In US, more than 90 percent of building roofs are dark colored. During peak summer, dark color roofs absorb more heat and buildings require more energy to cool off. Remedy to this problem is coloring roof with lighter shades to promote better heat reflection and emission that keep the building cooler. Using CFLs instead of conventional filament based light bulbs saves around 75 percent of electricity consumptions. Similarly, insulating water heater and hot water pipes reduce heat wastage and promote efficient heat utilization. These techniques are very common and generally used by many to make their homes environment-friendly. But green homes are becoming major area of interest in modern building construction business and everyday new products and technologies are evolving either to recapture lost energy or to lower the energy usage at first place.
We are today surrounded by energy-efficient and energy-saving technologies. And it’s not possible for you to judge all the technologies personally. So we took the trouble and chose only 5 of them for you. These all new 5 technologies would definitely make your home a greener place to live in. Besides that, you would also become a crusader in the holy war of promoting sustainable living in the world.
1. EcoDrain
Insulation of hot water pipes and water heater keeps the heat intact for longer time. However, after shower, the hot water, which flows down the drain, carries out lot of unused heat. EcoDrain solves this problem. The new energy-recapturing system absorbs the leftover heat from drained water and uses that heat to warm the incoming municipal water supply. During that period, it absorbs heat from waste water; system maintains dual-wall separation between clean water and drained water. However, despite the elaborate energy recycling capacity, EcoDrain requires extensive construction work around shower water drainage system under the floor.
2. Bluenergy Solarwind Turbine
This is a dual utilization of your roof space. The double-helix shaped turbine rotates around vertical axis and generates electricity within the range of 4 MPH to 90 MPH wind speed. Simultaneously, the turbine surface, coated with fluoropolymer, absorbs solar energy from any angle. Integration of solar and wind energy in single structure makes the technology more space efficient. Besides, the design is unique and creative. Compared to conventional propeller wind turbine, Solarwind works even under turbulent wind, when pressure comes from more than one direction. The developers of the technology found that you could save more than 200 tons of CO2 and air pollutants with the new turbine over the life cycle of 20 – 40 years.
3. Reclamator
This is basically a septic tank that recaptures water component from your sewage. After reclaiming the water, it also treats the water and converts into drinking grade water. Relclamator could be an ultimate water treatment machine for home as well as business setup. Water system in any home or building requires lots of infrastructure and energy costs. Recycling capacity of this new technology would lower both the costs. However, Reclamator is expensive technology currently and requires regular servicing by only efficient people. Cost saving in energy would compensate initial setup cost over the life cycle of the machine.
4. Swash Toilet Seat
Swash bidet seat makes your home greener cutting down usage toilet papers in the toilet. The new technically advanced bidet seat allows you to adjust seat temperature, water pressure and water temperature. Efficient cleaning eliminates excessive application of toilet papers. Saving paper usage ultimately results in saving millions of trees’ lives in the world.
5. Rewood Renewable Smart CoolRoof
This innovative roofing solution is a double-action green technology. It recycles automobile tires and utilizes the same rubber as roofing material. Car tires are environmentally hazardous. Besides, Smart CoolRoof also sports solar panels for capturing energy from sunlight. Integrated solar panel also looks better than conventional bigger solar panels.
