Better Homes and Gardens | Green Office Archipod

Want something a bit different for your home office? Live and work in better homes and gardens with a Green Office Archipod! While the cost and inconvenience of commuting to work everyday is increasing, the advances in computer and networking technology are making the viability of working from home a realistic alternative to travelling to an office everyday – one of the way commuters can offset their carbon footprint. Like the idea of commuting to your office every day by just walking to the end of your garden?…

Idea for Better Homes and Gardens : Green Office Archipod

Constructed predominantly from timber (the world’s most replenishable construction material, where all the timber comes from either FSC registered suppliers, or is reused from surplus manufacturing), and is insulated to a standard exceeding that of current Building Regulations (heat loss is minimised by the use of high standards of insulation and air tightness), this unique design features a pleasing roof dome that lets in natural light to conserve the energy required for artificial lighting.

The design and size is optimised to minimise wastage in production. Heating is by way of an electric panel radiator, which is the most efficient way to heat a small, independent and highly insulated space such as a garden office. One advantage of working in a separate garden office is that it may be unnecessary to heat the main house during the day. A good news is, the company is currently reviewing using air source heat pumps for heating and cooling!

Why Green Office Archipod is Good for Better Homes and Gardens

There is more to working from home than just convenience and lifestyle improvements, there can be huge benefits to working in an Archipod garden office, including:

* Saving on travel time and costs.
* Reducing road congestion.
* Separating ‘Work’ time from ‘Family/Home’ time.
* Reduced heating bills (you will only need to heat the pod whilst you work, rather than a whole house).
* Very quiet space – outside noise is minimised.
* Minimal bureaucracy – unlikely to need Planning Permission or Building Control Approval.

Now working from home can be easier than you think when you have better homes and gardens with a Green Office Archipod!

Reduce Your Carbon Footprint with Green Vehicles

Do you know that you can reduce your carbon footprint with green vehicles? Even though commuters can offset their carbon footprint through biking and walking, when driving a car is inevitable, consider green vehicles. It is evident that industry and government efforts to develop and commercialize electric, hybrid, alternative fuel, and cleaner-running gasoline and diesel vehicles would be successful only if consumers understood the benefits of these fuels and technologies…

Reduce Your Carbon Footprint with Green Vehicles

Potential buyers needed to become comfortable with the concept of advanced technology vehicles before they would be willing to buy them in significant numbers. Resources such as the Green Car Institute, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that encourages the development and widespread use of alternative and clean fuel vehicles, and EPA’s Green Vehicle Guide that gives information about the environmental performance of vehicles and provides the user with dynamic search and sort capabilities, will foster greater understanding of the relationship between low emission, clean fuel, and energy efficient vehicles and the environment.

What is a carbon footprint?

A carbon footprint is “the total set of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions caused by an organization, event or product” . For simplicity of reporting, it is often expressed in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide, or its equivalent of other GHGs, emitted. It is a measure of the amount of carbon dioxide produced by a person, organization or state in a given time.
If you would like to check out your estimated monthly and yearly cost of commuting, enter your commute and vehicle cost information into the Commute Cost Calculator to get your monthly cost for commuting. It might be more than you think!

What is a green vehicle?

A green vehicle or environmentally friendly vehicle is a road motor vehicle that produces less harmful impacts to the environment than comparable conventional internal combustion engine vehicles running on gasoline or diesel. These vehicles are powered by alternative fuels and advanced vehicle technologies and include hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, battery electric vehicles, compressed-air vehicles, hydrogen and fuel-cell vehicles, neat ethanol vehicles, flexible-fuel vehicles, natural gas vehicles, clean diesel vehicles, and some sources also include vehicles using blends of biodiesel and ethanol fuel or gasohol.

How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint with Green Vehicles

In order to reduce your carbon footprint, you must know how to offset your carbon footprint. In fact, commuters can offset their carbon footprint not only through biking and walking, but changing to a more environmental friendly green vehicles (you may want to check out Green Car of The Year 2011, or a concept car for the future as listed below)

Facile: A Multi-Dimensional Green Vehicle For Future Roads

As a vehicle that can use wind, solar and human energy in various forms to act as a future urban commuter, the Peugeot Facile is one of the best green vehicles of the future that will allow you to both choose your mode of transport and the clean energy that will power it. Depending on the requirement of the commuter, the vehicle can be powered by solar power with integrated panels or human pedal-power, where it can act as a tricycle, monocycle and even a car!

Green Car of The Year 2011

Green Car of The Year 2011 goes to Chevrolet Volt Electric Car, an all-new type of electric car that offers extended range with electricity created by its on-board internal combustion generator. The Volt’s revolutionary Voltec propulsion system is capable of delivering 25 to 50 miles of all-electric driving on a single charge before a gasoline-powered on-board generator provides electricity to power the wheels for an additional 300 miles. This ability to allow extended electric drive range after the car’s batteries are exhausted is an important element that helps address the “range anxiety” that some fear with battery-powered electric cars…

Green Car of The Year 2011 Finalists

Besides the winner, all Green Car of The Year 2011 Finalists raise the bar in environmental performance to such a degree they stand apart from their peers.

Green Car Journal’s Top 5 Green Cars for 2011

* The Volt – an all-new type of electric car that offers extended range with electricity created by its on-board internal combustion generator.
* Ford Fiesta – a sporty, high efficiency gasoline internal combustion hatchback that achieves 40 mpg.
* Hyundai Sonata Hybrid – the brand’s first-ever hybrid, which features unique front and rear styling plus many high-end touches.
* Lincoln MKZ Hybrid – an exciting, efficient, and fun-to-drive luxury car using Ford’s second-generation hybrid technology.
* Nissan LEAF – an all-new, high-tech battery electric car that provides 100 miles of zero-emission driving.

Green Car of The Year 2011 Winners

The winners for the past years were:

Green Car of the Year 2010 – Audi A3 TDI. Clean Diesel Reigns!
Green Car of the Year 2009 – VW Jetta Clean Diesel.
Green Car of the Year 2008 – Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid

* GreenCar.com is a leading website dedicated to providing avid car enthusiasts, environmentalists and everyday consumers with information about green vehicles, green energy and technologies.

How to Offset Your Carbon Footprint

Technology has the power to make a positive, long-term contribution to solving the world’s environmental challenges through education and localized analysis. As a leading climate crisis community that provides a practical guide to green living through community interaction, exclusive environmental news, advice from experts and key analysis, EarthLab features a personalized Carbon Calculator, the first Carbon and Lifestyle Calculator of its kind – a unique three-minute survey that generates a carbon footprint score (ECP Score), which members can then save, work to reduce and track their success over time – as a member creates their own personal green strategy! …

Your ECP score was generated from your test result and is linked to your Earth Conservation Plan. You may now lower your score by taking actions (pledges) on Earthlab.com related to your activities at home and in the office. Generally, ECP scores range from 150-900, the lower the score, the better.

Your ECP score is calculated based on EarthLab’s six core categories related to Home, Energy, Work, Commute, Travel and Lifestyle. The score is impacted by the annual carbon you are emitting, your lifestyle habits and your actions (pledges).