Smart choices for a greener home

Why settle for celebrating Earth Day once a year? The choices you make when building, remodeling or repairing your home can help protect your wallet, your home and the planet every day of the year.

Here are a few environmentally smart choices for your home:

• Consider using environmentally sensitive building materials for your flooring. Bamboo, cork, and practical linoleum floorings are a few alternatives.

• When buying new appliances, look for the Energy Star label. These energy-efficient products can save you money.

• Energy-efficient windows not only help seal in heat that might otherwise be lost; they are easier to clean and help freshen a home’s exterior.

• It makes environmental sense to look for durable, high-quality roofing materials that will last and are at least partially made from recycled or recyclable materials. Investing in a long-lasting roof can be the easiest and least expensive way to be environmentally friendly. For example, all of GAF’s laminated shingle products carry a lifetime limited warranty that is even transferable to a second owner. The shingles are also manufactured using Advanced Protection technology, resulting in a lighter but more powerful shingle that uses fewer natural resources.

To really make an impact, use a highly reflective shingle, such as the Timberline Cool Series, which reflects sunlight to help reduce attic heat buildup and save energy. Further reduce energy use by improving attic ventilation. An attic vent allows unwanted heat and moisture to escape from your attic.

Vents such as the company’s Cobra attic exhaust reduce the load on your AC by moving superheated air out of your attic before it builds up and causes damage. To be even more eco friendly and further reduce energy costs, opt for MasterFlow Green Machine attic and ridge vents.

For more ideas on green roofing, visit www.GAF.com. (NAPS)