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A couple of years ago I took the course given by the local Home
Builders Association and became a Certified Green Professional.
Although, over 35 years ago I was designing homes to be more
energy efficient. I studied the path of the sun and how I can
design a home that made good use of it, both in summer and
winter. Here in Texas we concentrate more on how to avoid the
sun's heat in the summer than how to heat a home with it in the
winter. But Green Building is much more than energy efficiency.
So, the whole idea of this Building Green movement is to
reduce our "Carbon Footprint" on the Earth. To reduce our
dependency, not just from foreign oil, but oil from anywhere. I
am from Texas so I catch a lot of grief for saying that! The use
of oil and fossil fuels are thought to be the major cause of
Global Warming. That and cow farts. (Another Texas Taboo). If
you want your future generations to enjoy a livable environment,
we need to make changes immediately on how things are done.
 When you think of a "Green Built Home", what do you think of? Do
you think of some futuristic space age domicile with solar
panels all over the roof? How about a geodesic dome full of
belated tree hugging hippies? If you do then you're not a lot
different from what many people might think. Actually, a Green
Built Home can't be distinguished from the other homes in your
neighborhood. Green Building is just doing things a little
different from what we have been doing, only giving serious
thought to the effect on our environment, before, during and
after your home is built. A Green Built Home doesn't cost much
more to build than a conventional home but the return on
investment is much higher in energy savings and tax incentives
thus reducing the ongoing cost of living in your Green Built
Home. So you're really saving money while saving the Earth! It's
just too many Home Builders focus on that price tag as they'll
list the home for sell.
The EPA estimates that buildings in the United States account
for 39 percent of total energy use, 12 percent of the total
water consumption, 68 percent of total electricity consumption,
and 38 percent of carbon dioxide emissions. Green Building
incorporates environmental considerations and resource
efficiency into every step of building a new home to minimize
the environmental impact on our Earth.
How warm is your attic in the middle of July? Here in Texas
at my home, I hate to think! 150F or more degrees! There is
something many builders are now doing. That is moving the
insulation from your attic floor to the underside of the roof
decking. When I first heard of this my response was, Yeah Right!
Well, it turns out to be an excellent idea.
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