Healthy, Wealthy, Wise—and Comfy: Reaping the Rewards of a Green Home
If you’re considering building a new, healthy home or renovating an existing one, it’s worth peering inside the windows of the modern green home movement. Whether you’re someone who likes the modern architecture style or not, you can still own and enjoy the benefits of a “modern green home.”
Want a new green home designed with lots of glass and clean lines? Or are you interested in updating your 70s Cape- or Colonial-style home to offer the features of a modern green home—with a bit of a cleaner, fresher appearance? In this article, I’ll explain how new or renovated modern green homes differ from conventionally built homes and why they’re becoming increasingly popular.
Historical Context: Homebuilding in Last Four Decades
First, let’s consider existing housing stock in the U.S. Most homes built here over the past 30-40 years were designed as a response to certain socio-economic conditions. Energy from fossil fuels—oil, coal, and natural gas—had been abundant and relatively inexpensive. The same had been true of open, undeveloped land. And the natural resources required for building had also been readily available. These factors—plus the demand created by baby boomers reaching home-buying age—drove real estate developers to arrive at a house type well suited to these conditions: one quick to build at a relatively low cost, heavily reliant on fossil fuels, and not designed to provide occupants with an optimally comfortable or healthful living experience. While right for the time, this house type had what I’d call a short service life.
Today, socio-economic conditions are far different. The threat of climate change looms large. Geologists believe world oil production peaked in 2000. All fossil fuel energy prices are spiraling upwards and the environmental costs of coal mining and gas fracking have become major concerns. Undeveloped land is not as plentiful or affordable as it once was and neither are the resources used in construction. What’s the answer to this dilemma? A new approach to building that responds to today’s new conditions and challenges—the modern green home.
Health Benefits
So what are the rewards of owning a modern green home? Perhaps the number one benefit is health. Did you know that about half the air we breathe in our lifetimes comes from inside our homes? Yet, fumes emitted from cooking, heating, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) (from paint, cleaning products, and other sources) often build up to dangerous levels in conventional homes. Mold and bacteria can also create unhealthy air in older houses. Poor indoor air quality has been linked to a host of health concerns—including everything from cancer to asthma. With a modern green home—designed to reduce or remove common sources of indoor pollutants—owners and their families live in much healthier air. The “balanced” ventilation systems—unheard of 30 years ago—used in today’s modern green homes completely remove indoor air pollutants.
Comfort
Do you dread—like a few of my clients—trudging into your house’s mudroom in winter because it’s far cooler than the rest of the house? Others tell me they can’t wait to slide their slippers on in the morning because the floor is so chilly. This brings us to another big benefit of a modern green home as compared with the house of 30-40 years ago: enhanced comfort. And I’m referring not only to superior thermal comfort—providing consistent temperatures throughout the house—but also to the comfort of reduced noise levels and plentiful natural daylight.
How does the modern green home so expertly nail down all these comfort features? You may have heard architects and builders talk about a “high performance shell.” This refers to enhancements that deliver energy-efficiency, but it’s these same enhancements—tighter air sealing; better insulating wall, floor, and roof assemblies; triple-pane windows and state-of the-art doors—which, regardless of the climate you live in, allow a modern green home to offer greater comfort than a conventional home.
Durability/Resiliency
Durability is another benefit you can expect from a modern green home. In designing or renovating a house with green features, your architect or builder will be thinking carefully about how the house will respond to the elements over time. Through careful selection of exterior materials and detailing, maintenance requirements will be minimized. As an owner, you’ll spend less time and expense on painting and replacing trim and more time doing the things you really enjoy.
Modern green homes are also more resilient than traditionally built homes. Because of that high-performance shell, they operate with little or no added energy, so reliance on off-site infrastructure (e.g., the electric power grid) is minimal. This makes today’s green home much better suited to handle emergencies like major storms and power outages.
Financial Viability
By now you’re probably asking yourself, “Are all these great features going to blow the roof off my budget?” The answer is “no.” A decade ago, consumers interested in a modern green home had to accept paying extra compared to a conventionally built home. But the recent economic developments I discussed earlier have improved the financial viability of such homes. Over the past decades, oil prices increased, on average, 12% annually and other fossil fuel prices are continually increasing, too. So investing in a home that’s not reliant on fossil fuels is wise and will quickly reward your wallet.
Remarkable innovations in home energy-efficiency products are another big factor in bringing green home costs in line with traditional home costs. Besides the advances in windows and doors I talked about before, the latest cold climate heat pumps are now more efficient for heating in year round outdoor temperatures than are oil or gas systems. Today, the heat recovery ventilation equipment used in green home design retains over 90% of a home’s heat energy and also delivers fresh filtered air; older ventilation types don’t offer either benefit. These efficiency innovations, combined with the vastly improved capacity of residential solar panels, make modern green homes a viable option for the average homeowner. Upfront expenditures in the energy and heating aspects of a green home are offset by savings far more quickly than a decade ago.
As modern green homes and their benefits have become more familiar to the general public, they’ve become more desirable and are now commanding premium real estate prices. Modern green homes sell at rates of 8%-35% above those of conventionally built homes.
Conclusion
You’re in a great position to enjoy what a modern green home can offer. Employing the latest components and systems in your new build or renovation project will maximize the value you get from your construction investment. You’ll be the owner of a home that is healthy, affordable and easy to maintain, resilient, has good value at resale, and is comfortable. You’ll also be making a long-term contribution to the protection of our environment.
Harry Hunt has worked in and across a wide range of contexts—from commercial and residential buildings, to urban planning, interiors, and landscapes. Harry is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and is a Leadership in Energy Efficient Design (LEED) accredited professional through the United States Green Building Council. He is certified with the Passive House Institute (PHI) in Darmstadt, Germany and is registered with the National Council of Architectural Registration Board. Harry is a registered architect in Vermont.
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