Green Home Building – Not Yet the Wave of the Future

If the government does make it mandatory, then I suspect a lot of people will be living homeless or in government subsidized apartment complexes in the future. The definition of a green home will need to be changed, akin to calling a used car “pre-owned” in order to pacify the proponents of green home building, and still build homes that people can afford to buy.

So what is a green home? A green home is a home that has been constructed to utilize dramatically less energy, water and other natural resources than the standard home built today. Also, by today’s green home standards, the home has to be less than 2,500 square feet in total living space. The definition and certification of green home construction is set and measured by several organizations including, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), the U.S. Green Building Council, the Environments for Living, HealthyBuilt Homes, and the EPA’s Energy Star Program. All of these organizations set green home standards in some way or form and some provide green building certification.

Green homes are rated on a point or star system, where a 5 star rating is deemed the highest level of green home building conformance. In order for a home to quality as a truly green home it needs to meet a number of key metrics and features.

First, the home has to be constructed in such a way that it is virtually air tight with no inadvertent air leakage inside or outside of the home. Second, the home has to be insulated using green insulation materials, e.g. recycled newspaper, versus materials that could outgas and pollute the environment. Third, the air conditioning system has to be highly efficient and sized properly for the house such that the bare minimum is used to heat and cool the home. Lastly, the home has to utilize conservation techniques and methods for water and electricity consumption. All of these metrics and features require rare and expensive materials and significantly more time and material costs, thus making the home a custom home.

For the masses, most builders have traditionally built standard style homes at affordable prices. The green home proponents, however, argue that the cost of building a green home only adds 3% to 5% to the cost of building a home. I disagree vehemently. Just visit your local home improvement center and look at the variation in cost in Energy Star rated kitchen appliances. You will see that the highest Energy Star related appliances have price tags well in excess of 5% of their lower performing competitors. Suffice it to say, building a 5 star green LEED certified home will cost more like 2 to 3 times what the average home costs to build today.

Only when the home building manufacturers figure out ways to reduce the cost of the green home building materials and processes will there be any hope of achieving the stated goals of the green home building advocates.