Green Options

Energy efficiency and green retrofitting lead the way at Greenprints Conference and Tradeshow in Atlanta, Georgia.

The First Lady went green on St. Patrick’s Day, and not just with her choice of footwear or her order to dye the White House fountain green.  Joining the members of YouthBuild, a non-profit organization that teaches low-income youths construction skills while they work toward their GED or high school diploma, Michelle Obama helped build an affordable, energy efficient home for a Texas mother whose mobile home was damaged last year by Hurricane Dolly.  YouthBuild is celebrating their 30th anniversary by inviting current students and graduates of the program to show off green building techniques of all types on the National Mall.

Mrs. Obama took the opportunity to speak on the importance of both community service and building green:

“The work you’ve done here is quite impressive, and the evolution of your work to include green building, something that we’re talking more and more about as a nation, energy-saving practices, and environmental awareness, it demonstrates how YouthBuild has endured as a leading non-profit organization, keeping up with the times, making sure that the training and education that you get is current.”

Take advantage of the recent stimulus bill’s incentives to make energy efficient home improvements when remodeling.

How can energy efficiency at home give more by taking less? The need for energy efficient home improvements is at an all time high and there has never been a better time to address your home’s energy needs!

A survey by the National Association of Home Builders highlights the features that owners are most interested in when it comes to green homes.

Smaller homes are more energy efficient generally, and consume fewer resources for their construction. In the United States, the average house size has been skyrocketing in the past few decades from 983 square feet in 1950 to almost 2,350 square feet in 2004.

Smaller buildings are potentially more affordable, are better suited to livable neighborhoods, and serve the needs of smaller families (while our houses have more than doubled in size since 1950, the size of the average family has actually decreased in that same period). There are already developers who understand this, but sometimes, the municipalities make it impossible to build smaller homes.

Marty Pieroni, a developer in Kuna, Idaho was turned down on his request to build some houses smaller than the 1,400 square foot minimum set by the city. With rising energy costs and the current housing credit crunch, there is an increasing demand for smaller, more efficient houses. But the city government (whose tax base is determined by the value of the developed property within its bounds) does not want to allow smaller properties and has turned down the request.