The effects of the water heater can be seen immediately in the amount of energy saved, and after a short time, most homeowners report turning off their gas water heater altogether, and never turning it on again! 

Installation of a solar water heater is generally a relatively simple process, but there are permits to obtain and city documents to be filed.  EnerWorks simplifies the process even further by taking care of all the permits and paperwork, and the installation itself takes only a matter of days (or less).  Homeowners who’ve used them have said that they are clean and professional, leaving no garbage or waste after installation.

EnerWorks provides a meter to the homeowner, to display water temperature, energy used, and even how much energy you’re saving (and how much CO2 emission it’s preventing) with the water heater.  This makes it easy to quantify exactly how much better your home is for the environment, as well as how much you’re saving in gas or electricity bills.

EnerWorks comes from Ontario, and many of their installations take place there—so it’s clear that even in northerly areas where sunlight is less intense, the solar powered heater is working!  What a perfect way to start greening your home.

While bamboo is a grass and not wood, it is found to be even harder than wood or maple. Therefore, it is more moisture resistant, stable and tougher than many hardwood floors. Bamboo is made from strips of bamboo. They are split and flattened, then laminated together with a very strong glue to make solid planks. Because of the lamination process, they can resist scratches better than hardwood floors.

Thanks to bamboo's natural growth patterns, it can add a lot of warmth to your home. This flooring can help your home stand out while keeping your home cozy and inviting at the same time. Bamboo flooring is available in several colors that can match virtually any home and can add a stunning effect as well. You can choose one of the natural colors available or a elegantly stained color that will be sure to awe your guests.

There are two types of textures to choose from. Hand-scraped bamboo floors can give a more textured look and is a great choice if you are going for a more rustic look or are installing in an older structure. This choice is sure to provide a unique look. Smooth bamboo floors offer a simple yet elegant texture free surface that will go perfect in any home.

If you are trying to make your home more green, bamboo flooring is a great way to do this. Since it is made from a highly renewable source, it is one of the most environmentally friendly types of flooring in the world! These floors are a perfectly healthy choice for your family.

With all the news about how unsafe and unhealthy many chemical products are, you can sleep well knowing that with this type of floor you will not need to clean them with any harsh chemicals, you can easily clean and maintain them by just keeping it vacuumed or swept and use a dry or damp mop as needed. This is so unbelievably easy, who wouldn't want to save time cleaning their floors?

Unlike other kinds of flooring, bamboo is very easy for most people to install themselves. There are a very limited number of tools required for installation and most can be rented at a home improvement store. You just need to prep the floor before installation, to make sure you have a nice, clean sub floor. From there, you just need to follow your manufacturer's instructions to install your new flooring.

Most manufacturers recommend gluing or nailing down your flooring, just like you would with traditional hardwood tongue and groove flooring. Most come coated with urethane but there are some unfinished types available that you can sand and finish yourself, the way you prefer.

When it comes to the cost of your flooring project, you can save a lot of money by choosing bamboo flooring over other types, such as hardwood flooring. Bamboo is readily available at a great price, and many times can be much more economical than traditional hardwood.

The product is ClayLite. These roofing tiles are modeled after traditional kiln-fired, high-quality clay roofing tiles. The impressive look of the tiles—well-suited to both contemporary and traditional Californian homes—is the product of a meticulous concern for aesthetic perfection. US Tile has achieved it. The tiles are made in cool roof-rated tones and engineered to specifications for optimal strength and durability.

It gets better. ClayLites are made from at least half recycled content. They are, of course, 100% recyclable. What’s more, they are sourced locally, meaning that the overall carbon impact of ClayLites is negligible compared to other similar products. The roofing tiles also contribute to LEED credits.

• ClayLite products weigh less than 600 lbs. per square
• Made from same materials as traditional clay products
• Fully recyclable

High Employer Ratings

The company who makes ClayLites is just as good as the tiles that they make. They provide employees with free education, seminars, and workshops, not just on how to do their jobs better, but also how to treat the earth better. US Tiles has one of the highest-rated companies in their public reputation. They are open, honest, and well-represented. When it comes to sustainability, their character is flawless.

Finally, a tile roofing material the way that you want it to look, act and perform. It’s the closest thing to perfect you’ll find.  

About 80 percent of each EcoStar product is made from recycled post-industrial rubber and plastic. Not only does this increase the tile durability, but also means that they offer a substantial contribution to any building’s LEED score.

Roofing Tile Features:

What is PaperStone made out of?

It’s made out of paper, of course. PaperStone makes their products out of any post-consumer paper waste product (as long as it is FSC-certified and free of toxins). Certain PaperStone varieties are made exclusively from recycled cardboard, and others are made strictly from office paper. The 100% natural coating of PaperStone is comprised of bee and canuba wax and mineral oil.

What is it used for?

While most sustainable champions are using postconsumer paper waste for more paper, paper bags, paper cups, and other papery items, PaperStone is turning this whole paper to paper idea on its head. Their paper products include tabletops, countertops, wall cladding, cutting boards, window sills, partitions, thresholds, landscape products.

Exceptional Durability

PaperStone may be paper, but it’s not paper-thin. Think of it like plywood. It uses layer upon layer of bonded sheets of paper. Special natural coatings make the product impermeable, and the safe dying methods make it exceptionally colorfast. It’s food-safe, sanitary, and formaldehyde-free. It works with CNC machining, normal sanding, and your home circular saw. PaperStone is truly a revolutionary product.

Exceptional Features

• Class A Fire Rating
• Virtually watertight
• Extremely hard. Works great as cutting board material.
• Takes up to 45,000 pounds of pressure per square inch
• Sustainable
• LEED eligible
• Aesthetic. Comes in multiple colors. 

But here’s a company that’s changing all that. They operate under the inauspicious name of Hyperseal, Inc., and their newest green product is called Hyperflex Primer. Here’s what makes it great.

What is it, exactly?

This wonderful stuff is more than a primer. It is a protective pre-paint surface that coats roofs, siding, drywall, wood, metal, plastic, and just about everything else inside and out with a tough-as-nails but soft-to-the-touch rubber compound. Primer, yes, but protector, too. It’s a bulletproof vest for your home—covering and protecting everything from your wooden deck to your garage floor.

What’s so special about it?

It is water-based, yet waterproof. The acrylic solution is guaranteed non-toxic and non-carcinogenic.

The Hyperflex Primer is also a recyclo-maniac’s dream substance. The durable prowess of Hyperflex comes from its rubber. The rubber is recycled, cryogenically altered, crushed, and mixed into the acrylic solution to make it not only durable, but environmentally friendly, too.

Many primers have problems with their spreadability. Not Hyperflex. Hyperflex has the ability to settle into cracks, block up undesirable seams, and filter into cracks and weak spots, strengthening, protecting, and enhancing them. Because it is water-based, Hyperflex may also be mixed with water (up to 15%). Perhaps best of all, Hyperflex’s rubber compound resists the shrink/expand cycle that ruins so many other priming coats.