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Pros of Building or Buying a New Green Home

May 18, 2009 in Green Building by Jennifer | 2 comments

Last week we started looking at remodeling green vs. buying a new green home or building a new green home. So far we took a peek at:

This week we’re moving on to pros and cons of building or buying a new green home. Later we’ll round it all up and look at some resources for both.

Building or buying a new green home does have many pros…

Green home will almost always (if you build within size reasons) cost less to operate. Your energy, water, and other maintenance costs will all likely be lower in the long term. You can also save money with green building tax cuts.

Green homes last longer than a typical conventional (non-green) home.

Green housing can meet the needs of the community both in terms of affordable to run housing and in terms of keeping the community healthy.

Green structures are healthy for the people who live there and are healthier than conventional homes for the people who build them – i.e. cut down on indoor air pollution and involve fewer toxic materials during the building process.

If a home meets typical current green building standards, green building offers opportunities during the building process to save energy, cut greenhouse gas emissions, conserve natural resources, improve air and water quality, and reduces construction waste. Green building can also use up resources that might just be tossed – i.e. materials from a home deconstruction.

Green homes can be more relaxing. For example, a super energy efficient home is comfortable for the people living there and causes less stress because there’s not always a concern about how to cool or heat the home.

Green building or buying a new green home involves a learning curve for sure, but it’s not as hard as some think. Read the following for tips and ideas…

Living Building Financial Study Says Green Building Makes Economic Sense

May 18, 2009 in Green Building by Jennifer | No comments

It’s not too big a shock that the Living Building Financial Study, a study from the Cascadia Region Green Building Council would say, “Sure green building is financially sound and a great idea.” Green building skeptics might be thinking uh oh because of course the company behind said study is pro-green. However, this study is backed with actual facts and figures. The bad news is that much like we’ve heard before green building costs more at the get-go but in good news, these buildings reap savings later than conventionally built homes simply can’t.

From the the Matrix and Executive Summary are some key findings which kick off with…

“Living Buildings can be built cost effectively in today’s market driven economy given the rising costs of energy and water. The first cost premiums for many building types are significantly lower than what many would predict for an energy and water independent structure. The degree of cost effectiveness depends on the interplay of four factors: client, climate, scale and building use – as originally thought by the study team. The study found that two additional factors: 1) the availability of incentives and 2) the costs of energy and water, can tip the scales for economic competitiveness.”

A Living Building is a building that goes beyond LEED Platinum certification – it’s in a sustainable league of it’s own. However, it’s also realistic, which I like. The Living Building site notes, “The purpose of the Living Building Challenge is straightforward – to define the highest measure of sustainability attainable in the built environment based on the best current thinking – recognizing that ‘true sustainability’ is not yet possible.” Cool. You can take a look at the Living Building Challenge rating system (pdf) which is made up of six performance areas; Site, Energy, Materials, Water, Indoor Quality, and Beauty + Inspiration.

Jetson Green has the whole scoop on how Living Building are financially sound and for more information visit the International Living Building Institute.