How To: Reduce the environmental impact of your home

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Americans are increasingly interested in building green -- but what exactly does that mean?

"First and foremost, it means reducing the demands that your house will put on energy, water, and natural resources, while improving the comfort for its residents at the same time," says Todd Blyth at Nudura Corporation, a leading name in building system technology. "Building a green home means making environmentally preferable decisions throughout the building process so you can reduce the initial impact, reduce pollution -- and help to conserve our natural resources for years to come."

To achieve this, he says, be sure to discuss such objectives with your architect and builder, starting with energy efficiency. The less fuel needed, the less air pollution generated -- and the more dollars we save. Concrete-based homes, for example, can be enormously eye-catching (nudura.com) plus the indoor and outdoor benefits of using concrete are far superior to using wood. In fact, it is no longer necessary to clear cut forests to build our homes since it can be done far more efficiently with pre-assembled concrete forms.

"The Nudura system for walls and ceilings cuts construction time in half," Blyth explained, "and it produces far less waste than the traditional wood-framing method. Builders are now opting for these interlocking units (of reinforced concrete sandwiched between two layers of expanded polystyrene foam insulation) to construct better homes, schools, hospitals, condominiums, hotels, offices and other public buildings."

No wonder. The resulting structure is reported to be up to nine times stronger, provide far more fire protection, far more sound insulation, and it can produce energy savings of up to 70 percent.

Green Home Tips

Don't forget: many items, appliances, automobiles and/or houses are tagged "energy efficient," but that doesn't mean the item is the best you can get. Ask for more details such as "how much less fuel" does it consume and "how much money" you will save.

Building plans for a sustainable house also include:

* Efficient high performance windows

* Efficient air distribution with ducts effectively insulated

* Efficient climate control for heating and cooling

* Efficient water heating equipment

* Efficient lighting

* Efficient appliances