Defining a Green Home

Lately I gave had quite a few home buyers from the CA area, and most of them are talking Green. Buyers here in Phoenix are talking Green. Something I hardly ever here in Phoenix. It looks like Green has finally arrived. I am finding that Green is the new black, so to speak. Everybody is talking about going green and even building green. So what does it really mean to build green?

Defining green has been a challenge, even for those who are as green as you can get. To sum up green, the question would be - what type of environmental impact does the materials you are using have?

Assessing impact can mean on the front end or the back end. For example, in some instances, the product you use in building your home might not be green to build, but the results of that product can be beneficial. A good example would be if a window is installed in a way that maximizes the collection of low winter sunlight and blocks the summer sun, this saves energy and is green.

Because defining green is difficult, standards are starting to be organized and listed in the GreenSpec directory. This directory bases decisions about products on categories such as energy-consuming appliances and VOC-emitting paints, specific thresholds can be established relatively easily. But for many criteria, the lines are much fuzzier and judgment calls are required.

Thousands of green building professionals rely on GreenSpec to find products that are truly green. With more and more products entering the market with green claims, having dependable information is more important than ever.

Find green building products easily
Save hundreds of hours of research
Know what to look for in a green product
Information you can trust: no ads or paid listings

Looks like this book is the way to go....

There are 26 GreenSpec criteria organized into five categories:

*Made with salvaged, recycled, or agricultural waste material
*Conserve natural resources
*Avoid toxic or other emissions
*Save energy or water
*Contribute to a safe, healthy built environment.

Another way to build green is to conform to what is called LEED Standards. LEED or 'The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design' is a Green Building Rating System™ that encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria.

There are many resources available for consumers so that they can adapt their building materials and design to LEED standards. Building this way is probably the simplest way to go and there are many resources available to assist you.

So should you build green because it is popular? Not necessarily. You should build green because it is what will ultimately provide a 'green' future and not a black one.