Looking for environmentally-friendly homes?

What is a Green Home?

These days, you don’t have to have a house sunk deep into the ground or one made from recycled tires for it to be considered ‘green.’ Just some sensible touches can often make a big difference. Like using sustainable materials like bamboo or cork flooring. Or low VOC (non-toxic) paints and finishes. Or retrofitting your home with added insulation and “low-e” windows.

These types of features can go a long way towards making your home more eco-friendly.

Look for these types of characteristics of an energy efficient home:

• Was the home built using fewer resources during construction?
• Is it super insulated?
• Are the appliances Energy Star?
• How about the windows – are they low-e?
• Do awnings or overhangs keep the sun from baking the rooms inside?
• Has the landscaping been designed to minimize the use of water?
• Is there a lot of natural light?
• Is there radiant floor heat, or perhaps geothermal?
• If there is a furnace, is it high efficiency?
• Are carpets all natural wool – or made from recycled materials?
• Are there outdoor room spaces?
• Is the electricity powered by wind or solar?
• Are floors made from something sustainable – like natural linoleum, concrete or cork
• Can the thermostat be programmed so you aren’t overheating or overcooling spaces?

You can have an elegant home and it can be surprisingly green. And virtue really IS its own reward – you won’t have to pay a premium to live with such integrity.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008 at 7:06 am and is filed under FSBO. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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