Are Green Homes The Wave Of The Future In Home Building

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span                            for Living, and HealthyBuilt
class="cap">More        Homes. These organizations rate
and more frequently I read      homes on a point or star system.
that the “green home” is the way      A green home, for example, with a
of the future in the home             5 star rating is considered to be
building industry. With just a        at the highest level of green
fraction of 1% of the homes today     conformance.

being green, I’m not so sure,

To qualify as a green home, a
however. It maybe 20 to 30 years      home needs to incorporate several
from now, but I question the          key features. First, it must be a
assertion that in the next decade     tight house so that there is
that 50% of the homes will be         little to no air leakage inside
green homes. Unless of course the     or out. Second the home needs to
phrase “green home” is redefined.     be insulated with green
Similar to how pork is described      insulation material that also has
today as the other “white meat”.      a high insulation value, e.g.
A green home is a home that is        rigid foam insulation that does
designed and built to use less        not outgas. Third, air
water and energy and is               conditioning and air duct work
constructed using recycled            has to be sized properly for the
materials. To be certified as a       house. Basically the air
green home, the home usually          conditioning system needs to be
needs to be less than 2500 sqft       highly efficient and minimized to
in total living area. There are a     no more than what the home really
number of organizations around        needs. Fourth, the home has to
the country that specify what         employ water and electricity
qualifies as a green home or          conservation techniques.

green material. Some of the

Green home proponents claim
organizations include the EPA’s       the cost of building a green home
Energy Star program, Environments     is only 3 to 5% higher than

existing home building costs. opportunities.

Again, I question these numbers.      About the
Typically a green home is a           Authorcustom home, and a custom home        id="authorbio"
usually has much higher material      class="membersnoticewhite">Over
and construction costs than a         the past 20+ years Mark Donovan
standard home.

has been involved with building

The green home is without          homes and home additions. For
question an excellent goal,           more DIY home improvement
however I think the residential       information visit home building industry will be        href="http://www.HomeAdditionPlus
slower to move in this direction      .com"
than its proponents think. Home       title="http://www.HomeAdditionPlu
costs continue to represent a         s.com" target="_blank">higher percentage of homeowner’s      color="#001000"
income, and as a result the green     size="-2">http://www.HomeAddition
home will be out of reach and         Plus.com and unaffordable for many. Unless the     href="http://www.homeaddition.blo
government provides significantly     gspot.com"
higher incentives for builders        title="http://www.homeaddition.bl
and homeowners to make and buy        ogspot.com" target="_blank">these homes, the green home will      color="#001000"
remain in the category of             size="-2">http://www.homeaddition
windmills and solar energy. Neat      .blogspot.com.

ideas that have yet to become fieldset>