A green home is not a 5,000 square foot home with bamboo floors and a rooftop covered with a garden, and an elevator. Like this massive home with a Environments for Living Diamond Award but a $366 energy bill at: http://on.wsj.com/notgreenatall This Las Vegas home is nothing more than a status symbol. That said, if it takes a status symbol to encourage more people to consider long term environmental and cost benefits. Maybe that's not so bad?
A green home might be a 5,000 square foot net-zero home with a 98% Furnace or 21 SEER A/C, a 10 kW Solar PV array, little uncontrolled air infiltration, adequate insulation for it's climate and hi-tech controls for comfort as well as lighting. But even then, it takes a lot of material resources to build that structure. Then, after the structure is built it takes more energy resources to heat and cool the large volume of the home. Even if the energy is offset by renewables, is that really green?
A green home is most definitely a home that is realistically sized for it's inhabitants, utilizes energy efficient practices, and is a healthy place to live. Whether it's a single guy, or a family of four, or the family of four plus grandma there is no need to live in a house with rooms that are visited once a year. Home sizes have double since 1950, while family size has decreased. Why? ( http://n.pr/avghomesize ) It should be energy efficient first, before installing a large renewable energy resource like solar or wind power. Yes solar is sexy, but efficiency is better for your wallet and it can improve comfort in the home. A healthy home is mostly related to indoor air quality. A healthy home is free of outdoor pollutants like pollen or critters, but also free of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that often come from paints, cleaning supplies, pesticides, building materials and furnishings, glues and adhesives, permanent markers, etc (visit the EPA website for more examples: http://bit.ly/epavoc )
A green home can be something we all live in. It doesn't need to be super-expensive status symbol or a hi-tech gadget. It just needs to be a well built house that provides a comfortable living space while being cost effective. By utilizing the right amount of properly installed conventional building materials with some newer technologies, we can all live call our green homes, just home.
Written By Energy Efficiency Eric
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