Some of the biggest advantages of building green add to your quality of life with a more comfortable, healthy home.
1. Improve the indoor air quality and comfort of your home
- The indoor air quality, including humidity control, is a key focus of green homes
- Green homes limit chemicals that can affect allergies and respiratory ailments.
- Steps are taken to control and filter air contaminants during and after construction. All green homes contain passive radon mitigation systems.
- Advanced air-sealing techniques help eliminate drafts and cold spots to maintain even temperatures in your home.
2. Reduce energy costs
- Compared with standard homes, Energy Star-qualified homes deliver $200 to $400 in annual savings.
- High-performance Energy Star windows are more efficient and help maintain a constant internal temperature.
- Advanced insulation techniques and materials save energy and help reduce heating and cooling bills, which account for at least half of energy use in the home.
3. Protect water reserves
- Implementing water conservation measures can reduce usage by 30%. The average indoor daily water use in today’s homes is slightly over 64 gallons and green homes can lower usage to fewer than 45 gallons.
- Green homes can have a significant positive impact in areas affected by drought conditions.
4. Reduce time and costs related to maintenance
- Many green materials outlast their conventional counterparts.
- Vinyl siding on exterior walls saves money on installation and maintenance.
- Fiber cement siding is termite- and water-resistant and comes with a 50-year warranty.
5. Have a global impact
- By selecting paints that contain relatively low or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs), green homes help reduce ground-level ozone pollution.
- The benefits of a green home extend far beyond you and your family. Every year, an Energy Star house eliminates 4,500 pounds of greenhouse gases that a conventional house contributes to the atmosphere.
- By using local materials, green home builders reduce transportation costs, use less fossil fuels and promote cleaner air. It also reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
- Green home building reduces job-site home construction waste by at least two-thirds, reducing the burden on landfill space.
6. Help clean the air and reduce landscaping costs
- Green homes preserve trees that grow on the property. Tree preservation reduces landscaping and future energy costs and helps provide winter windbreaks or summer shade. One tree can filter 60 lbs. of pollutants from the air each year.
- During construction of a green home, topsoil is removed, stockpiled and then reapplied to the site. Soil amendments and compost can be added to promote healthier lawns and reduce watering requirements
- Proper planning and engineering of a site minimizes the environmental impact of the house during and after construction.
7. Qualify for an Energy Efficient Mortgage (EEM)
- Energy Efficient Mortgages provide the borrower with special benefits when purchasing a home that is energy efficient or can be made efficient through the installation of energy-saving improvements.
- EEMs enable you to stretch debt-to-income qualifying ratios on loans for energy-efficient homes and qualify for a larger loan amount to build a better, more energy-efficient home.