Green Healthy Homes

Green building is so much more than saving energy or reducing a home's environmental footprint. Homeowners of a certified Green Home can realize many more benefits as described below.

Lower Operating Costs - Your Green Home will have lower energy and water bills as a result of energy and water efficiency measures.

Healthier Home - With improved indoor air quality, less harmful off gases and prevention of water intrusion, which can create mold, your family should be healthier, miss less work and school, which hopefully will result in less medical bills

Reduced Maintenance & Replacement Costs - Increased useful life of products and materials will result in cost savings. A properly planned landscaping package will reduce the amount of time spent working in the yard and allow more time to enjoy the outdoors.

Potential Financial Incentives - As green home building has become more mainstream, there are increasingly more federal tax credit and local government and utility company incentive rebates available, lower cost Green mortgages available and more recently, insurance companies are beginning to offer lower premium options.

Higher Performing & Durable Home - You will benefit immensely from a better built and higher performing home; 3rd party verification of duct leaks and house air leaks will insure that any deficiencies discovered can be addressed and repaired during construction, saving untold amount of wasted energy; certification experts will approve your home for your LEED (Leader in Energy & Environmental Design), NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) or other local approved Green certification programs, resulting in a higher valued home.

Environmental Friendly & Sustainable Measures - Can one family building a Green Home solve global warming or bring a complete halt to diminishing resources? No. Can one family building a Green Home contribute to the solution and be part of a movement that one day may be the new standard? YES! Through the use of sustainable practices, recycled and renewable products, and more energy efficient systems, we can reduce the impact on our environment and precious resources.

Higher Value & Resale Advantages - Your certified Green Home will have a higher value than a comparable standard home and if you decide to sell your home, multiple listing systems used by Realtors to sell homes are now recognizing green certification programs and it is much easier to market the benefits of home to buyers.

More Comfortable Home Environment - Imagine the personal benefits to you and your family by living in a quiet, clean, safe, secure and controlled indoor air quality home - is there anything more important that the health and welfare of your family? Is there really a price tag you can assign to the benefit of building a Green Home to you, your children and your grandchildren?

Safer & More Secure - Your family is better protected with the use of high performance smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, radon testing detectors and security system.

Promotes an EcoGreen Luxury Lifestyle - Now that you have decided to build a high performance and healthy Green Home, your life is changed forever - all for the better! Would you furnish your new home with anything other than safe, healthy, organic and eco-friendly products? Might you consider living a healthier lifestyle? Will you sleep in peace knowing you have provided your family a safe, clean, healthy living environment?

As you can see, there are so many more benefits in owning a Healthy Home than just "energy efficiency" or being "eco-friendly".

A typical builder explanation of a Green Home is "a home that is energy-efficient, water-efficient and incorporates multiple sustainable features that enhance the built environment.". What does this mean to the typical home buyer? Well, not much! And certainly not enough to really peek their interest.

Below is a "Top 10" list of features you can expect in a typical Green Home. This is just a summary though, actual features will vary according to your price range, the location of the home and just how "green and eco-friendly" you want to be!

1. Design & Planning - A well thought out home design in consultation with green building experts; the house positioned on your lot to take advantage of existing trees, natural vegetation and prevailing breezes; third party testing and verification of green products and applications in order to meet certification guidelines.


2. Durability & High Performance - Exterior house wrap utilized for vapor and air infiltration control; HVAC duct system and all house penetrations properly sealed and tested; higher quality products and materials utilized in every aspect of construction; builder and other professionals are more involved at each stage of construction.


3. Energy Efficiency - High efficient HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system designed and installed; insulated windows with low e glass throughout the home; tankless water heater system for heat on demand; ENERGY STAR appliances and light fixtures.


4. Water Conservation - Low flow faucet and shower heads installed; dual flush toilets; ENERGY STAR dishwasher; properly designed landscaping and irrigation package.


5. Indoor Air Quality - Low or no V.O.C. paints, caulks, sealants and cabinets selected; central vacuum system; use of carpeting kept to a minimum; bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans ducted to outside; garage and basement areas insulated and sealed from interior of home.


6. Resource Efficiency - Engineered products and finger joint material used where possible; concrete and fiber-cement products used in lieu of wood; recycle bins placed on job site to minimize construction debris; well designed recycle center in kitchen.


7. Landscaping & Outdoors - Drought tolerant turf and plants selected; plants with similar water and maintenance needs grouped together; recycled mulch to maximize moisture retention; irrigation system complete with multi-program clock, rain sensor and separate zones for turf and plants.


8. Eco-friendly and Healthy Materials - Carefully selected renewable materials that are also eco-friendly, such as bamboo flooring, engineered woods, cork flooring, recycled tile and linoleum.


9. Health, Safety & Enjoyment - High quality systems installed to control mold, to detect and warn for carbon monoxide and radon gases, to prevent unwanted intrusions with a complete security system and finally, to safely deliver pesticide and termite treatments.


10. Optional Features - Energy efficient systems such as solar voltaic power and solar energy; structural systems such as structured insulated panels (SIPS) or insulated concrete forms (ICF); indoor air quality filtration systems and whole house dehumidifying system; water conservation measures such as greywater reuse, reclaimed water reuse and rainwater harvesting.

Building a certified Green Home or remodeling an existing home to be certified green, might be the smartest decision you ever make for the health and well-being of not just you and your family, but for the next generation of families throughout the world.

Did you realize that you can benefit significantly from installing your own residential solar energy system? Since global warming is increasing and there is a continuous depletion of fossil fuels, the choice to switch to renewable power resources can be beneficial to both you and the environment. If you have your own renewable power generating setup system installed where you live, you can reduce you dependence on your electric utility company.

Electrical power systems driven by solar energy not only assist you in saving some cash but also benefit the our environment as well. The ozone layer in our atmosphere is getting thinner and if every home could employ such a system, it could greatly reduce the amount of carbon emissions and aid in global warming.

Installing residential solar power systems will, of course, take money to build but it is an investment that you will gain rewards from immediately, especially if the system you construct is efficient. One good thing about making your own solar power is that it is pretty easy to construct yourself. Through helpful resources from the internet and even first hand information from experienced people, you can build your own solar power system without much difficulty at all.

Once installed, solar power systems are quite manageable and almost maintenance free. You only have to probably clean out bird droppings and dirt that come to lodge on them and that's it. Fairly easy isn't it?

You would surely get your money's worth, with the average lifespan of thirty years for those solar panels. Added to that, you'd find them emission free, silent, and run on sunlight for fuel alone. When planning on installing this one, you should also bear in mind that there are two types of residential solar energy systems. One is the stand-alone-system, which is not connected to the electric grid. And the other one is the Grid-Tie-System where power grids are connected to the electric grid.

The most important part of the residential solar power systems is the photovoltaic cells. These are wired up in a succession to create adequate energy for conversion of AC voltage into usable electricity or a battery charge.

You will need to purchase these photovoltaic cells in order to power your system. You can build your own panels using readily obtainable materials sold in local suppliers in your area. You can also call around to various salvage yards to see if they offer something you can use and purchase at a reduced price.

A residential solar energy system has many advantages both to the environment and your budget. Even though building your system may seem complicated at first, if you do thorough research online, you can find several dealers that offer easy to follow instruction kits you can purchase and some even have videos. This can make your job much easier and give you the extra confidence you may need to tackle such as project.

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