A “green” home is a home that is highly energy efficient, has excellent indoor environment, & is built to exceed local building code. Considering this, doesn’t this mean that a green home costs more to build than an actual person could save on energy costs? Absolutely not! A green home is affordable to build & can save a homeowner thousands in energy costs annually. And there’re thousands in tax incentives to take advantage of.

First, planned right & built well, a green home can be built for no more than regular construction, & has greater market value when it is completed. It is important to have a builder that has built green homes before, not just one that has added green features onto existing construction. The latter has no experience with the type of building techniques that lower building costs. An experienced green home builder will know that getting LEED’s engineers involved in the process & restructuring the process of building to reduce waste & energy are key to starting the project off right. In addition, an experienced green home builder will be easily able to make valuable suggestions to the potential homeowner about trade-offs in costs & energy efficiency & apply his practical experience to estimates of energy savings.

Energy efficiency savings can be substantial. Using the weather & energy costs in Illinois as an example, and comparing an affordable green home to conventional home with forced air heating & central air-conditioning, a green home can save you around 75% on electricity, by using a combination of solar panels, landscaping, & Energy Star rated appliances & water heater & substituting central air with geothermal applications, over 90% on natural gas by using alternative heating methods, & 60% on water/sewer by implementing grey water recapture. Typical annual bills of nearly $3,000 per year could be lowered to $700 or less – a savings of $2,100 per year. Of course, these figures are for illustrative purposes only. Your actual savings depends on your electricity usage, the size of the home, the number of people you have living in your home, the number of solar panels you use, and the precise options you select for your green home.

And green homes look like regular homes inside & out, are maintenance friendly, & fun to own.

With tax incentives in the thousands, energy savings worth thousands, & greater market value, building & living in a green home is an affordable option for everyone.