcore.

CNN is reinforcing my worry, writing this morning that home-energy retrofits aren’t paying for themselves at resell time.

Nearly everyone agrees that performing an energy retrofit will make your place more comfortable and save a lot on bills. But if the retrofits don’t add value to the home’s price, will homeowners make the improvements, regardless of whether or not the government decides to pick up half the tab, as they are considering?

I think that a lot of the trouble is that the real-estate market hasn’t caught up to the green trends yet.

Part of the problem is that many real estate appraisers aren’t trained to look for energy efficiency upgrades.

…

[Appraisal Institute President Leslie] Sellers said the institute is currently running green certification programs that will teach appraisers how to better value upgrades like efficiency improvements.

Will Realtors and home-buyers be able to properly price these enhancements when they’re looking at a house? Eventually? Yes. In 2011? I don’t think so. To really be able to perform these retrofits if you’re planning on moving within a couple of years, the upgrades must pay for themselves as reliably as updating the 70’s bathroom and redoing the kitchen.

I want high-efficiency furnaces and zero-VOC paint to be this decade’s marble countertops. I just don’t think we’re there yet.

So, I’m probably going to hold off, even with the tax credit. I’m going to save that money and use it to upgrade the next house.

What do you think? Have you seen the housing market reward green retrofits? Let me know in the comments, or send us a tweet @practicalgreen.

Clorox has launched an improved consumer website that lists product ingredients and provides access to Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS).  You just click on the logo of your favorite brand and it lists the ingredients, along with a description of what that ingredient does from a “usefulness” point of view. From a transparency point of view, it’s very helpful and a great step forward. My only major complaint is that the site does not tell you easily what each ingredient is like from a “hazardous” point of view. That’s where the MSDS’s are interesting.

For example, if you look up Formula 409, you will find 3 hazardous ingredients listed including n-Alkyl (C12-16) Dimethylbenzyl Ammonium Chloride, n-Propoxypropanol, and Monoethanolamine.  You can then check out those hazards on The Environmental Working Group site as well as The US Occupational Safety & Health Administration and US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  What you find out about the ingredients for Formula 409 is:

• N, N-Alkyl(C12-16) Dimethylbenzyl Ammonium Chloride:  listed as a moderate hazard by the Environmental Working Group and has been linked to cancer, immune and respiratory problems, skin and eye irritations, and is a suspected mutagen.

• N-Propoxypropanol: an alcohol that can cause skin and eye irritation and can affect the central nervous system. When involved in fire, it can create irritating vapors and toxic gases, such as carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide.

• Monoethanolamine: a flammable, corrosive metal that is known to cause skin and eye irritation, affect the central nervous system (creating lethargy), can be toxic to humans if swallowed and can harm aquatic life when exposed in large amounts.

No shocker—pretty nasty stuff. It was also interesting to check out their Greenworks line, which I didn’t know much about. I was surprised to see pretty typical natural cleaning ingredients and nothing hiding that was a big green no-no. A few checks of other sources to confirm what I thought–and yes, Clorox Greenworks is pretty green from a health standpoint.

But let’s be practical, who the heck has time to be checking out MSDS’s on products or doing the random google walk through scientific journals to figure out whether a chemical is good or not.  That’s one of the reasons I am loving the Good Guide–which ranks products on health, environment, and corporate responsibility using a simple numerical scale. Greenworks, for example, gets a good grade (7) on health, but does not do as well in the other categories.  The “best” all purpose cleaner, in terms of health, environment, and social responsibility was Method.

I am a big believer that improvement is what matters when embracing green and in that sense, it is GREAT that Clorox is putting more information out there for people like you and me.  But unless that information is accompanied by something to translate ingredient mumbo-jumbo into easy to understand connections between ingredients and health and environmental risk, it stops short of being truly transformative.  Maybe that’s coming in version 3.0?

In 2008, the French designer Philippe Starck turned his attention to designing for good, and launched his first very stylish home wind-turbines. Today, he announced two new models that are, in a word, visually stunning.

However, it leads me to wonder how practical a home wind turbine really is.  Sure I want that gorgeous thing on my house.  Other than driving an electric car or putting up solar panels, it might be one of the most visible ways to market new green tech to the neighbors and perhaps convince a few of them that wind power can mean more than an ocean full of bird killing devices (can you tell I live near the Cape Wind controversy?).  My co-gen system is cool too, but not that many people are wandering around my basement.

But what’s the benefit?  What’s the cost?  How do I figure out whether I can get enough wind?  The cost for Starck’s model, according to the announcement, is approximately $3,500 USD for one of the models and $5,000 USD for the other.  The benefit:  one of them produces about 400W and the (more expensive one) 1 Kilowatts at max capacity, but “capacity factor” (how much time is spent producing at capacity) varies dramatically–in many regions it’s only between 20-35%.

There is a decent frequently asked questions section of the American Wind Energy Association about residential wind that suggests a 1 Kilowatt system is probably undersized for a typical US household’s needs.  They recommend a 5 to 15 Kilowatt system to offset the majority of energy usage.  You can also look at a map of wind in your region on the Wind Energy Resource Atlas to determine whether you have average wind of at least 10 MPH.  (On that basis alone, I think I’m out here in on a hillside in 02459.  If you are in the Great Plains, Texas or California or on a hilltop, you may be in luck).  And no one seems to provide great advice for dealing with those finicky historical commissions.

That said, even a 20% energy usage reduction would garner decent savings and Stark’s price points seem correspondingly lower than the costs quoted by the AWEA ($6K-$22K) for home systems.  So while the Philippe Starck home turbine does feel like a little bit like eco-bling, if great design helps increase interest in renewable energy, a little bling is not necessarily a bad thing.

The Federal/State stimulus program ”Cash for Appliances” is ramping up across the country this quarter, providing incentives to upgrade that energy hog of an appliance for a new energy-efficient one.  But because every state program is different, figuring out how much you save and on what can be daunting.  Fortunately, you take a problem, the Internet, and a few innovative people and you get a solution.  In this case, it’s Eco Rebates, which launched this week.

Ecorebates most useful feature is a map where you can search by state and see when the program starts and in some cases, exactly how much you will save by appliance.  A perusal of Massachusetts says the program will start in March, over $6MM in rebates will be given out, and it covers EnergyStar refrigerators, freezers, clothes washers, and dishwashers.  California’s goes further and says the program will start on March 17th, end of April 22nd, and gives the exact rebate amount for Clotheswasher (Tier 2 or greater, $100) , Room A/C, and Refrigerator.  They also have a  list of useful resources and websites for additional rebate information and links to major retailer’s appliance pages.

Like Cash for Clunkers, the funds may run out fast.  So if you are in the market for a more efficient appliance, you won’t want to wait.  And if you aren’t sure, check out your state’s rebates.  It might just be the little kicker you need to finally brave the lines at Best Buy, and hey–you can always say you were just doing your part for the economic recovery.

Dual-pane windows are energy efficient windows that consist of two glass panels set in a frame, separated by a small space (1/2 inch to 3/4 inch wide). The space between the layers of glass are filled with nontoxic, inert gasses (such as argon) which add to the window’s insulating properties. The glass itself is often coated to reflect heat as well.

To learn more, go to:
http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/home/windows/todays_windows.html

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=windows_doors.pr_windows

A zero energy home uses state-of-the-art, energy-efficient building techniques and renewable energy systems to produce its own energy. A zero energy home produces enough energy to offset the amount purchased from a local electric utility. This offsetting results in a net-zero energy consumption status from the local electric utility and a net-zero annual energy bill.

To learn more (and to see some examples of zero energy homes), go to:
http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/designing_remodeling/index.cfm/mytopic=10360
http://www.toolbase.org/Home-Building-Topics/zero-energy-homes/zero-energy-home-project
http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/En/research/buildings/zero_energy/index.htm

Solar energy is an alternative energy method which is produced by collecting sunlight and converting it into electricity. Solar energy uses solar panels to collect the rays and they are large, flat panels made up of individual solar cells.

The benefit of using solar energy to generate electricity and heat is that it does not produce air or water pollution or greenhouse gases.

To learn more, go to:
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=solar_home-basics

ENERGY STAR ™  is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy. ENERGY STAR provides energy efficient products and practices to help consumers make informed energy choices, save money, and protect the environment.

ENERGY STAR also provides strict energy efficiency guidelines and standards for products set by the EPA and U.S. Department of Energy (these products can be identified with the ENERGY STAR emblem:

ENERGY STAR emblem

To learn more, go to:
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=about.ab_index

An energy audit is a voluntary step taken to make a home more efficient. It helps you assess how much energy your home uses and evaluate what changes you can take to improve efficiency. During an audit, improvements are recommended and it is up to the homeowner to implement the recommendations or not.

Energy audits can not only enhance energy efficiency but lower utility costs and increase comfort inside the home.

To learn more, go to:
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=home_improvement.hm_improvement_audits