Green building usually refers to several related things:

• Site planning and building layout mainly in new construction to make the absolute most efficient use of location and materials so a building can use as little energy as possible. This is called passive energy design.
• Aggressive use of insulation, capture of rainwater, solar panels and other active systems to utilize energy so efficiently that a building actually generates more energy than it uses. These approaches use active systems and designs. When you hear about the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum designation for extremely energy efficient buildings, these almost all use active design in addition to passive.
• Some companies and consumers are devoted to using products that produce little or no VOC’s (volatile organic compounds). Everything that is used for construction is composed of organic compounds and many of these are considered volatile. Volatility in and of itself is not bad, but it does mean that the material has a low boiling point and molecules will evaporate into the air after installation. And some VOC’s are definitely not healthy for us. Paint is the largest source in buildings, and manufacturers have reformulated their product so almost every paint sold today is low VOC. Synthetic carpets also emit VOC’s.

In broad terms, these are the three approaches that comprise green building. I subscribe to about 6 trade magazines and every issue features articles on green building. They usually show a home that produces energy. They have low flow shower heads, toilets that only flush half the water of a normal toilet, there are solar panels on the roof, and the building envelope is so tight that they need to use air exchangers to pump fresh air in from outside. How come you’ve never seen a house like this? They cost a lot more to build and the payback for your initial investment is many years. I read a very interesting article last year. Unfortunately, I can’t remember where. It basically said that consumers are willing to pay 3% more for a house with green features. Now go to Custom Home magazine’s website and do a search for articles on green building. You’ll find 1901 articles. Why the disconnect? Everyone wants to be green, but very few of us are willing to sacrifice anything just to be altruistic. I’ve been involved in a number of new construction and renovation projects that sold for over $1,000,000. And it shocks me to say that I’ve never had one person ask me anything about the green features that were part of the project. But don’t despair. This is a trend whose time is coming. Most people in the building business do want to improve construction quality and lower energy use. As the technologies and materials are more widely adapted by those of us who make construction decisions, the cost is coming down. And the good news is that we can achieve 80% of the benefits of LEED Platinum building without a major expense in construction.