A Green Home Begins with ENERGY STAR Blue
What Exactly Makes a Home Green?
United
States Environmental Protection Agency
Homebuilders and home buyers across the country are
increasingly interested in green building. But what exactly makes a home green?
Green building means improving the way that homes and homebuilding sites use energy,
water, and materials to reduce impacts on human health and the environment. Building a green home means making
environmentally-preferable and sustainable decisions throughout the building process-decisions that will minimize
the environmental impact of the home while it is being built and over the many years it will be lived
in.
Did you know
that a typical home can cause twice the greenhouse gas emissions of the typical car?!
There are nearly 50 regional and national green home labeling programs around the
country. While each program approaches green building a little differently, each incorporates important elements
such as:
•Energy-efficient construction techniques and
products.
•Improved indoor environments through environmentally-preferable materials and
building practices.
•Water-efficient products and processes.
•Renewable energy options, when feasible.
•Waste reduction and recycling during the construction process.
•Smart growth and sustainable land development practices.
What should home buyers look for first in a green home?
Energy efficiency is the place to start. That’s because the energy used in homes
often comes from the burning of fossil fuels at power plants, which contributes to smog, acid rain, and risks of
global climate change. So, the less energy used, the less air pollution generated. And the easy way to make sure a
new home is energy efficient is to look for the blue ENERGY STAR mark, the government-backed symbol for energy
efficiency.
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