I would love to build a green home.
The other day, I was driving down the street, and saw an ad outside of a model come. We Build Green. Intrigued, I went back the next day to see what they had to offer, and how much it costs to build an average green home. Boy, was I disappointed. The saleswoman basically told me that they have a few green elements in all of their homes, which means that they have energy saving appliances, windows, bulbs, and a few other features. Everything else is extra. I tried to get ballparks, but it was next to impossible. When I asked about using recycled materials, she looked at me like I was crazy. She kept referring to truly green homes as "extreme". Yes, they can build an environmentally friendly home, and they have (she showed me the newspaper article of the eco-warriors that built their home with this company) with success. However, it seems that the owners ideals have not reached his salespeople. Why advertise "we build green" if you think that recycled materials, solar panels for more than heating the pool, earth/eco friendly building materials, etc. is "extreme"? Argh.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, I was watching Planet Green (a television channel in the US) today, "World's Greenest Homes". Today's show featured a house in Colorado, 7,000 square feet...they get so much energy from their solar panels that they sell the extra to the grid. WHAT! My first thought was "this is how the rich stay rich". Build a 7,000 sq. foot green home is not CHEAP, and then to be able to sell the extra, solar powered energy. Nice for your pocket. Oh, and the environment too.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
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2 comments:
Hey L, I feel you so much on this topic. I gave up my dryer this year and it felt great. My goal for next year, is to build my own solar panels for my house, and generate enough energy to sell it back. In Georgia, we have that same buyback program and I'm definitely looking forward to taking part. In researching green homes and solar panels, I found that it is relatively pretty cheap to make your own quality solar panels and you don't have to be a rocket scientist:)
Really? I never considered making my own. I'll have to look into it.
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