What's all this "Green" hype about

We all see it on the news, read about it in the newspaper, see it on the Internet. Is "Going Green" the next big boom, Trend, or Fad, in the Building and Home Renovation industries?

Having been an avid recycler for a long time, I find this new interest in the environment refreshing. In an effort to help others be more aware about the next biggest change in our lives (my opinion), I will post several short articles intended to shed some light on the subject, and why it is so timely with today's $4/gallon gas prices and energy related products going sky high. Virtually, no one in our country is untouched by these events.


What is "Green" Let's start by defining what Green is: According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,

"Green" building is the practice of increasing the efficiency with which buildings use resources such as energy, water, and materials; while reducing building impacts on human health and the environment, through better siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal — the complete building life cycle.

A similar concept is natural building, which is usually on a smaller scale and tends to focus on the use of natural materials that are available locally. Other commonly used terms include sustainable design and green architecture. The related concepts of sustainable development and sustainability are integral to green building.

Effective green building can lead to 1) reduced operating costs by increasing productivity and using less energy and water, 2) improved public and occupant health due to improved indoor air quality, and 3) reduced environmental impacts by, for example, lessening storm water runoff and the heat island effect. Practitioners of green building often seek to achieve not only ecological but aesthetic harmony between a structure and its surrounding natural and built environment, although the appearance and style of sustainable buildings is not necessarily distinguishable from their less sustainable counterparts.

Future posts will briefly describe how it will affect trends in real estate, and how we can all do more for our environment, and save $$$$ in utility bills at the same time.