It's getting a little easier to go green

June 17, 2006|By Gary Dymski, Tribune Newspapers: Newsday

You want a new home or a new addition. You want it to be "green," or environmentally friendly, and energy efficient too.

To preserve trees, you'll walk on interior floors of bamboo instead of more traditional oak. To escape the spiraling prices of natural gas and heating oil, you'll warm and cool with a geothermal heat pump.

To power that heat pump, and most of the other major appliances, you'll install a photovoltaic solar roof that generates household electricity.

Good luck. You'll find dozens of contractors and installers familiar with more traditional materials and systems but who are, well, green when it comes to building green.

And just how green is green? Is a home that uses formaldehyde-free insulation greener than a home with spray-on, expandable foam insulation?

Consumers often discover that old ways die hard.

That's why the burden for going green is on the consumer, said Setauket, N.Y., architect Peter Caradonna, president of the Long Island chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council.

"Homeowners have to be more educated, because in many cases, it's a better way to build and live," Caradonna said. "The benefits are long term. It's healthier, cleaner, and we leave a better world behind for our children."

Also called sustainable building, it results in structures that are designed, built, renovated or operated in an ecological and resource-efficient manner.

Green buildings protect the health of people who live and work there, use water, energy and other resources more efficiently, and reduce the overall effect on the environment.

The downside is that building green has increased upfront costs. But with growing concerns about global warming, toxic emissions and the volatile cost of fossil fuels, more homeowners are expected to think green.

Consumers can rely on several organizations that monitor eco-friendly techniques and materials, including the U.S. Green Building Council, a coalition of leaders from the construction industry. The council sponsors something known as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), a rating system that helps builders and consumers reach various levels of green.

LEED also provides a "project checklist" covering eight categories, including indoor environmental quality, water efficiency and materials. Four levels of green certification can be achieved: platinum, gold, silver and certified.