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    Going Green or Going Broke
    Going Green or Going Broke
    Going Green or Going Broke
    Ebook126 pages1 hour

    Going Green or Going Broke

    By Edward Ford

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Going Green or Going Broke is an enjoyable look into the complicated world of "Green" technologies through the eyes of the home owner.
    The author, Edward Ford, is a father of six, Custom home builder and the son of parents that where the entrepreneurs of a successful Natural Foods company.
    With thirty years of clients experiences in the home building business included, Going Green or Going Broke has been condensed down to a fun fact filled look at modern day home construction. Simply put, Going Green or Going Broke is a comprehensive FAQ page put together through the experiences of many people who asked the same questions.
    With budget pages and helpful tools to assist, if you have considered or are considering living in a comfortable and affordable home, Going Green or Going Broke is for you.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEdward Ford
    Release dateAug 29, 2013
    ISBN9781301613748
    Going Green or Going Broke

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      Book preview

      Going Green or Going Broke - Edward Ford

      GOING GREEN OR GOING BROKE

      By

      Edward Ford

      *******

      Published By:

      GravitEworks on Smashwords

      GOING GREEN OR GOING BROKE

      Copyright © 2013 by GravitEworks

      A Note

      As a builder, I have found that most new clients ask many of the same questions. Especially in this day and age, when technology seems to change daily, life can be very confusing.

      Going Green or Going Broke not only clarifies the hazy world of green but also gently walks you through construction basics from A to Z. Through the lens of reality and thought provoking facts each chapter builds on the next. By the end of the book, you will have the tools to make educated and confident choices, whether you are building a new home or remodeling an existing one. No more feeling helpless and alone.

      We have also included several helpful follow-up tools

      at www.graviteworks.com.

      1) Construction Q Cards: These step-by-step cue cards coincide with the book and the worksheets that accompany it.

      2) Itemization Sheets per room: Type, Cost, Quantity of each finish item chosen.

      3) On Line: Master Budget work sheet: Just fill in the blanks with your bids and you can automatically track your progress.

      4) Color-Coded Tags: These tags will help you communicate with the people working on your home.

      The bottom line is your bottom line and the purpose of Going Green or Going Broke. With knowledge gained from this book, you should be able to achieve four main goals on your home project:

      A. Save money

      B. Save resources

      C. Save time and peace of mind

      D. Be comfortable with and in your home

      .

      Have a blessed life.

      Chapter 1: Green Is the New Natural

      I was born in 1962, which just so happened to coincide with two simultaneous events happening in the U.S. of A. This was the relative beginning of the All Natural movement and my parents, Marjorie and Frank Ford, created an organic foods company called Arrowhead Mills during that time.

      Dad began raising organic wheat on the family farm. He would send it through an authentic stone grinding mill, bag it, and then travel, selling the stone ground organic flour all over the country. Over the next few decades, Arrowhead Mills grew to become an industry leader and the gold standard of quality for the natural foods industry.

      As one can imagine, in the days of Frosted Flakes, my siblings and I were treated to delicacies such as fresh dandelion leaves with a vinegar chaser. I remember that feeling of dread and despair every time the subject of healthy food came up, because healthy was just code for saying you’re about to be served another round of what looks and tastes very much like cardboard at best. Our lives, which had been going along quite normally, had taken a sudden and dramatic change. As an adult the memories of those times are simple. First, the sense of pride I have for what my parents had accomplished through determination and very long hard days of starting their own business from scratch. Lastly, thank my Lord in Heaven for the natural peanut butter with apple butter sandwiches, which I secretly ate by the truck loads, to survive the experimental phases.

      In time, something interesting happened. Amazing concepts such as seasonings and cooking helped healthy foods crawl out of the primordial ooze. Reality started to catch up with the fact that normal human senses were not something to ignore, but to please.

      So now, some 50 years later, here we go again. Going green is the new natural. As with the natural or 'Nature' movement of the 60's which tried to wrap natural foods; spirituality; saving the planet and no underarm deodorant into one big all inclusive, it's good for everyone movement....Here we go again.

      Going Green has become the 60's Part 2. The tried and true methods of power production are under scrutiny, and the health of our power grid is up for grabs. We are now being told that everything you grew up with and thought was good is really something terrible for you and the planet. There is one major difference this time around. Instead of volumes of information and facts being made readily available to educate anyone who wants to know the truth, the lines are being blurred. Facts are being replaced with feelings and opinions. Instead of basing decisions on the numbers we are being given a few options that have been touted as because it's good for you. Sound familiar to you parents?

      There will be people who scream, shout, and proclaim that unless we do this or that, our planet will stop rotating. Others will try to create fear and take advantage of those who are afraid. Most of us, thankfully, will use that wonderful God-given pioneering spirit to step into the future day by day. Ideas will be translated into production. Good products and ideas will be separated from poor products and ideas by the free market system. One thing is for sure — we will continue to produce cleaner, more efficient power all the while consuming everything we produce.

      Chapter 2: Going Green Into the Red

      Let me begin by asking one simple question:

      Is the desired result of going green to use less our natural resources so that our planet will be a better place to live? I understand the concept is a little more complicated than that, but is it really? (OK, that was two questions.)

      Let’s follow the money. Have you ever considered what the actual goal of going green is? If we found an energy source that would last forever and produced zero pollution, humankind would still be consuming natural resources. Building housing, creating forms of transportation, growing/supplying food, and so on. Just look around you.

      Since we are not going to be able to exist and stop using natural resources, then it is only natural to assume that what we are trying to accomplish is reduce the amount of natural resources we consume. If that is the case, then what seems to be the problem?

      What is preventing us from installing geothermal heating/cooling and solar electric (Solar Voltaic) panels on every new home constructed? Industries all over the planet are spending huge sums of money to create more efficient ways of doing just about anything you can name. Why?

      Could it be that cost has something to do with the answer? Funny thing about having the best product on the market — the price and usefulness has a lot to do with who buys it.

      The truth is that many of the green technologies cost too much for what they produce. In other words, many of these technologies are not worth buying. You will not get your money back in the near future. To be fair, there will soon come a day when some of these technologies will be efficient enough to pay for themselves. I expect that in the next 10 to 15 years, most new homes are/will be built to be much more efficient, and some renewable energy sources will begin to reach that important break-even point.

      But back to the original question: Is the desired result of going green to use fewer natural resources so the planet will be a better place to live? If the answer is yes, then I say again, what is the problem? Why are we forcing products on the consumer that do not accomplish the goal?

      Even with government-sponsored incentives to help you pay for your new green technologies and new laws and regulations that are choking existing industries’ ability to produce products, there are only a few renewable energy technologies on the market that actually pay for themselves. To be very clear, there are many counties putting in massive solar, wind and geothermal plants to generate renewable electricity. At the moment all

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