Being green is easy and important. And fall’s a great time to tackle home improvement projects that will have an impact on the environment. People everywhere are taking small steps that make a difference in the fight against global warming. From buying energy-efficient appliances, to reusing grocery bags, to properly inflating tires, millions of Americans are clamoring to do their part for the earth.

So what are some GIY projects you can tackle now that will help save energy, money and the planet?

1. Insulating — One of the easiest GIY projects that delivers the biggest green payoff is upgrading your home’s insulation. By doing so, you can decreases your carbon footprint, increase your home’s energy efficiency and save up to 20 percent on your heating and cooling energy bills.1 Yet, nearly 80 million U.S. homes are estimated to be under insulated to the Department of Energy (DOE) standards.

The Department of Energy recommends attics — where 30 to 40 percent of a home’s total energy loss occurs — have up to an R-value of 60. To meet these standards, your attic should have at least 19 inches of fiberglass batt (roll) insulation or 22 inches of blown insulation. A good rule of thumb — if you can see the wood beams (joists) in your attic, you definitely don’t have enough insulation. Even if you can’t see the joists, you still may not have enough and with nearly 80 million American homes under insulated it’s likely we or our neighbors could use more. Owens Corning, makers of recognizable PINK insulation, offers a step-by-step guide to adding insulation to your attic at www.InsulateAndSave.com.

2. Heating & Sealing — Reap the most benefit from the insulation upgrade you just finished by ensuring that your furnace, ductwork and weather stripping around doors and windows are in good shape.

While it’s a good practice to have your furnace serviced by a professional each year before winter, you can improve your furnace’s operation and efficiency. Change the air filters throughout your house every 30 days and regularly vacuum dust from air return vents. Lubricate the blower motor following the instructions in the furnace’s owner’s guide.

Check weather stripping around doors and windows and repair or replace any cracked or faulty stripping. Don’t forget stripping around garage doors and the door from the garage into your house, as these areas can be major heat drains for your home.

3. Lighting – Once you’re done with the two projects above, replace those incandescent light bulbs with ENERGY STAR qualified bulbs — like compact fluorescent light bulbs – to decrease the amount of electricity you use for lighting as much as 75 percent. It’s a simple task to go through your home and replace light bulbs.

Although energy efficient styles may cost more, they last longer than incandescent bulbs and conserve so much energy that they quickly pay for themselves. Each bulb will save you about $30 over its lifetime and produce 75 percent less heat than incandescent bulbs. If changing all bulbs at once seems daunting, ENERGY STAR recommends replacing the most-used bulbs in your home, such as overhead lights in the kitchen, table and floor lamps in the living or family room, and outdoor porch or post lamps.

For more energy-saving, GIY home improvement ideas, visit www.energystar.gov.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

In the last five years building a home was fairly expensive this is because of the price of lumber had a high increase in price. This increase now seems to be now over and the price of lumber is now beginning to drop. So any family that is seeking to build a new fancier home can now afford to do so and it will be cheaper then in previous years.

All over the United States land is now becoming more affordable. Real estate agents are looking to make money and to do this they need to make the land move, not sit for months on end at a higher price. All people that are looking to buy should take a full advantage of the economic hard times, buy the land that you see your dream home on.

The lower interest rates are the main thing that a home builder or a home buyer should be looking at right now. Any family that is looking into building a new home from any plan what so ever needs to move very quickly to secure the low interest rates. Any bank is now able to offer great low interest rates to make the home buyer or the home builders dreams come into a reality.

There are many people that have adveryisements as home inspectors. You probably will not get the best direction from your agent. An agent is scared you might find a problem that may turn you away if they give you the name of a great inspector. Times are tough but an agent should be loyal to their customers.

Do not go for an inspector that is just going to give you a visual inspection, looks like and has are two different things. Good inspections should include a turn on of all appliances to check for temperature, check of the furnace and the air cooling system, a water heater check for pressure, all outside lighting needs to be checked, all lights and fixtures need to be turned on, check all plumbing and also check for water damage, check foundations for any cracks, get up on the roof, go through the attic, and check the garage along with all storage spaces. For a good inspection this is only the very beginning. After this is all finished you will receive a report of everything that had been done, from there you should be able to make a clear and wise decision.

For an agent getting a bad call would be a dark part of their day, for them to avoid this they should advise all buyers first to be sure that the homes are inspected before the buyer buys.

It is a huge decision choosing the right builder, it is one of the up-most important investments that you will make. Be sure to give an interview to all of the possible contractors and them pick the one that will help make your dream home come true. When you interview for contractors make sure that you ask the right questions; how long have they been building houses, also if you can view any of his work, and to see references. It is also a good idea to pick blueprints which will make for a good home now and in the future, this is something that your contractor should be able to help you with.

Before you plan your design take these few things into consideration; budget, home size, wall finishings, design features, height of ceilings, sizes of windows, fixtures, outer finishings, and your time frame.

If you are having a difficult time picking the colors of the finished home you could make an appointment with a colour consultant, they are trained to guide you through this process. They are sure to have the right finish for you up to every tiny detail. They will give you a packet of information and be prepared to sit and discuss with them for a few hours to talk about all choices that you may have.

Along with all of this information don’t forget about added additional things to know when building your house such as; extras, added costs, fees, services of your designer, and adding your furniture.