Guidelines in Green Home Building

When building a green home, it is important to understand how a home can be made sustainable compared to conventional homes. Green homes are always a good way to reduce your overall impact on the Earth. Here are a few things that EnviroCitizen.org suggest you think about when you decide on building a green home.

A green home is usually achieved through the ambition of the owner in collaboration with the expertise of a green designer and home builder. Good design allows you to achieve the greatest amount of innovative engineering and aesthetics for your home. Quality home builders convert the design into a green reality. Choose your professionals wisely, and you will reap the benefits of your green home for years.

To accomplish resource efficiency consider the following tips:

• Buy products with identifiable recycled content, including postindustrial content with a preference for postconsumer content helps save virgin materials.
   
• Try buying materials that have been proven sustinable such as materials those harvested from managed sources and preferably have an independent certification and are certified by an independent third party, such as the Rainforest Alliance.
   
• When you are buying things, be conscious of how they were manufactured. Products manufactured with resource-efficient processes including reduced energy consumption, minimized waste and reduced greenhouse gases.
   
• Purchase building materials, components and systems found locally or regionally saving energy and resources in transportation to the project site. You can also reuse things, incorporating them into your project.  Buying salvaged or reclaimed materials can mean saving a material from disposal and renovating, repairing, restoring or generally improving the appearance, performance, quality, functionality or value of a product. Buy things that will last. Materials that are longer lasting or are comparable to conventional products with long life expectancies are chosen for durability.
   
• Indoor air quality is enhanced by utilizing materials that are shown to follow environmentally sound concepts. Materials that emit little or no carcinogens or irritants as demonstrated by the manufacturer through appropriate testing are called nontoxic. Products that have minimal emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) often fall in this category as products that also maximize resource and energy efficiency while reducing chemical emissions. Products and systems that resist moisture or inhibit the growth of biological contaminants in buildings are moisture resistant.
   
• Water conservation can be done by utilizing materials and systems that help reduce water consumption in buildings and conserve water in landscaped areas.
   
• Energy efficiency can be maximized by utilizing materials and systems that help reduce energy consumption in buildings and amenities.

As you go about planning your project and choosing materials, features and the design of your green home project, EnviroCitizen.org encourages you to make sure you take the long-term effects and benefits of your new home into consideration during every step of the process.