I always recommend starting at the most typical place warm air escapes to the outside: your attic. Making sure you have adequate insulation is very important in keeping your home warm this winter. There are many types of extremely effective plastic foam insulation– spray polyurethane foam, polystyrene and polyiso panels, and more – that can save you a lot of money on those heating bills!

Another area where warm air escapes is your doors and windows. Just adding a simple bead of silicone plastic caulking around the inside and outside of their frames can greatly reduce the amount of warm air that slips away. Adding plastic foam sealant which expands to fill cracks (available in easy-to-use cans) or plastic weather stripping around the inside of the doorframe is yet another way to stop airflow.

If your doors or windows need to be replaced, modern vinyl plastic windows and patio doors are fairly inexpensive and do a great job of keeping cold air outside.

Another place where warm air escapes—but one you might not think of—is at your wall switches and outlets. You can purchase inexpensive plastic foam insulation sheets that fit tightly around the hardware when you remove the plate cover.

Another frequently overlooked place to seal up: around your water bibs outside. Sealing those gaps with a can of insulating plastic foam sealant can help keep the cold air out of your crawl space or basement. Also check the spot where your dryer vent exits to the exterior. You can apply more plastic sealant around the vent to ensure that no warm air finds its way out there.

So, as you can see, just a few simple things can really add up to great savings this winter. And let’s not forget, savings in the winter means savings in the summer, too!

Brooks and Plastics Make it Possible^® will attend the 2011 Solar Decathlon in Washington, DC, where collegiate teams from across the nation showcase livable homes built using the latest innovations in green building and energy efficiency.  Tomorrow’s architects, home designers and engineers compete at the Solar Decathlon for top honors in environmentally friendly home design.

A Salt Lake City native, Brooks has had a hand in carpentry and home design since he was 12 years old. Brooks has a special talent and creative mind set that allows him to take unexpected materials and incorporate them into home design, resulting in unique, unparalleled design aesthetics.

In 2002, Brooks moved to Los Angeles where he joined HGTV’s Designed to Sell as a construction and renovation expert. He was later featured as a design expert on Style Network’s What I Hate About Me. Brooks can also be seen on HGTV’s $250,000 Design Challenge where he works with homeowners to execute incredible designs. Brooks is currently filming Home Made Simple as the resident design expert, which is slated to premier on OWN Network.

Brooks is known for his personal philosophy of “recycle, reuse, repurpose” which keeps his designs fresh and unexpected – and his clients craving his creativity.

While at the Solar Decathlon, Brooks will explore and report on the many innovative ways plastics are used to make homes energy efficient and stylish. He’ll touch on some common misunderstandings about home energy efficiency. And he’ll shed some light (CFL, of course) and share some handy tips on ways to increase a home’s energy efficiency without great expense.

Of particular interest, Brooks will spotlight the Solar Decathlon home designed by Caltech that uses vinyl plastic sheathing to create insulation covering the outside of the home – better known as “outsulation.”

Keep checking back for updates and tips from Brooks on ways to conserve energy and utilize unexpected resources. Small changes can make a big difference, and Brooks is here to show you how.

Here are some tips to help you save energy and money in your home:

•Stop the leaks – Air leaks are a huge drain on the energy operating your heating and cooling equipment, costing you quite a bundle! But did you know that plastic insulation can help to keep your dollars from slipping through the cracks? Consider plastic wrap on windows and doors if you’re looking for a quick fix. Or, if you’re prepared for a more complicated remodel, rigid plastic foam panels, spray foam, and plastic home wrap can reduce infiltration of outside air into your home and help you save hundreds of dollars in heating and cooling costs each year.

•Stay dry – Humidity or any water condensation in a home can lead to the growth of mold and mildew, which can lead to rot, structural damage, premature paint failure and a variety of health problems. Installing roof vents like ridge, louvers, turbines and power vents can help control moisture levels.

•Get air moving – A ceiling fan is an easy way to cut spending on air conditioning and heating year-round. A ceiling fan operating in a counter-clockwise direction will create a wind-chill effect, maximizing your air conditioning in the summer. In colder months, reverse its direction and set at a low speed to produce an updraft, forcing warm air near the ceiling down so you can enjoy all the hot air your heater produces.

•Stay bright – We know you’ve heard this one…replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs can reduce your electric bills by 10 percent. Compact bulbs are about four times more efficient and provide the same amount of light, and although they cost a little more, they’ll save you in the long run. As always, when lights are not in use, turn them off!

•Check your pipes – Insulating water pipes can help reduce 25 percent of energy use at home, minimize heat loss, and in colder climates, keep the pipes from freezing. Using cross-linked polyethylene piping (called PEX), which is durable and highly corrosion resistant, as well as lighter and more flexible than other materials, allows for multiple feed lines throughout a house, enabling hot water to arrive faster to a sink or shower, which can significantly save water use.

•Stay warm – Just like you, your water heater can get cold in the winter, forcing it to use more energy to function properly. Consider attaching a water heater blanket to insulate it, especially if it’s more than 10 years old.

•Take cover – Blinds, shades and shutters are more than just decoration! Use your blinds to block sun rays from heating up the house during the summer and keep cold air out in the winter. This can help cut down your air conditioning and heating bills.

•Keep it clean – Regularly check the air filters in your HVAC systems, air conditioners and humidifiers to see if they need to be changed or cleaned. Having a dirty filter can cause equipment to work harder, consume more energy and break down sooner, as well as lead to allergies and breathing problems.

•Don’t touch the thermostat! – It’s just like your dad said…having a programmable thermostat can cut down energy costs by 30 percent by making it easier to control energy consumption and keep the house at a comfortable temperature.

•Get a gold star – Appliances that are energy efficient help cut down on energy consumption, emit less pollution and are an attractive selling point for home buyers. An easy way to tell if an appliance is energy efficient is to look for an ENERGY guide label and the ENERGY STAR logo.

•Shut it off! – Plug all your TV components into one power strip and turn it off when you’re done watching. And, as always, if you are not using that radio, appliance or light, switch it off!

These are just some ways that you can help cut down on energy bills everyday at home. If you’d like suggestions more specific to your home, many contractors or home energy specialists can offer additional recommendations on how to make your home more energy efficient.

From residential homes to commercial buildings, hospitals and schools, architects and designers rely on plastics to help maximize durability and improve energy efficiency and performance. Properly installed plastic building products can help reduce energy and maintenance costs and potentially reduce a homeowner’s carbon footprint. In fact, a one-year study found that the use of plastic building materials saved 467.2 trillion Btu of energy over alternative construction materials. That’s enough energy saved over the course of a year to meet the average energy needs of 4.6 million U.S. households!

 Here are just a few of the ways that plastics help save energy at home:   

• From rigid polystyrene foam insulation panels (expanded or extruded) that can help homeowners save hundreds of dollars each year on heating and cooling bills, to plastic wrap that can reduce infiltration of outside air by 10-50 percent, plastic can help drastically reduce the energy required to heat or cool homes.Insulation:

• Applying polymeric based caulks and sealants is a quick, easy fix for drafty windows. If replacement windows are needed, use vinyl window frames, which decrease condensation and help homes maintain an even temperature, cutting down on extra heating and air conditioning usage. This helps reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with energy generation.Windows:

 

• Roofing systems made with plastics, such as vinyl or TPO single-ply membranes for the outer surface in combination with rigid polyiso board or spray polyurethane foam underneath, offer energy savings, durability and moisture control. These kinds of roofing systems typically have a light colored, reflective coating in warm climates, which reduces the amount of heat transported inside the building through thermal bridges (created when materials that are poor insulators come into contact, allowing heat to flow through the path created.) The cooler the building, the less air conditioning is required and therefore, less energy is consumed.Roofing:

 

• Lumber made from recycled plastics and plastic-wood composites can outlast traditional materials and requires less maintenance. Composite lumber is resistant to weathering, requiring less material to be used over time, which saves energy. It is also eco-friendly as much of the lumber is made from recycled materials and/or can be recycled. Composite Lumber:

 

• Using cross-linked polyethylene piping (called PEX), which is lighter and more flexible than other materials, allows for multiple feed lines throughout a house, which allows hot water to arrive faster to a sink or shower which can significantly save water. Piping:

 

Whether you’re doing a complete eco-renovation or looking for smaller ways to save energy at home, plastics help make it possible. For each of the above examples, energy and cost savings vary. Please check with your local retailer on pricing and availability of products.

Visit

www.americanchemistry.com for more information.

Don’t be fooled by a convincing faux finish – the “wood” on and in your walls, doors, window frames, decorative molding and outdoor decking and fencing might all be made with plastics-wood composites. Here’s why that’s a very good thing…

More and more architects, designers, builders and property owners are replacing 100 percent wooden building materials with a composite material made from recycled plastic and wood wastes. An important benefit of plastic is its ability to synergistically combine with other materials like wood, metal and glass. The advantages of using plastic-wood composites go far beyond finding a creative way to recycle.

For example, plastic-wood composites are lightweight, easy to install, durable, easy to maintain, resistant to weather damage and corrosion, easy to customize and incredibly strong.

Typical wood-plastic composites are made of wood from recovered sawdust, pulp fibers, peanut hulls, bamboo, or straw, as well as from a variety of recycled plastic resins, which bond and reinforce fibers. Commonly used resins include polyester, polyethylene, vinyl ester, modified acrylic, epoxy, phenolic and polyurethane.

Looking for motivation to recycle?  Remember that today’s plastic bottles, bags and product wraps could be tomorrow’s durable deck.  Plastic bottles typically go curbside.  Plastic bags and wraps can be brought back to many grocery stores that collect these materials for recycling.

View ACC’s tips on recycling bottles and bags

View a list of plastic bags and wraps that can be recycled

View a list of bottles that can be recycled