Houses of the future at the Farm Show, Pennsylvania
In light of the recent hype (and rightly so) about Global warming and its aftermath, governments and organisations all over the world are committed to limit the effects of global warming by creating awareness and promoting the use of sustainable and eco-friendly products. With the catch phrase โGo greenโ becoming more meaningful than ever, consumers are committed to buying products for their environmental benefits even if that means that they have to pay extra for sustainable and eco-friendly products.
DEP at the Farm Show
Continuing its effort to fight Global warming, the Department of Environmental Protection will conduct an exhibition called โDEP at Homeโ, during the 97th Pennsylvania Farm Show in the Main Hall of the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex during January 5th-12th. The main objective behind this exhibition is to make the nation more energy efficient and encourage research and development of renewable energy so that we can gradually shift from our fossil fuel dependant model of energy consumption to a new approach that will be cleaner and cheaper.
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DEP at Home: Its objectives
They believe that besides achieving environmental protection and energy conservation, there is a substantial opportunity of economic growth related to energy efficiency in terms of providing jobs to hundreds of people. Tradesmen, carpenters, plumbers who are otherwise having difficulties surviving in the crashing job market will be employed in DEPโs effort to attain energy conservation which will in turn be a big boost to the economy.
With these in their mind, their objective in the Farm show is to educate people about the benefits of energy efficient houses and educate them about various ways of conserving and utilizing energy efficiently and as a result, saving a fortune in the process.
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The Exhibition
The exhibit consists of three-rooms: a bathroom/laundry area, a kitchen and a living room. It showcase interior dรฉcor made from eco-friendly raw material, appliances which are sustainable and renewable and help to improve energy efficiency and building materials that have minimal effect on the environment. It also demonstrates water conservation methods and hopes to educate people about air quality and other parameters of the surrounding required forobtaining a cleaner environment. There are other parameters likean outdoor space with a dog house with green roofswhich are essential for a normal household and also a bicycle to encourage people to cycle for short distances instead of taking their cars.
Other companies with the DEP
โMade in PA, It makes a difference.โ is this yearโs theme for the farm show. The DEP at Home exhibit will display many Pennsylvania products, among which are
- Valley Forge Chester Countyโs fibre cement siding
- Lancaster, Lancaster Countyโs cork flooring
- Vandergrift, Westmoreland County energy Star window and
- Insulation made in the Erie, Erie County, and Allentown, Lehigh County.
The main objective behind featuring these products is to encourage and educate people ways of adopting methods of conserving energy by utilizing it efficiently with the help of locally manufactured materials. Keeping this in mind, experts from the above mentioned companies will be invited to speak on their respective products, their availability and environmental benefits and answer any question from the audience related to building an eco-friendly home on Saturday, the 6th of January.
Future plans
The exhibit created with the help of a grant from the U.S. Department of Energyโs State Energy Program will be displayed at home shows, schools and other educational events to educate the younger generation about the benefits of energy efficiency and enlighten them about different sustainable building practices. To continue promoting eco-friendly houses, DEP will conduct webinars on a quarterly basis also known as โDEP at Homeโ to educate families about different methods of building an eco-friendly house for obtaining a cleaner and safer environment that can sustain all forms of life in the future.
