Clayton Homes goes green and so can you

Back to Neighborhood Blount County
Updated: 6:27 PM Nov 20, 2009 Clayton Homes goes green and so can you You may be able to learn something from a Blount County business, and save some energy and money at the same time. Clayton Homes was certified green today after lowering energy usage and costs 33 percent. Posted: 5:33 PM Nov 20, 2009 Reporter: Stephen McLamb Email Address: Stephen.McLamb@wvlt-tv.com

Font Size:

ALCOA, Tenn. (WVLT) -- You may be able to learn something from a Blount County business, and save some energy and money at the same time.

Clayton Homes was certified green today after lowering energy usage and costs 33 percent.

Clayton Homes is now LEED Certified.

"We spent 108-thousand dollars and we've already recognized three hundred plus," says Clayton CEO Kevin Clayton.

Clayton says not only making changes to save money, they're also saving energy.

The changes Clayton got some employees interested at their homes like changing to CFL light bulbs.

"Prices were coming down. They were relatively affordable and I was able to switch them out," says Clayton employee David Schwall.

The LEED administrator says besides changing bulbs you can also do things at home to save water .

Going to ultra low or dual flush toilets and more energy efficient hot water heaters or better yet tankless.

"You use energy when you need water. Hot water on demand," says LEED Administrator Don Horton.

And keep the outside environment separate from your inside environment.

"Weatherstripping, making sure that you've go enough insulation in the attic," says Horton.

And if you're forgetful about turning the lights off there are motion sensors available.

"When you leave a room after a set amount of time the light will turn itself off," says Horton.

Horton says there is an upfront cost but there's a savings return.

"It may take three or four years, five years, for the payback," says Horton.

It's savings David Schwall is already realizing.

"I'm glad I did it and I wouldn't go back and switch it," says Schwall.

Horton says another easy change you can make is go to programmable thermostats which use less energy when you're gone but return temperatures to your liking just before you get home.

Latest Comments

Posted by: Andrea Paulinelli Location: Georgia on Nov 22, 2009 at 06:52 AM

Toilets account for approx. 30% of water used indoors. By installing a Dual Flush toilet you can save between 40% and 70% of drinking water being flushed down. On an average of 5 uses a day (4 liquid/ 1 solid) a Caroma Dual Flush toilet uses an average of 0.96 gallons per flush. The new Sydney Smart uses only 1.28 and 0.8 gpf, that is an average of 0.89 gallons per flush. This is the lowest water consumption of any toilet available in the US. Caroma, an Australian company set the standard by giving the world its first successful two button dual flush system in the nineteen eighties and has since perfected the technology. Also, with a full 3.5″ trapway, these toilets virtually never clog. Please visit my blog http://pottygirl.wordpress.com/2008/08/01/what-you-should-know-about-toilets/ or http://www.ecotransitions.com/howto.asp to see how we flush potatoes with 0.8 gallons of water, meant for liquids only. Best regards, Andrea Paulinelli

Click here to post or read all 1 comments.