I feel really good about both of these adobe homes and am excited to share these new photos. I'll try to get more of the other home soon. Enjoy!

Let me know what you think.

When discussions concerning energy conservation crop up, everybody talks about insulation, heating and cooling equipment sizing, window types, aire circulation fans and the like. But how often do you hear trees and bushes mentioned in the conversation?

Thoughtful landscape design actually can lower the demands put on an air-conditioning and heating system.

The most obvious example of this would be the use of shade trees in strategic locations. Planting deciduous trees to provide shade on the south side of a house can lower the cooling load during the summer months by providing a solar shield.

Why deciduous trees? Because they will drop their leaves in the fall, thereby letting sunlight through to provide solar heating in the winter, lowering the heating bill as well.

Bushes and other shrubbery can cast a beneficial shadow, too. They are especially useful in shading an air conditioner, provided that they leave enough ventilation to ensure operating efficiency. You can also use vines to provide thermal protection.

The right tree in the right place

The choice of trees and the locations where they are planted are also important to achieve the maximum benefits. Best selections are fast-growing varieties, such as maples, burr oaks, overcup oaks and river birches. Be sure, though, that the mature tree's wood will withstand strong winds. Otherwise, you risk damage to the building the tree is supposed to protect.

Here are a few suggestions for siting and planting a tree:

Know its size at full maturity.

Choose a location where it has room to grow and where it will provide direct shade from block overhead sun on the south side and low-angle sun on the east and west sides.

Trees to the south should be fairly close to the house, but not any closer than one-half the mature-crown diameter.

Trees on the east and west sides should provide a screen against the morning and evening sun.

With rising costs, every weapon in the energy savings arsenal can be important. Remember to include landscaping in the fight. Trees can save the homeowner money on heating and cooling while they add beauty and value to the property. An environmental bonus: They even help clean the air.

The Organ Mountains create the eastern horizon for Las Cruces. It's common for people to enjoy the view of the Organs from the back patios. These photos give you a different look at the mountains and why outdoor enthusiasts enjoy them so much. 

Let's talk about fireplaces and how your choice here helps you make your life more efficient. 

Gas fireplaces are the overwhelming choice in fireplaces, far outselling their cordwood counterparts. Natural gas fireplace inserts and free-standing stoves not only help maintain indoor air quality, keeping the home clean, but they create less outdoor pollution than woodburning fireplaces.

Zone heating

Energy-conscious consumers are fueling the trend of using gas fireplaces, inserts and pellet stoves to provide zone heating for the spaces used most often. Utility bills are lower when they can turn down the thermostat on a central furnace and use the gas fireplace as a supplemental heat source. Highly efficient natural gas fireplace inserts, for example, can heat up to 1,000 square feet of living space at low cost.

For zone heating, consider only properly installed gas fireplaces, inserts and pellet appliances.

We recommend only gas fireplace units and appliances that are Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (A.F.U.E) rated. These units are tested to the same standard used to rate energy-efficient furnaces.

Avoid masonry woodburning fireplaces, which can lose up to 85 percent of the fire's heat through the chimney.

For conversions from woodburning to gas, fireplace inserts can be installed in almost any existing masonry fireplace and are available in a variety of styles and designs to match the home's decor.

Gas fireplaces

Whether or not you are interested in zone heating, the choice of fireplace is dictated by regional climate, the age and construction of the home as well as the amount of heat required.

Direct-vent fireplaces comprise the majority of gas fireplace sales. These have to be close to an outside wall. Fireplace doors are permanently sealed to allow for proper ventilation so air is blown out of the home. Air to feed the flame enters from the outside and relatively cool combustion gases are exhausted through a wall-mounted vent or can be vented through a roof.

Vent-free fireplaces don't require venting to the outside. With the vent-free units, there are people concerned about indoor air quality, but studies say it's safe. We don't recommend these units for frequent use, though, because they can produce a lot of condensation within the home over time, particularly for newer homes that are tightly sealed. Most units are open, without doors.

Class B vent (natural vent) conventional gas fireplaces require a through-the-roof Class B flue to carry away hot combustion gases and typically feature operable doors.

Pellet appliances are freestanding stoves or fireplace inserts that burn pellets for zone heating. The most common fuel is wood-based pellets made primarily from compressed sawdust. Pellets, developed in 1970s to use waste wood from manufacturing processes, are a highly efficient way to burn wood and can be purchased in 40-pound bags. One advantage of pellet fuel is the ability to lock in fuel costs at the beginning of the heating season.

We recommend direct-vent gas fireplaces for their efficiency; 70 percent of the heat they generate remains inside the house. Direct-vent units are much easier and less expensive to install than traditional woodburning or gas masonry units, and there's greater flexibility in placement. These units are also effective for zone heating because people absorb the radiant heat from the glass front while the firebox also heats the air in the room.

Energy-efficient washers can use up to 50 percent less energy and 60 percent less water than standard machines. If you have a top loader, regardless of how old it is, consider replacing it with an energy-efficient front loader.

Energy Star-rated: These machines are 37 percent more energy-efficient and use 18 to 25 gallons per load, about half what traditional washers use. The percentages on our Product Comparison chart represent how much more energy-efficient an appliance is than federal standards require.

Water Factor: Part of the Energy Star rating, the Water Factor is a ratio of how much water is used compared to the size of the drum. For example, a machine with a 4-cubic-foot drum that uses 24 gallons per load has a water factor of 6. The figure is more accurate than gallons per load, since washers vary so much in size. The lower the number, the better. Energy Star-rated machines have water factors ranging from 3.2 to 7.9.

Front-loaders: Front-loading machines are, in general, more efficient than their top-loading counterparts, using 40 to 60 percent less water and 30 to 50 percent less energy. They also have the benefit of faster spin times, which means your clothes dry faster. Some local utilities offer rebates for purchasing front loaders.

Shopping Tips

Select a washer with variable spin times. Faster spin cycles rid clothes of more water and aid in drying times.

Usage Tips

Adjust the washing machine so that water levels match the load of laundry.

Wash only full loads.

Wash your clothes in cold water. A slight 10 percent of the electricity consumed in washing a load of clothes goes to run a washer's motor; the remaining 90 percent is used to heat the water. Washing clothes in cold water can cut CO2 emissions down by 100 pounds and save you up to $64 a year on your energy bill. In situations where hot water is necessary (for instance, to kill dust mites in bedding), use cold water to rinse.

Use less detergent, and you'll save water by not having to run extra rinse cycles.

What Do I Buy?

Water-Saving Toilets
Guzzling 27 percent of your household supply every year, your toilet is by far your home's largest water user. The Federal government now mandates that new toilets use no more than 1.6 gallons per flush, but older toilets can use two to three times that much. And even the new ones will use more if you don't maintain them.

When buying a toilet, look for the Environmental Protection Agency's WaterSense label. To receive the label, toilets must be independently tested to show that they use, at most, 1.28 gallons per flush (gpf). Dual-flush toilets, those that have a full-flush mode for solids and a reduced-flush mode for liquids, use 1.6 gpf and .8 gpf respectively. And if you want to go as green as possible, there are composting toilets, which break down human waste into a nutrient-rich material that can be spread around trees and non-edible plants. See our Toilets Buying Guide for suggestions.

What Else Can I Do?

Maintain the toilet you've got.
A 2000 study commissioned by the city of Tucson revealed many 1.6-gallon toilets had been modified by homeowners or plumbers: "early-close flappers," devices that prevent the water tank from releasing more than 1.6 gallons, had been replaced with standard 3.5-gpf flappers, and dams, which also prevent a 3.5-gallon tank from releasing more than 1.6 gallons, had broken or were intentionally removed.

If you've moved into a home with a 1.6-gpf model, there's no way of knowing whether the previous owner made any such inefficient modifications. As the parts wear out-they generally last around five years-be sure to ask specifically for 1.6-gpf replacements.

Most older homes (pre-1992) still have 3.5-gpf toilets. If yours does, you can reduce the water it uses by filling a milk jug with stones and placing it in your toilet tank to displace water. But be wary of toilet-tank retrofits, kits designed to convert old 3.5-gpf models into 1.6-gpf toilets, says Gary Woodard, co-author of the Tucson study. "You're doing something to the toilet that it isn't really designed for," he says. "It's really best to get a low-flow toilet."

What do you save?
By replacing 3.5-gallon toilets with 1.6-gallon or less models, the average family of four would save about 14,000 gallons of water per year.

How important is this?
The combination of population growth, increased use, and climate change are making fresh water a critical issue for our times. You won't save much money by saving water, but you will be making a big contribution to your community and to the planet-depending on where you live, wise water use may be the only way your region will continue to be habitable.

Showerheads

Showers are rife with opportunities for waste, thanks to easy manipulation of low-flow showerheads and the rise in popularity of multi-head shower systems, some of which spew an astonishing 80 gallons per minute (gpm). The bane of water conservationists everywhere, these multi-head showers end-run the federal standard that requires showerheads to pump out no more than 2.5 gpm by utilizing a dozen or more of the 2.5-gpm models.

What Do I Buy?
A 2.5 Gallon-per-Minute showerhead
First, measure the water consumption of your current showerhead. Pour 2.5 gallons into a bucket, mark the water level, then empty it. Then, put the bucket under the shower and run the water for exactly one minute. If the water goes higher than the mark, get a new showerhead. There are low-flow showerheads of every type, ranging in price from less than $10 to $100 or so. And while you're at it, buy a 1.5-gpm aerator for your bathroom sink faucet. For less than $4, you'll save another few hundred gallons a month.

If major purchases are in your budget, consider a tankless, on-demand water heater. Households waste 6.35 gallons of water per day waiting for hot water, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and 3.48 gallons of that is for showers alone. Tankless systems heat water when you need it, cutting wait times down to about 30 seconds and saving energy as well as water.

What Else Can I Do?
Change your expectations a bit. A water saving shower isn't going to be like standing under a warm Niagara Falls, but it will be nice and hot and get you clean. Keep a clean bucket in the shower to collect the water that runs while you wait for it to get hot (your houseplants or garden will thank you), and keep the whole process to 5 minutes or less. And don't succumb to the temptation to modify the flow restrictors in the 2.5-gallon showerheads.

How much do I save?
By replacing a 5-gpm showerhead with a 2.5-gpm model, you'll save 7,300 gallons of water per year. Cut your eight-minute showers down to five minutes, and you'll save another 2,738 gallons.

How important is this?
Using less hot water saves money, greenhouse gas emissions, and, of course, the water itself. This is a change well worth making.

Most people don't equare their oven to being green and energy efficient, but depending your decision your oven can either burn through energy or be very efficient. 

Most people think that refrigerators tend to be the biggest energy user in your kitchen. While that may have been the case in the past, these days, ovens and ranges can be the biggest power hogs in the kitchen, consuming on average close to 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually for cooks who use them more than once a week. So if you're looking to be more energy efficient, choose your oven carefully. 

When it comes to conserving energy, some tips are basic:

Avoid preheating, especially for items you're cooking 20 or more minutes

Don't peek in the oven while food is cooking.

Microwave Ovens

Microwaves use only about 20 percent of the energy a conventional oven uses and have sensors that automatically shut the oven off when food is finished cooking, which saves even more. 

Toaster Ovens

If soggy, microwaved pizza isn't for you, a toaster oven may be a better choice. Using only half the energy of conventional ovens, toaster ovens with convection modes or infrared heating can also cook food speedily.

Cooktops

Induction
Induction models heat pans made with magnetic materials (cast iron or stainless steel) and use half the energy of standard electric cooktops. They're a high-end alternative at over $1,700 for the cheapest, but single "burner" induction hot plates are much more affordable.

Electric

Electric coils aren't necessarily efficient, but they beat out solid disk burners (similar to hot plates), which take much longer to heat up. Glass-topped radiant and halogen elements are easier to clean, but they aren't much more energy efficient than coils and cost quite a bit more.

Gas

Gas cooktops allow for fine control of heat, but they take longer to warm pans and have to be properly vented to avoid trapping combustion gases.

Wall Ovens

Considerably more expensive than ranges, wall ovens can be placed for maximum user-friendliness at waist level or eye level during a kitchen renovation. Look for models with convection modes, which circulate heated air around food and cut energy use by approximately 20 percent.

Ranges

All-in-one ranges are more affordable than cooktops and wall ovens, and many at the lower end of the price range function very well. Choose one with a self-cleaning feature, which provides added insulation that cuts energy consumption. However, if you use the self-cleaning feature more than once a month, you lose any extra savings the added insulation provides.

I hope this helps as you make your decision. You're in control. 

Dishwashers

If your current dishwasher is older than 10 years, it probably uses somewhere between eight and 15 gallons of water per cycle. Depending on your individual habits, hand-washing dishes may use up to 50 percent more water than a water-saving, energy-efficient dishwasher. A new Energy Star-rated model can save you 13 percent on energy and as much as 1,200 gallons of water a year. Here's how to choose one:

Energy Star rated: Energy Star models must use 41 percent less energy than non-qualified models.

Gallons per cycle (gpc): Because Energy Star doesn't factor water savings into its dishwasher ratings, find out how much water a new dishwasher uses per load. The average new Energy Star model uses four gallons per cycle (gpc) when set on "normal," but some models use twice that, depending on their size.

Capacity: Purchase a washer that fits your needs. Compact capacity models hold eight place settings plus six serving pieces, while standard capacity models hold more. A compact model will use more energy and water if it's run more frequently to handle multiple loads, but a standard capacity washer wastes water if your household includes only a few people.

Shopping Tips

Look for models with several cycle selections. If your dishes don't need heavy-duty washing, you can use a light or energy-saving cycle and less water.

Choose a model with an air-dry feature, which cuts down on energy use (you can also save energy at home by hand drying your dishes).

At the store, compare the energy- and water-consumption costs of one model to another using the yellow "EnergyGuide" label on the product.

Usage Tips

Save more water at home. Instead of pre-rinsing dishes, scrape food into the garbage or composter. Pre-rinsing can add an additional 20 gallons per load on average, negating any water-saving efforts you've achieved with your dishwasher.