“By making energy-saving measures more accessible and affordable,” said SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive, “we’re doing for energy efficiency what we’ve done for solar power.”

Taking advantage of the new Boston-based Admirals Bank backing, SolarCity is expanding its energy efficiency service, which it began offering in addition to rooftop solar installations in 2010, to customers in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Washington, D.C. The company already has 5,000-plus efficiency projects completed or underway in Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon and Texas.

“We’re trying to bring our customers a full range of clean, affordable alternatives to utility power,” explained SolarCity spokesperson Jonathan Bass. Electricity generated by fossil fuels for a single home, a federal study found, puts more carbon dioxide into the air than two average cars.

Admirals Bank, a federal savings bank with a history as a home improvement lender, will make available between $ 2,500 and $ 15,000 per customer, Bass said. That should readily meet the cost of the typical upgrade which, according to SolarCity Manager of Energy Efficiency Services Levi Blankenship, is between $ 4,000 and $ 12,000. That investment, Blankenship added, typically reduces a homeowner’s combined natural gas and electricity costs twenty to 50 percent.

A Department of Energy (DOE) study found that the U.S. spends $ 241 million yearly on home energy bills. That’s one in five of the dollars the U.S. spends on energy. It is an average of $ 1,900 per family.

“We saw with solar that if we reduce or eliminate the upfront costs,” Bass explained, “it makes it available to a new set of customers.” The company’s expectation is that the same thing will happen with energy efficiency.

The SolarCity process begins, Blankenship said, with an on-site home energy evaluation that diagnoses the cause of high utility bills and energy losses. Proprietary SolarCity software does four billion-plus calculations for each home evaluation and produces a report across nine efficiency categories. SolarCity uses the report to prioritize recommended home improvement options based on energy and cost savings.

“Typically,” Blankenship said. “There two categories of improvements.” Over half a building’s energy consumption is for “space conditioning,” he explained, “either heating or cooling. So the building shell, or envelope, is a huge component.”

A SolarCity 250-home analysis, incorporating DOE statistics, found that about $ 40 of every $ 100 spent on heating and cooling is lost to duct and air leakage. In their evaluation, SolarCity people identify the amount of “re-insulation” and “air sealing” needed “to retain heat in the winter and keep it out in the summer so that the furnace and air conditioner do not need to run as often.”

Once they are sure the building shell is efficient, Blankenship said, “we turn our attention to the mechanical equipment itself. The furnace, the air conditioner, the heat pump, the water heater, the equipment that provides conditioned air. We want to be sure it is efficient and sized for the house.”

It is “the granularity of the software evaluation,” Blankenship added, “that makes it possible for us to eliminate client and confusion concerns that may have slowed adoption in the past. The software, coupled with the loans that will make it possible to eliminate upfront costs, is really exciting.”

SolarCity’s efficiency financing already supports a range of local energy efficiency loan and rebate programs. The Admirals Bank-backed Home Energy Loan financing option is expected to further reduce and/or eliminate the upfront cost of energy efficiency upgrades.

“We will work with programs that are out there in our service territories and direct our customers to the best option for them,” Bass said. “But in places where there is no efficiency program, we wanted to give customers the option of evaluations and upgrades.”

SolarCity and Admirals Bank intend to make the loan process as convenient and accessible for customers as possible. Eligible customers will be able to choose between a one-year “Save Now, Pay Later” option and 3-year or 10-year “Pay As You Go” options. The one-year option can be interest-free.

“Commonly, there are utility, county, and/or state rebate programs but the rebates don’t get paid immediately. There can be a several month lag.” The one year option gives homeowners time to collect and use the rebates and pay off the balance without incurring interest charges. “If the loan is repaid within one year,” Bass explained, “there is no interest.”

“And they start saving energy and money right way,” Blankenship added.

Go Green

Running marathons and swimming laps are not the only way to burn calories. Housekeeping and yard work can also help you keep off the pounds.
Here are 12 of the most common, calorie-burning home and garden chores, with
estimated hourly calorie-burn rates for an average 145-pound person. Of
course, each person mows, mops, and dusts at a different pace and burns a
different number of calories, so these are general estimates.

The first number is provided by the Livestrong Foundation,
which lists the number of calories burned for a wide variety of jobs,
sports, and other activities. Wherever possible, a second number is
provided by My Fitness Pal, which offers tracking for both caloric intake and caloric burn, online or with iPhone and Android apps.

My Fitness Pal has a smaller list of activities, so not all chores
have two estimates. For example, the site does not break down specific
cleaning activities but estimates that cleaning
burns between 164 and 197 calories per hour for a 145-pound person.
Likewise, gardening burns about 263 calories per hour, according to My
Fitness Pal.

We also list caloric equivalents for the number of calories burned
per hour. Many of the items and their caloric values are listed at Fatsecret.com.

1. Shoveling snow (395 to 408): You can sit in front of the fire and eat a guilt-free 8-oz portion of meat lasagna after spending an hour burning off the caloric equivalent of the meal
by shoveling the sidewalk. Pushing a
snow blower instead of a shovel cuts the caloric burn by 100 calories.

2. Weeding the garden (400): One hour of heavy yard work burns the equivalent of a McDonald’s hamburger and low-fat ice cream
cone. Livestrong also lists caulking, interior painting, refinishing
furniture, and power-sanding floors at the same caloric burn rate.

3. Manual mowing (395): Eco-conscious homeowners
realize the environmental benefits of manual push mowers, but there are
health benefits as well. One hour of manual mowing can burn off the
famous 395-calorie KFC meal, which includes two pieces of grilled
chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Pushing a gas or electric
mower is a lesser workout, burning 296 calories per hour.

4. Baking (168 to 348): You can pre-burn a few
cookies-worth of calories while preparing them. The caloric burn level
of baking varies widely depending on how much effort you put into
kneading and rolling. However, keep in mind that each classic Nestle
Toll House chocolate chip cookie has 108 calories, so plan on some
strenuous baking if you plan to indulge in a plateful.

5. Cleaning gutters (329): Cleaning gutters burns as
many calories as ballroom dancing, and an hour of climbing, reaching,
and scraping can burn the equivalent of one cup of chicken fried rice.

6. Raking and bagging leaves (263 to 283): One hour of raking fall leaves can burn the equivalent of a buttermilk biscuit.

7. Scrubbing bathtub and tile (260): The most
vigorous indoor cleaning activity is bathroom scrubbing. It is probably
my least favorite chore, but at least we can take comfort in knowing one
hour of bathroom scrubbing will burn off slightly more than a
McDonald’s hamburger.

8. Vigorous cleaning (220 to 250): Mopping,
sweeping, vacuuming, edging the lawn, or using a leaf blower all burn
about the same number of calories. These tasks are not quite as much
work as bathroom scrubbing, but they will burn off at least two
chocolate chip cookies per hour.

9. Washing windows (197): Maybe I’m doing it wrong, but washing windows
seems at least as strenuous as mopping. Livestrong puts it lower on the
exertion scale, and suggests window-washing burns less than two cookies
per hour. Also, washing cars, carpentry, and electrical work all burn an
equal number of calories to washing windows.

10. Light cleaning (164):
Livestrong lists the following light, basic chores at the same caloric
burn rate, which is equal to about one ounce of almonds: dusting,
clearing dishes, taking out the trash, feeding animals, and changing the
sheets. Carrying groceries for an hour will also burn off those almonds,
but the rate jumps to 493 if you carry groceries upstairs for an hour.

Finally, the Livestrong folks put ironing at the
bottom of the chore list. However, they note that ironing is a full
upper-body workout. At 151 calories per hour, ironing more than doubles
the caloric burn of sitting and watching TV.

Instead of procrastinating on chores, think about the weight loss potential of all those tasks. Chores from shoveling snow to ironing offer solid health benefits.

Related:

• Which household chores burn the most calories?
• Designing a skinnier kitchen
• Is your house making you fat?
• Hilarious home fitness equipment
• 10 essential kitchen tools for healthy cooking

Check out Yahoo! Green on Twitter and Facebook.

Go Green

The mornings here have become cool and crisp. Fall is in the air and that puts me in the nesting mood to create craft projects to warm up my home.

Here are three of my current favorite DIY sites, and three fabulous cool weather DIY projects:

1. CRAFT’s goal is to unite, inspire, inform, and entertain a community of highly imaginative and resourceful people who undertake amazing crafting projects. I like the quirkiness and the diverse array of projects from all over the web that CRAFT brings to its readers.

Soon fall will usher in the oranges and browns of nature, but I’m trying to savor the last moments of summer greens, so I love this Mason Jar Wall Planter that CRAFT posted from Not Just a Housewife. It that creates a wall of bursting green plants. It’s simple, sturdy and great for hanging vine plants.

2. The Purl Bee strives to create fun and approachable projects to knit, crochet, sew, and stitch. Anyone who follows my Econesting blog, knows that I love to knit. Here’s an archive of my Care2 knitting posts. The Purl Bee is one of the most reliable sources for handwork projects.

Since my fingers are just warming up for the knitting season, I’m planning to make this Lap Blanket. It’s super easy to knit with its big, loopy stitches. Try a toasty eco-friendly bulky yarn.

3. Photojojo publishes a great newsletter about photography. Photojojo scours the Web and finds amazing photo DIY projects.

I recently discovered Photojojo because I was trying to figure out what to do with old negatives. Seems a shame to throw them out, but since I’m not making copies of photos from negatives anymore, these photographic images have become the endangered species in the photography world. How cool would these Negative Candle Holders be for Halloween!

Main photo credit: Purl Bee

More healthy and green articles from Care2:

• A Meaningful Home (with video)
• Summer Tress Rescue
• Five Fall Plants to Plant and Five Projects to Make

Go Green

Austin Hay is still in high school, but he’s building his own house. It’s only 130 square feet, but it makes him a homeowner without a mortgage at just 16 years old.

Right now, it’s in his parents’ backyard, but he’s built it on wheels so he plans to take it to college and then wherever he goes after he graduates.

Moving out at 16

He’s been sleeping in his tiny home for a few months now and he’s already decided not to return to big (his parents’ home is 1800 square feet). “Living small means less bills, living big means more bills. I don’t want to pay big bills,” he explained from the tiny stoop of his new home.

Hay’s 130-square-foot home may make him the youngest member of the growing Small House Movement. Perhaps not coincidentally, Hay has spent his childhood at one of the movement’s epicenters (See Land of Tiny Home People).

From the land of the Tiny Home People

In his county (Sonoma), there are at least three tiny homebuilding companies (not to mention the independents), as well as the founder of the Tiny House Blog and the country’s biggest Tiny Home star Jay Shafer. Shafer, owns Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, has been something of a role model. Take a tour of Jay’s 96 square foot house here.

Before breaking ground, Hay attended one of Shafer’s monthly tiny open house tours and Shafer gave plans to build his home (it’s a Fencl design like the one Shafer lived in for years).

A $ 12,000 home

Hay expects to spend about $ 12,000 building his home (the used trailer cost him $ 2000) and he’s paying for it working two summer jobs (at a camp and at a park snack bar). He’s cut his costs in half (the home’s estimated DIY price is $ 23,000) Though this is a considerable discount from the home’s estimated price of $ 23,000 because Hay has scavenged everything from doors, windows and flooring to the kitchen sink (the hardwood floors were $ 25 at a salvage yard and so was the stainless steel sink).

Tiny construction waste

Like most in the Small House Movement, cost isn’t Hay’s only concern. He’s also aware the tiny homes consume less heat/AC/building materials and so leave a lighter environmental footprint. To make the point, he’s been collecting all of his building waste and after nearly a year of building, he only has two half-filled garbage cans filled with items he couldn’t recycle.

With a little help from Santa

In this video, Hay shows us his tiny home, his handiwork, the salvaged bits and where he hopes to put all his furniture and appliances (including the camping oven that was a gift from “Santa”).

More from ecomii:

• Scroll Through Some of the World’s Coolest Microhomes
• Can Diet Sodas Make You Fat?
• Meatless Monday: So Hot Right Now
• Food Fast Not Fast Food
• Best Grill Tips This Summer