Set sprinklers to water the lawn or garden only - not the street or sidewalk.
Use the microwave to cook small meals. (It uses less power than an oven.)
Purchase "Green Power" for your home's electricity. (Contact your power supplier to see where and if it is available.)
Scrape, rather than rinse, dishes before loading into the dishwasher; wash only full loads.
Cut back on air conditioning and heating use if you can.
Turn off appliances and lights when you leave the room.
LOS ANGELES — Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. is targeting environmentally conscious homeowners with a new insurance product that would cover the cost of rebuilding a home to green building standards.
"The green upgrade will actually replace a home that is not already green in the event of a loss," Erron Al-Amin, the company's senior director of Personal Insurance, said Monday.
Fireman's Fund, which officially unveiled the plan Tuesday, is offering the green coverage option in several states, including Arizona, Georgia, Maine and Nevada. In California it will be folded into the overall plan beginning Aug. 1.
The Novato, Calif.-based company has received clearance to sell the optional coverage in 26 states, Al-Amin said, and expects to get clearance from all U.S. states by the end of the year.
The green coverage, however, is only being offered as an add-on to the company's top-tier homeowners insurance package. It would cost $25 a year to add the coverage for a home with a replacement cost valued at $500,000 or less, Al-Amin said.
The green coverage feature also only kicks in if the damage is already covered under the overall base homeowners insurance policy. Flood damage, for example, isn't covered unless the homeowner pays for that coverage add-on as well.
Norma Garcia, a senior attorney for Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports, said the green-oriented coverage plan has the potential to encourage homeowners to rebuild their homes in a more environmentally friendly way.
"To the extent that it's an innovative and affordable product that increases options for homeowners, that's a good thing," Garcia said. "It might very well be a great product, or it might be something that is just skating off the whole green phenomena."
Garcia noted that consumers should consider the overall benefit of such coverage compared with their present coverage.
She advised, "You look at the policy, you see what's included, you see what's excluded ... and you decide if what they're offering you is still worth it."
Consumers who already own a home with certified as green under standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council would be offered a 5 percent discount off their total insurance premiums under the plan, the company said.
Homeowners whose property doesn't feature green options such as Energy Star-rated lighting and appliances, water-saving plumbing fixtures or framing made of recycled materials, would receive up to 10 percent of the cost to replace their home toward making green upgrades.
The terms of the overall homeowners policy determine the size of the deductible or any exclusions.
In addition, the policy includes up to $50,000 combined to cover costs to clear debris in an environmentally friendly way and for an inspector to determine if the rebuilt home meets the U.S. Green Building Council's basic Leadership in Energy Environmental Design rating system.
