Energy and Environmental Features Make Homes Greener

Green building, the general catch-all word for environmentally sensible construction, includes many aspects. It can include land use, development and community design techniques that preserve natural features such as trees, wetlands and open space. It can mean water conservation as well as energy efficiency in heating and cooling systems, appliances and lighting. Many common building materials, such as the lumber, decking, or paints and adhesives, used in home construction, are greener now as well, since many of those materials been engineered to be more resource efficient, have recycled-content, or have low or no volatile organic compounds.

Green homes are built using a number of energy and environmental advances or environmentally-sensible materials, including:

• longer-lasting roofs made of durable steel or fiber-cement coverings;
• wood products such as Oriented Strand Board that use smaller trees and parts of the tree not previously used - these products have replaced plywood for sheathing; 
• windows with insulating glass and coatings that keep homes more comfortable and energy-efficient; 
• increased insulation levels in walls and attics and advanced sealing techniques that make homes less drafty and reduce energy bills;
• passive solar design that captures the sun's rays and gives homeowners 'free' heat; 
• tree preservation around residences that provides shade, reduces energy costs by cooling the home and creates residential communities of lasting value; 
• landscaping with native plants that require little or no watering by homeowners and reduce water bills for homeowners in dryer climates. 

These are just some of the advances discussed in a new six-page publication entitled "Building Greener, Building Better: The Quiet Revolution," that the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the NAHB Research Center recently published.

Featuring a four-color cutaway drawing of a typical new residence, the publication provides details on just how far the housing industry has come in providing greener housing choices to the American home-buying public. In fact, many new homes feature: 

• appliances such as washing machines that use 45 percent less energy and dishwashers that use 40 percent less energy than models manufactured in 1972; 
• plastic lumber in decks that has helped reduce the use of redwood in decks to 6.3 percent in 1999, and; 
• greater overall energy efficiency. Homes built today are 100 percent more energy-efficient than homes built in the 1970s. Builders and manufacturers routinely provide consumers with insulated doors and windows as well. In fact, the use of insulated glass windows jumped from nearly 68 percent in 1978 to 87 percent in 1999. 

A Better Environment Around Your Neighborhood And In Your Community

Homeowners can also enjoy walking near more wetlands these days, because builders are restoring these areas that protect water and act as wildlife refuges for rare and endangered species.  

Building greener neighborhoods also means working to remove outdated regulations that make building more sustainable neighborhoods difficult. Builders are breaking down regulatory barriers so they can create more tree-laden bike paths, put in water-purifying ponds and lakes, and ensure that pedestrian-friendly communities come with ample open space. Watch for the introduction of Built Green Communities, a new program of the HBA of Metro Denver that encourages more environmentally and economically sensible community development.

With the help and cooperation of local government officials, we can make further green building and green development a staple of new communities, homes, townhouses, apartments and condominiums.

2008 Built Green Colorado

Home Builders Association of Metro Denver, 9033 E. Easter Place, Suite 200, Centennial, CO 80112
(303) 778-1400 fax: (303) 733-9440  info@builtgreen.org

Last Updated: 04/10/2004