Mark Johnson Custom Homes Blog

Landfall Builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes has built one of the most energy efficient homes in Wilmington, NC. But energy efficiency alone will not optimize your utility savings. It takes changes in your lifestyle to save the most on your home’s utilities. A new device, The Energy Detective, will help drive your behavior to do simple things such as turning off lights when not in use and doing your laundry in the evening. TED, an intuitive, real-time, accurate electricity monitor screens your energy usage and presents the information to you in a simple, easy-to-understand format. We are currently using The Energy Detective at our LEED registered Green home in Landfall. Invest in one for your home to save money and time!

TED (The Energy Detective) is a simple, yet extremely accurate, home energy monitor that allows you to see electricity usage in real-time. You no longer have to wait for the ‘electricity bill surprise’! TED will accurately tell you what your bill is going to be long before the electric bill arrives. Meanwhile, you will learn more about conserving energy, saving money, and helping save the environment.

With its patented solution to home energy management, TED quantifies electricity and displays the results on its easy-to-read LCD screen. Unlike some complicated electricity conservation systems, TED is a simple, intuitive and affordable way to monitor and manage your entire home’s energy consumption. Think of it as your home’s speedometer.

With its two-second reaction time, TED provides immediate feedback on energy usage. For you, that means no surprises. You can see what you’re spending on electricity each second, as well as what you’ve spent so far today or so far this month.

For a more comprehensive look at your electricity usage, and to really ‘see’ where you may be wasting electricity (AND MONEY) check out “TED Footprints“… dynamic software that allows you to log your electricity usage on your PC for graphing, charting, seeing trends, load-profiling and much more! And with the help of TED, you’re not only able to better manage your own dollars, you are also helping your neighbors, your community, and the environment through energy conservation.

For more information, visit their site!

The Energy Detective was installed by Electronics 2 You of Wilmington, NC, one of Coastal Carolina’s finest home audio establishments.

When Wilmington, NC custom home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes decided to build a LEED home in Landfall, they aimed for the highest LEEDS Certification possible. Low or No-VOC products are required to build according to LEED specifications. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) come from carpet, cabinet stains and tile waterproofing but most commonly in paint. Sherwin Williams created GreenSure Harmony paint as their Green alternative. But what makes No-VOC Paint “Green”?

First we must go into detail what VOCs are and why they are harmful. Typical household paint contains up to 10,000 chemicals, of which 300 are known toxins and 150 have been linked to cancer. Some of the most harmful chemicals found in paint are VOCs.  

VOCs are unstable, carbon-containing compounds that readily vaporize into the air. When they enter the air, they react with other elements to produce ozone, which causes air pollution and a host of health issues including breathing problems, headache, burning, watery eyes and nausea. Some VOCs have also been linked to cancer, as well as kidney and liver damage.

As paint dries, these harmful VOCs are released into the air at high levels. Indoor VOC levels are routinely 10 times higher than outdoor levels and up to 1,000 times higher immediately after painting. Although VOC levels are highest during and soon after painting, they continue seeping out for several years. In fact, only 50 percent of the VOCs may be released in the first year.

Armed with this information, consumers have begun to demand safer alternatives. Low-VOC and No-VOC paints, which are now widely available and sold by most major paint manufacturers, have become the Green solution.

In an effort to build a LEED home, Mark Johnson Custom Homes, Inc used the TerraGuard Rapid Flow Curb Drain Filter to protect the storm sewer inlets on site. It is a strict LEED requirement to install such erosion control products, which can be made of silt fencing, silt sacks or rock filters.

The TerraGuard Rapid Flow Curb Drain Filter is a flexible tune containing lightweight, plastic rocks encapsulated in a high strength knitted fabric. It conforms to any shape and can be manufactured in many lengths or diameters.

The plastic rocks are specially designed with multiple flow channels that allow water to flow from all directions, while leaving the soil and debris behind. The plastic aggregate has more than five times the flow rate of typical gravel and are tough enough to withstand heavy wheel loads.

Each Rapid Flow Curb Drain Filter comes with pre-engineered weight belts that will keep the filters firmly in place. These belts can easily be filled on site with any common material such as sand or rock.