I have created this article to share my best Green Factoidz with you. This is my favorite Green articles as of July 2009 that I have written. I hope you enjoy these Green articles and vote them up if you would like.

Going Green with Tankless Water Heaters

So has all the new water heaters on the market have you confused on which one is the best? Which one is the greenest and most efficient? Well don’t feel alone, there happens to be a lot of options today but the proper application is what needs to be looked at.

http://factoidz.com/going-green-with-tankless-water-heaters/

Building Your Green Home: Does Size Really Matter?

Yes, the size of your home does make a difference when building a green home or a green project and want to be certified. There are many factors play into the square footage and design of your home. Also with the down turn in the economy I think smaller homes will be the new norm.

http://factoidz.com/building-your-green-home-does-size-really-matter/

How “Green Products” can be Misleading

The Going Green phase in home construction has many people confused about what Green really means. Many are struggling to find the balance between renewable, sustainable, recyclable, LEED, NAHB Green Program, Energy Star, energy efficient, net zero, carbon foot print, certified products, low VOC, air quality and a myriad of other green words.

http://factoidz.com/how-green-products-can-be-misleading/

Which grocery bag is really green?

You go to the store several times a week and you are usually asked “paper or plastic” or you may even be the devout green, environmentally conscious person that brings your own, but what is the greenest grocery bag solution? Well depending on who is talking they all are green, but let’s look a little deeper and just see who is the greenest of them all.

http://factoidz.com/which-grocery-bag-is-really-green/

Green Building Should Incorporate Energy Efficiency

Many people don’t totally understand the green building and the purpose it has. The phrase green building misses some of the key points that every home owner should be thinking of. When the word green is used most think of saving trees or natural resources. This is correct but the point many times missed in the saving natural resources.

http://factoidz.com/green-building-should-incorporate-energy-efficiency/

Going Green with Reclaimed Wood

One product that is great for green building and is not new by any means is Reclaimed Wood. Many reclaimed products are showing up in some very prominent new green projects. Reclaimed wood is a form of recycling but with amazing beauty.

http://factoidz.com/going-green-with-reclaimed-wood/

Prefab Homes: the Next Green Building Idea

A movement is taking place in an old methodology. Prefab or modular homes seem to be taking a very popular spot light in the green arena. This is not the old modular homes that most people think of, where the home is a square box split in half and resemble a double wide trailer home. These new breed of modular homes are quite stylish and green friendly.

http://factoidz.com/prefab-homes-the-next-green-building-idea/

What is the difference between “sustainable” and “green?”

“What is the difference in Sustainable and Green?” Too many get caught up in trying to decipher the difference. The main thing to remember is that we should all try and be less wasteful and more conscious of how the products we use affect our environment.

http://factoidz.com/the-difference-in-sustainable-and-green/

Green choices for your hardwood flooring: understanding cork, bamboo, and reclaimed wood

Thinking of building a new home or remodeling? Wanting to find flooring products for your project? The choices are endless and flooring happens to be a product many people decide to go green with. Cork and Bamboo flooring is a great option in the renewable group.

http://factoidz.com/green-choices-for-your-hardwood-flooring-understanding-cork-bamboo-and-reclaimed-wood/

Saving water: You don’t have to “go green” to take part in saving water

The whole green focus was established to help conserve our natural resources, by reducing the use or waste of any natural resource. One natural resource that the whole world needs to help reducing, even if going green is not a consideration, is our water supply.

http://factoidz.com/we-dont-have-to-be-green-to-save-water/

Green Washing: what it is and how to watch for it

Green Building is much more than just following a checklist. Green Building or sustainable building is composed of certain elements like design, energy savings, water savings, health and managing resources used in the home.

http://factoidz.com/what-is-green-washing-and-how-to-watch-for-it/

I hope you enjoyed these articles. I write for this blog called Green Building Ideas. I get my material from working in the home construction industry and my learning on how to incorporate Green into our every day lives. I am a Certified Green Professional (NAHB Green Building Program) and help builders with building green.

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I get ask quit often, “what is the difference in Sustainable and Green?” Well let’s start off with the definitions.

Sustainable: Capable of being continued with minimal long-term effect on the environment.

Green: The most common associations, however, are found in its ties to nature. Green is also associated with regeneration, fertility and rebirth for its connections to nature. Recent political groups have taken on the color as symbol of environmental protection and social justice, and consider themselves part of the Green movement or environmentally friendly.

So is there really a big difference in Green and Sustainable?

Green is a word that is broader in the approach of being environmentally friendly or saving the environment. Green can be used in many ways, such as: green building, green minded, green products, green groups, and green resources and so on. Green is more of a catch phrase for protecting our environment. Some are more extreme than others but still usually falls in the earth friendly group.

Where as Sustainable is more specific on a product or process that can be re-used over and over or re-grown over and over. A community can be sustainable. “The Government of the United Kingdom defines a sustainable community in its 2003 Sustainable Communities Plan: Sustainable communities are places where people want to live and work, now and in the future. They meet the diverse needs of existing and future residents, are sensitive to their environment, and contribute to a high quality of life. They are safe and inclusive, well planned, built and run, and offer equality of opportunity and good services for all”. Bamboo is a great example of a sustainable product, it can grow to harvest in five years. It can then be cut and it will re-grow on its own.

So too many get caught up in trying to decipher the difference. The main thing to remember is that we should all try and be less wasteful and more conscious of how the products we use effect our environment. We should all want the earth to be as beautiful for us today as it can and to be as beautiful for many generations to come.

Can a product be Green and sustainable? This is a difficult question and it can be a yes or a no. Being green is one thing and being sustainable is another and finding the products that are both takes some research. First understanding the difference between green and sustainable may clarify a few points. Using products that are used in the home building industry have some good examples. Also understanding the life cycle of a products helps to determine whether the product can be both.
Take an energy efficient window as one example. It can be considered green if it reduces wasted energy in a home and fits the guidelines within the LEED Certified program. But if this window is manufactured in a way that it harms the environment or workers and can not be recycled it can not be sustainable. Following the lifecycle of this window can determine if it can be considered sustainable. Many window companies can provide this information to help with the life cycle.
Now look at a product that uses energy such as a home appliance. Go to an appliance store and notice the yellow energy guide sticker. The measurement determines whether the appliance will save energy over your existing appliance. Most new appliances will save over older models. It can be manufactured with recycled products in the safest environment and from products that will not harm the environment after it is turned into waste or recycled. It can be considered green. But the power that runs the appliance is not green such as coal powered electricity then the appliance is not sustainable. If the electricity comes from a clean source such as wind, solar or hydro then it can become sustainable.
Learning the life cycle of a product can be very interesting to some people. Many companies go to extreme measures to manufacture in an environmentally green way and there are companies that don’t.
Some composite decking products are excellent examples of a 100% recycled, green and sustainable product. It can be manufactured from old recycled wood products such as pallets and crates blended with recycled plastics such as milk containers or plastic bags. These recycled products are ground up and heated with a nature gas furnace. Then the heated wood and plastic is extruded through a die to form the shape of the final decking product. Some may say this is not green because it uses plastic, but it did not manufacture the plastic for the decking product it is eliminating the waste that would normally end up in a land fill and never biodegrade. This could be considered sustainable as long as there is waste that needs recycled. Some may debate this and say it can not be green.
One way to help decipher some of these debates is deciding if it is helping the environment, protecting every ones health, using clean energy sources and making our world a better place to live. Even if some one determines that it can not be classified as green. Creating a world with sustainable products will help provide for the future generations. So is lumber green and sustainable?

From Green Vs Sustainable