by Lisa Adams

Created on: November 26, 2008

An "environmentally friendly house" will be a mean, green, awesome machine that makes the best and highest use of building materials and technologies that are generated geographically close to where you want live. Proximity to green materials lowers your carbon footprint, or impact on the environment, by reducing transport distances.

Frank Lloyd Wright got it right when he started his Prairie School of architectural design. He was arguably one of the first "green" design architects because he always incorporated native woods, plants, stone, water, and even living trees into the homes he built such as the amazing "Fallingwater" in Bear Run, Pennsylvania.

But since few people can actually afford to build a house from scratch, you don't have to go all out and build the entire house on a green scheme basis. Taking little steps can, over time, lead to a whole-house transformation to a more eco-friendly status that also has a positive impact on the earth.

For example, if you live in, say, Wyoming or South Dakota, you might be able to tap into geothermal springs to heat your house in the winter and cool it in the summer. On the Nebraska plains, a personal wind turbine might be the answer to powering up in an off-the-grid area. A community working together could use that same turbine to power an entire neighborhood.

Everyone can purchase low- or no-VOC (volatile organic compounds) paints and finishes for both the interior and exterior of the home. Home Depot carries their own brand, as does Benjamin Moore (Eco-Spec), and Mythic Paint is simply the best of the best, although it is pricey. You can even make your own "milk" or casein-based paints. "Regular" latex or oil-based paints and primers actually emit gases into the home from the walls on which they are spread (called "outgassing") for years. Some of these VOCs are what people who "huff" paint sniff to get high. And, predictably, they cause brain damage when inhaled in high concentrations. Put yourself in an unventilated room and you will soon discover why "Kilz" oil-based primer bears that name. But Kilz makes a no-odor, low VOC version of the toxic product that your lungs and brain cells will love.

And the low energy "green" light bulbs really are a simple way to begin creating an environmentally-friendly house without breaking the bank. They really do last a long time and your electricity usage really will be reduced. This will be reflected in how much you don't have to pay the electric company each month. And extra

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>