We are a builder who focuses on details. We make sure that your home is as efficient as it is marketed to be. At Paragon Homes, we only build a few homes per year and have a thorough system in place to ensure that your home is constructed as it is supposed to be, providing a level of supervision and customer service you just can’t find at a big builder. So if you’ve purchased one of our custom built homes, no worries – you’re already on your way to saving money and helping to green your home and the environment.
So, you’ve settled into your new custom built house in Pittsburgh. You’ve decorated each room with your personal style, customized your outdoor living space, and even put up some seasonal décor. You and your family are settled in to your lovely new place of residence, and you start thinking: what else can you do to help make your home a “green” one?
No, we’re not talking about a paint job already! We are talking about simple tips to make your household an eco-friendly one!
- Save water! Don’t waste water – monitor showers and other water-guzzling activities.
- Recycle! Many communities offer recycling pick-up, and if not, you can always gather recyclable goods to take to your local recycling facility on your own.
- Clean green! Many cleaning product lines now carry “green” product selections – Green Works, Simple Green, Bio Green Clean, and Martha Stewart Clean are just some examples of eco-friendly brands.
- Try Upcycling! Pennsylvania native Danny Seo is a green living expert who comes up with crafty ideas for everyday living, including up-cycling, which involves restoring old products into chic new home accessories and housewares instead of throwing them away.
- Watch the temperature! How high do you really need the heat? How low does that AC have to go? Not only will it save you on utility bills, but it is also a plus for the environment! In fact, Paragon Homes is proud to be an ENERGYSTAR partner. In fact, our most recent ENERGYSTAR home was rated as 15% more efficient than ENERGYSTAR standards, making it more that 30% more efficient than other homes.
- Buy recycled paper and other recycled goods when possible.
- Buy produce from local farmers and aim for all organic when possible.
- Consider utilizing reusable shopping bags for your grocery runs.
- Plant a tree! Or a few!
“Going green” doesn’t have to be an extreme lifestyle makeover. But, with a few tweaks, any home can be eco-friendly!
Energy efficient and green building technologies have progressed so significantly in recent years that our typical new homes can be 30 to 50 percent more efficient than homes built even a few years ago. Even better? Today, a net-zero home (one where your home literally makes as much or more energy than it consumes where you could actually have no utility bills) are a real – and affordable – possibility.
So, with Paragon, not only will you be doing the environment some good by “living green,” but you’ll also have the potential to save money on heating as the winter months grow cooler, with our energy-efficient homes.
~~ Ashley Boynes-Shuck
Paragon Homes has been building custom homes in the Pittsburgh area for nearly 25 years. In that time they have come to be recognized as one of the premier custom home builders in Western Pa. In fact they have been honored to receive over 25 Housing Excellence Awards from the Builders and Realtors Associations of Metropolitan Pittsburgh and the Washington County Builders Association including several for New Custom Home of the Year designations.
Ashley Boynes-Shuck is a blogger, aspiring author, and social media pro from Pittsburgh, PA. She was voted Best Blogger in Pittsburgh, Who to Follow on Twitter 2010, and one of Pittsburgh’s Top 40 Under 40 for 2011. She lives happily with her husband, pug, frogs, and kitten! In her free time she focuses on advocacy and volunteer work, as well as rooting on the Pittsburgh Steelers!