The Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency website provides a searchable comprehensive database of state, local and utility based incentives.

Visit their library to learn more about Federal tax credits and to access links to tax forms.

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This Home was built in Snohomish County and was a qualified Energy Star home. It also met many of the other programs such as Built Green and won many awards for its construction.

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*Buildings Account for 48% of CO2 emissions in the United States —more than either the transportation or industrial sectors, and over the next 25 years, CO2 emissions from buildings are projected to grow faster than any other sector.

*Buildings consume 70% of the electricity load in the U.S.

*The U.S. population and economy are projected to grow significantly over the coming decades, increasing the need for new buildings – to meet this demand, approximately 15 million new buildings are projected to be constructed by 2015.

• Green Washing - Making an items seem ‘greener’ than it really is. In this day and age there are lots of ‘marketing’ schemes being used to make people think they are helping the environment. One item to consider if you are taking ‘too much’ from the environment, is how much embodied energy are you using.
• Embodied Energy - is the total energy it takes to create an item or product. So how much ‘total’ energy does it take to make a dime? Does it cost 10 cents? Really? Or does it cost more, but because it lasts longer, the total energy is less. Think of it in terms of socks. I can go to a big chain outlet (no names please) and spend $5 on 8 pairs of socks. But they only last a year. Or I can go and spend $5 per pair of socks and they last 5 years (or more and still be comfortable). So which on uses more energy? Really the you need to count how many times you went to the store plus the energy used to make the additional socks, how far did it travel, etc. There are a lot of variables and they all ad up to more energy and more money.
• Fly Ash – A by product of a coal fired plant. Is coal the best energy source? Maybe not. But we have many around the country and there is one in Centralia, WA. Does it make sense to just scrap it? I am not sure about that. What about it’s fly ash? Where does it go? Right now most of it is stockpiled. Where can it go? It can be added to concrete (locally in Washington). It is a great additive. Plus it does not then end up in land fills.
• Sustainable Development – think smart and be responsible. What happens with the wildlife, the water flow, etc when development comes into an area. I believe we should be responsible and develop in a sustainable manner. The earth is not getting bigger and so far as I know it. We only have one planet that we can live on. We better take care of it.

Generally speaking LEED is a Green Building Rating System, one of the major systems.

Hope this helps you understand.

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Basically a bioswale is a ‘ditch’ that can hold and filter the water into the soil and keep it on site rather than enter into a large detention pond and be sent into a storm water system or other off-site facility.

The bioswale helps filter the pollutions of water run-off via infiltration and attempts to mimic the natural conditions of a site.

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