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In decades past, it used to be that environmentally friendly homes were known for looking, well, a little strange. Sometimes they were domes made of foam. Or half-buried underground. But however they were designed, they usually didn’t fit in with traditional neighborhoods-or offer highly desirable amenities and features. So most homebuyers wanted nothing to do with them. Happily, things have changed considerably in recent years. There are now a lot more options available when it comes to “green” building materials. Some of these include compressed earth blocks, insulated concrete forms, and structural insulated panels. And a home constructed of them can look like any other house on the block. The only difference is that it will have lower utility bills and co-exist more gently and positively with the environment. Not only that, some of the construction materials are even fireproof, resistant to mold and insects, and are inherently soundproof-so outside noise is substantially reduced.
Many of these environmentally intelligent materials and techniques are high-tech, and didn’t exist until just a few years ago. Unlike cars, computers, cell phones, appliances, and other products that are constantly being improved with advances in technology, traditional homebuilding materials have remained the same for the last forty or fifty years. That’s no longer the case. And many homebuilders who want to stay ahead of the curve are already incorporating them into the homes they’re planning and building.
What else can you-the home-buyer-expect to see in the green home of tomorrow?
How will your demands as a consumer, combined with concern for the environment and advances in technology, change the new homes of the future? Well, the size of homes will definitely be impacted. Back in the early 1970s, the average size of a new single-family home was about 1,600 square feet. These days, it’s 2,400 square feet, even though the average family size has dropped. In addition to floor space, ceilings are higher, too. In fact, a rule of thumb seems to be that the more costly the house, the higher the ceilings will be. However, most industry experts now predict that homes have gotten about as big as they’re going to get for the foreseeable future. Why? Because buyers are starting to ask themselves if they really need all that space. Simultaneously, they’re becoming aware of how much precious energy it takes to cool, heat, and maintain a large home-and the ultimate effect of that on the environment.
That’s why most major homebuilders are already on board with the federal Energy Star program. It calls for improvements (such as tighter windows and energy-saving heating and cooling systems and appliances) that make homes as much as twenty to thirty percent more efficient than standard construction. And organizations such as the American Institute of Architects and the Green Building Council (among others) have set a goal to make all new construction “carbon neutral” (which means no use of fossil fuels) by 2030. This means a strong emphasis on solar energy-which is not quite mainstream-yet. But new technologies are already in the development stages to make it easier and less expensive to tap into the sun’s rays. These technological advances will be rapidly becoming available in the upcoming decade. For instance, photovoltaic cells are now being incorporated into roof shingles. Water conservation is also a “hot button”-with homebuilders and homeowners seeing the wisdom of installing rainwater collection systems and using the water in their gardens and landscaping.
In the long run, however, it’s not just about saving money on energy and utility costs. What’s really important about the Green Movement is sustainability. It’s about your grandchildren’s children inheriting a world from you that’s healthy and joyful. A nice home, in other words.

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