The Technology

Geothermal Heating and Cooling

Owners of geoexchange systems can relax and enjoy high-quality heating and cooling year after year. Geoexchange systems work on a different principle than an ordinary furnace/air conditioning system, and they require little maintenance or attention from homeowners. Furnaces must create heat by burning a fuel--typically natural gas, propane, or fuel oil. With geoexchange systems, there's no need to create heat, hence no need for chemical combustion. (more)

Passive Solar

Easy economic savings accrue from designing and building features that effectively trap heat from the sun during the day and release that heat slowly throughout the nighttime. The effect is similar to living near a large body of water where the thermal mass of the water lessens temperature extremes. That means reduced heating and cooling load for a building, and that saves you money. (more)

High-Reflectivity Roofing

With proper design, metal roofing systems save energy by reducing a building's cooling and/or heating load. Many metal roof systems are reflective, easily vented, and lend themselves well to insulated roof systems to help reduce heat gain into a building. Many products are also formed in ways that stop heat transfer through conduction by allowing only minimal contact between the metal and the underlying structure. (more)

Blown-in Cellulose Insulation

This environmentally friendly, "green" insulation provides up to 40% savings on energy bills when compared to conventional insulation materials. Cellulose insulation is a naturally “green” product and a naturally "green" manufacturer. Over 150 tons of paper are recycled each business day to make this type of insulation, saving the equivalent of 2,550 trees! (more)

Wall and flooring materials

Natural wool carpeting, bamboo, and low-VOC paints and finishes answer the need for renewable materials and healthier air inside your home. These products help to maintain safe, healthy indoor air quality, free from the familiar fumes of paint and new carpeting. In a home without the benefit of proper ventilation, inner air recirculates, keeping the fumes and compounds of modern synthetics trapped inside. Inner air quality can suffer. Additionally, the desire to finish one's home with renewable building products enhances the feeling of harmony with, and good stewardship of, the earth's remaining resources.

Wool carpeting is a healthy non-toxic alternative to standard nylon, olefin or other synthetic carpets that off-gas toxic chemicals, don't last very long and are not biodegradable. Wool carpets are odor-free, renewable, longer lasting, fire-resistant, air purifying, softer, and biodegradable. Bamboo is a renewable resource- it is a grass and grows very quickly. Where oak takes 120 years to grow to maturity, bamboo can be harvested in three. It is recognized as a green material under LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) and is a wood substitute that matures in three years, regenerates without need for replanting, and requires minimal fertilization or pesticides.

Paints and finishes made of materials with low VOCs, or Volatile Organic Compounds, allow a home to flourish with fresh, pure air, untainted with off-odors. The clean, natural scent of an, airy, sun-washed space is the best decorating accessory, and the least accessible, owing to today's reliance on synthetic materials. Your home can become one of the future-few to enjoy these benefits.

For more information please contact Future Green Chatham project.