Mark Johnson Custom Homes Blog

As a Green home builder, Mark Johnson Custom Homes understands the importance of utilizing eco-friendly options for your home. When we built our Energy Star Certified home in the Landfall community in Wilmington, NC, we worked with the U.S. Green Building Council to ensure it would also be LEED Certified Platinum, the highest certification level attainable from the USGBC. The U.S. Green Building Council also publishes the Green Home Guide, an online resource for homeowners looking to build, remodel or retrofit their home with “Green” options in mind. And because this is such an invaluable resource, we’d like to share an article from the Green Home Guide’s article entitled “Take Steps toward a Poison-Free, Natural Lawn”. Below are just a few easy tips to ensure your lawn is Green-friendly and to read the complete article, simply click here!

Altering when and how you water your lawn is one of the easiest adjustments one can make to maintain a healthy, eco-friendly home. Watering between 5-10:00am is best and if you use an irrigation controller and the water is not soaking in, adjust your controller to water twice a day in shorter periods.

Proper maintenance of your irrigation system will also help save you time and money. Check for leaks in the system at least once a month during the dry season to ensure leaks will not waste water. Also add an automatic shut-off for days when it rains. And in lieu of spraying herbicides to kill weeds, hand pull them or dig them out.

Courtesy of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Green Home Guide

Pender County, NC home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes has enjoyed blogging the past year on our LEED Platinum Green home in Wilmington, NC, the Green features we incorporated in the home, and other Green options available to homeowners. With that in mind, we’d like to share an article from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Green Home Guide that covers nearly every aspect of creating a Green kitchen. The following information is covered and to read the complete article, click here!

DESIGN FOR REDUCED RESOURCE USE

• Refrigerators

• Dishwashers

• Lighting

DESIGN FOR IMPROVED INDOOR ENVIRONMENT

• Exhaust Hood

• Stoves

• Plumbing

BUILDING MATERIALS

• Flooring

• Cabinets

• Countertops

CONSTRUCTION AND REMODELING

MAINTENANCE AND USE

• Refrigerator

• Dishwasher

• Floors & Counters

• Exhaust Hood

• Plumbing

• Cleaning Products