Remodeling your house to be more energy efficient can be expensive, but small lifestyle changes can make a difference. San Francisco Chronicle real estate reporter Carol Lloyd describes her expensive remodel and problems with contractors.

She takes some lessons from David de Rothschild, the author of the new book The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook. Bamboo, a difficult plant to grow from seed, is highly recommended as an alternative to wood because, according to the International Herald Tribune:

Bamboo is a workhorse at sequestering carbon dioxide and pumping out oxygen. It is a tough plant that manufactures its own antibacterial compounds and can thrive without pesticides. And its porous fibers make a cloth that breathes and is as soft as silk.

Using bamboo instead of wood is one of 10 suggestions for homeowners, who are also encouraged to buy electricity from renewable resources. Wind and solar energy are still generally more expensive, but tax credits are helping to close the gap.

But the easiest thing that people can do that does not involve any compromise in comfort is to shut off electronic devices and charges at the outlet when not in use. This could be made even easier for home buyers if the central electric panel (fuse box) could be easily configured to schedule turning off power to rooms of the house. Overnight you need to keep the refrigerator running, but that's about it, so making it dead simple to cut the unnecessary power would encourage sustainable behaviors.