Take a house with a flat roof or no overhanging eaves. You can reduce solar radiation two simple ways: Put solar screens on the windows, which block solar radiation, or install awnings above the windows. Awnings are probably the best solution. And there are more contemporary-looking awnings today; they don’t have to look like those you’d get out of a 1950s Sears, Roebucks catalog.

• Choose a white or metal roof

If you’re replacing your roof, go with white or unpainted galvalum metal. A white car collects less heat on a summer afternoon than a dark car; it’s common sense.

I recently had a client who needed to replace her roof after hail damage. She said, ‘We’re thinking of using solar collectors. Can you tell me how to install them on our new shingle roof so it won’t leak?’ I said, lets step back. Instead of replacing the roof with a shingle roof — which gets hot and makes your house hot — why don’t you go with a metal roof installed over the existing roof? Then you don’t have to tear off the old roofing and throw it in a landfill.

If you lay down wood strips to create an airspace beneath it, a metal roof will make your house much cooler and comfortable. And it will save you more energy than $25,000 worth of solar collectors can produce. You’ll also have a permanent roof and get a reduction on your homeowner’s insurance.

She was flabbergasted. It made so much sense, but nobody had ever explained it to her. She’d talked to a roofer, the city’s solar rebate program and a solar specialist. But no one ever connected the dots and said, ‘Why are you bothering to do all that? Just put on a metal roof and call it a day.’

• Install fluorescent lighting

People say, ‘Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs’ (CFLs). Let’s change that and say, ‘Switch to fluorescent light bulbs; compact fluorescent only if necessary.’ People don’t understand there’s a difference between traditional fluorescence and compact fluorescence. CFLs are a band aid to replace regular screw-in light bulbs. That’s why they have that bulbous end; that’s the ballast. So every time you screw one in, you’re throwing out the transformer or the ballast, too. When you have to replace the bulb, you end up throwing away a lot more.

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