10 Ways to Make Your Installs Greener

What is a green integrator?

According to Jennifer Leidig of Clifton Park, N.Y-based Ambiance Systems, a green integrator is a professional systems integrator that works with homeowners to maximize their energy conservation regarding any and all electrical amenities in the home.

This entails everything from creating the best ease of use interface for the client using programmed audio and video, such as convenient "hello" and "good bye" buttons to actually offering suggestions for less obvious ways to help reduce their overall energy consumption, including integrating lighting and HVAC.

Awareness of the need to conserve energy is poised to skyrocket, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Now is the time for integrators to position themselves as "green integrators," says Andy Bates, chief operations officer for Arnold, Mo.-based Bates Electric.

"Gas prices and a lot of components of our economy right now are leading people to be more cost- and environmentally-conscious," he says.

Here are some suggestions for companies starting the process of going green. Many are already common practices of integrators, who just need to start selling the inherent green benefits.

1. Offer Motorized Shades. Green Benefit: Alleviating the volume of sunlight entering the home will keep the HVAC equipment from running through the day and keep energy costs down, according to Bates.

2. Manage Energy Use. Green Benefit: Even though integrators tend to sell energy-guzzling components, letting clients conveniently monitor energy use with a main interface that controls all the home's electrical amenities makes a big difference, says Leidig.

3. Offer Lighting Control. Green Benefit: Without control, lights run at 100 percent brightness 100 percent of the time. With control, installers can program the majority of lights to run at lower brightness, controlling energy and saving lamp life, according to Bates.

4. Offer Home Control. Green Benefit: Something as simply as making it easy for homeowners to turn off energy-guzzling components can make a difference.

Leidig suggests that integrators include convenient "hello," "good-bye" and "good-night" buttons on their home control interfaces. "Energy conservation through convenience is key," she says.

5. Installing LED or Incandescent Lights. Green Benefit: Just the pure aesthetics of these innovative lighting categories benefit homeowners, says Bates. Add to that the markedly longer lamp life and low maintenance and it's a win-win-win for clients.

6. Go Solar. Green Benefit: Working with a builder to install panels and run wires for renewable solar energy systems hooked up to the external grid reduces clients' utility costs and can even earn them credits from utility companies. Not many traditional integrators are doing this, but Bates Electric is.

7. Pre-Wire for Solar. Green Benefit: Maybe homebuyers aren't sold on solar energy now, but they might be in a few years.

Bates Electric is pre-wiring homes for solar so that retrofits will be easier and less costly for clients. It's a service that Bates says really sets his company apart and establishes it as a green leader.

8. Choose Components Wisely. Green Benefit: Every little bit helps in terms of curbing energy costs and integrators can find components for their clients that are more energy-efficient than others by visiting the Consumer Electronics Association's myGreenElectronics.com or the government's EnergyStar.gov.

9. Recycle Old Components. Green Benefit: Maybe it doesn't save clients money, but environmentally-conscious clients will have peace of mind if integrators pledge to properly dispose of their old components.

If improperly disposed of or illegally dumped, "electronics can pose a serious risk to the environment," according to myGreenElectronics.com. Integrators can visit that site to find information on how and where to properly unload old equipment and take that burden off their clients.

10. Practice What's Preached. Green Benefit: If an integrator is touting energy-efficient features to a client, it helps to show that it also monitors its energy usage. "We are currently designing a new office building and we're looking at it as a 'green build' project," says Bates.

He adds that another of Bates Electric's goal is to replace the 50 trucks it has on the street with energy-efficient alternatives.