Z.Z.Daily Construction

We see more green remodeling ideas everyday, particularly in the area of earth-friendly building materials. We found another company in a similar category to Serious Materials, the maker of EcoRock – a new alternative drywall solution, that we brought to your attention recently.

Cleanboard, a San Francisco based drywall startup, is a new company with a slightly different twist on a drywall product manufactured using a more environmentally friendly process. Cleanboard promotes their ecology friendly drywall product as “the most environmentally friendly drywall on earth“.

CleanBoard has created a solar powered system that uses mirrors to concentrate the sun’s rays on a heat collector which heats a transfer fluid to store the sun’s radiant energy. The heated transfer fluid heats the drywall baking ovens up to 200 degrees Celsius. And the transfer fluid can store the heat in pressurized chambers up to 24 hours enabling the company to manufacture drywall even on days when the sun isn’t shining.

The traditional gypsum drywall manufacturing process typically relies on fuel expensive gas fired ovens that represent a significant carbon footprint. Moving to a solar based technology to heat the ovens provides a carbon free solution and should reduce the energy costs to manufacture the drywall by more than 50%.

(more…)

Did you know that you can receive tax credits for a number of home improvements that increase the energy efficiency of your house?

Originally, these residential home improvement tax credits were set to expire in 2009.

Well, here’s some good news. These energy based tax credits have been extended through the end of 2010.

Energy Based Home Improvement Tax Credits

First established by congress and signed into law by President George Bush in 2005, the Energy Policy Act (EPACT) provides tax credits to individuals for a number of energy conservation home improvements.

The tax incentives offered are credits, not deductions. A tax deduction discounts the tax payer’s gross income which lowers the amount of income on which taxes must be paid.  A tax credit differs from a tax deduction by directly reducing the amount of taxes owed rather than decreasing gross income. Most homeowners regard tax credits as more beneficial.

These energy conservation credits were initially set to expire in different years, with the first expiration dates starting in 2009. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has extended many of the consumer energy tax incentives through the end of 2010.

Remember, always consult your accountant or tax specialist first to fully understand the specific tax benefit you might receive. The current tax laws are subject to change, and these various tax credits are scheduled to expire at different times. (more…)