How Our Services Benefit the Environment

Is global warming a fact?

If so, are the activities of humans primarily responsible?

Or, is the planet heading into a cooling trend?

Is there really a climate-change crisis?

Are excessive carbon emissions from our modern lifestyles destroying the earth?

Should we abandon our cars, toaster-ovens and flushing toilets and return to a pastoral way of life fueled by the whisper of wind turbines and banks of solar panels marching across the landscape?

Such questions are being considered and debated all over the world these days, and there are true-believers on all sides of these issues. But, many citizens, including average homeowners in our region of Maryland, the Baltimore Metro Region and southern Pennsylvania, are unsure what to believe or what actions, if any, they should undertake. One thing is indisputable: our earth is so huge that every day extreme weather occurs somewhere, and climate changes are, and always have been, a constant phenomenon on this planet. Whether or not the sum total of current geographic weather patterns around the earth will produce global climate catastrophe in our future is beyond the ability of Therma-Check’s staff to accurately predict.

Even so, as a homeowner, you do not need definitive answers to the questions in the opening section above to understand that reducing energy consumption in your house is a good thing. As discussed on our Energy Audit Benefits page, there are many advantages that derive from conserving energy related to lowering monthly utility costs, increasing property values and improving comfort in your home, among others. These are practical personal reasons for seeking an energy audit, and you might not be particularly concerned about any climate change issues.  There are many sound reasons to obtain an energy audit, and the motivations concerning why a homeowner seeks our services are up to them.

Nevertheless, the consequences of obtaining an energy audit and making improvements to increase energy efficiency in your home can extend beyond the tangible benefits mentioned above, to include improving your home’s indoor air quality.  And, perhaps by doing so you will have a positive influence on the greater environment beyond the windows of your home. Thus, your voluntary improvements can have involuntary benefits of increasing energy sustainability that you might not have considered.

Furthermore, many homeowners wish to maximize their energy efficiencies and extend them to their yards and other portions of their properties. Whether the motivation is to improve buyer appeal of their home when selling, or increase the ecological and habitat values surrounding their home, our Green-Certified Homes program can meet their needs, and also provide benefits to a more global environment.

Beyond that, we can assist those who have a desire to document their home energy usage and balance it by informally offsetting the equivalent carbon emissions their energy consumption produces.  We are able to do this through our Energy Sustainability Program in which we offer guidance and support for our client’s intentions by recommending simple actions they can take on their own properties, such as planting suitable trees and other vegetation. Where this is undesirable or infeasible, homeowners may take steps to benefit the environment through our partnerships with organizations that have substantive and reasonable programs with a history of proven practical results.  This can take the form of making donations to non-profit organizations that plant trees and forests that absorb carbon, which helps the environment and local communities.

One of the organizations that Therma-Check endorses is Trees for the Future, with which we are proud to be a partner. We receive no compensation from them, but support their efforts in reforestation and helping communities and local environments thrive. Learn more about Trees for the Future’s programs here.