Green BuildingGreen Building is focused on reducing the environmental impact of building. It includes every system of a home, beginning with how a house is situated on the land to maximizing passive solar gain, active solar, wind patterns, daylight and rainwater run-off. It includes how construction waste is handled; landscaping that is native to your area, drought-resistant and maybe a green roof. Driveways that were typically a large concrete slab are gravel or pavers that recycles ground water instead of adding to run-of. Purchasing green building materials from local sources or as close as possible instead of from across the country or world saves on transportation and emissions. The green design and building process incorporates all aspects of a home to build energy efficient, healthy homes. 
Green, Renewable and Recycled MaterialsGreen building materials from renewable or recycled sources are non-toxic and are obtained locally. You will see lumber from certified forests, materials and paint that have no volatile organic compounds (VOC's), renewable materials like bamboo and cork; bamboo grows quickly in a day and cork trees regenerate the layers removed. Materials that are recycled, for instance, counter-tops that include recycled glass and insulation that is nontoxic like recycled blue jeans. All these components together and good ventilation all providing good air quality. Another aspect of green materials is that they are long lasting, require little maintenance and are very durable, requiring replacement less often.The end result, the house uses less energy and is not toxic to the family that lives in it and was built with conscientious building practices that minimized and recycled waste. With long lasting systems that require less maintenance and replacement, lower energy bills and overall lowering your cost of ownership, makes you wonder why we would build any other way? Finally, homes built green increase your property value and makes resale easier because people are now very interested in buying homes that are built with sustainable materials and healthy. 
Compelling reasons for changeAccording to the EPA, Americans spend greater than 90% of their time indoors and indoor air pollutants are 2-5 times greater than outside air. That's enough to make you want to open all the windows and doors everyday to let the fresh air in or live outside.For decades we bought insulation with fiberglass, paint that off-gassed for up to 7 years, furniture and carpeting full of toxic chemicals like formaldehyde. We lived with this toxic air quality at home and at work and we didn't know about it for quite some time. Now that we know, and we have options that are non-toxic, green building or remodeling green makes a lot of sense. The cost of building green is now within reach, healthy and sustainable building materials are readily available and the cost is comparable to the toxic options. In the following pages, we will outline how you can make you new home green and your existing home healthier for you and your family.
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