GOING GREEN

Being the Director of Estimating and Purchasing for The Coral Company, I have recently noticed a large interest in "Green Building" and on Jeff Epstein's February 25^th blog, he talked about our Solon Project and how we are moving in the "Green Building" direction. Everyone may not understand how exactly you build "Green" and take on the LEED concept. Our team at Coral has been intensively gather information and details on LEED and "Green Building". I could go on forever explaining these two topics. 

To make it simple, the Three R's summarizes everything - Recycle, Reuse, and Reduce:

·         Recycle consists of using building products that are made from recycled products.  Composite decking, Cellulose Insulation, and Recycled Carpet are all examples.

·         Reuse can be a variety of things. One example is making an irrigation system that is connected to your gutters and downspouts to collect rain water to irrigate your yard and landscaping.  I also found an example of where you could collect the rain water and use it for all toilets being flushed in your home.  These are some of the items HGTV used on their "Green Home".  For information on that go to: www.hgtv.com.

·         The last one is Reduce. When I think of reduce I think of everything I can do to reduce my energy consumption. Using energy star appliances helps reduce energy usage.  Having windows with Low-E to minimize heat escaping your home which decreases the amount of heat your furnace has to put out to keep your house warm and suitable.

If you are interested in more information on "Green Building" and LEED visit the U.S. Green Building Council's website @  www.usgbc.org.