The original American homes were hewn from wood that grew nearby and fashioned into log structures. The spaces were caulked with mud or pitch and roofs shingled with bark. Later, there were stories of pioneers who built homes for a few years before moving further west. These were settlers who brought with them technological achievements like the cross-cut saw for cutting planks and the iron nail for fastening. When they moved on they set fire to the homes and then collected the iron nails for use again. Whatever method was used for building their homes the entire structure was either compostable or recyclable.

With the advent of plastics, tars, asphalt and other items toxic to the environment the building world achieved better protection against the elements but at the expense of the world around us. But the most amazing statistic is that much of the landfill waste is inert building materials - bricks, concrete, wood. Although not harmful to the environment they shorten the life of the landfill promoting the construction of new ones in environmentally sensitive areas.

Building Green

The term "green" is a generic term which has many connotations but mostly concerns using natural, recyclable materials that promote low energy use. You could add many items to this definition including the exclusion of rain forest woods or any other endangered wood species and water conservation systems as well. The main concern of many architects in this realm is to build homes which "act lightly on the earth" and use sustainable building materials.

What many builders do agree is that the age of the "McMansion" is over. These are the large structures so prevalent from the 1970's to 2000 which featured huge footprints and were similar to most other ones in the neighborhood, ones that replaced the smaller, more pleasing-looking homes. In addition, many of these big homes were built with huge oil furnaces when heating oil was below 50 cents a gallon. Even the summer after the attacks on September 11th, 2001 showed heating oil under a dollar whereas in July 2008 it was over $4.50 a gallon in many areas of the country. This huge demand on heating resources added to the large, inefficient windows makes these homes "money pits" and a drain on non-renewable resources. In hot areas this works in reverse, sucking up electrical power to drive huge air conditioning units.

The LEED Program

In 1998 the U.S. Green Building Council instituted a program called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) to provide standards for sustainable building procedures. It is now the nationally-accepted standard for the design, construction and operation of a new generation of buildings. This includes sustainable site development, water conservation, energy efficiency, green materials and the environmental quality of buildings both inside and out. More and more building contractors are getting LEEDS certification added to their building skills.

Types of Green Advancements

1. Log Homes

From its earliest construction the log structure has proven to be an energy-efficient home. Not only are the homes built with a common, natural building material the thermal mass of the logs provides a heat stabilizer within the structure. This means that the home is warm in the winter and stays cool in the heat of the summer.

2. Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF)

To explain this system examine a foam coffee cup and imagine a hollow block of this substance filled with cement. ICF's are built up like large, hollow childrens' blocks and then steel reinforcing bars are put in. Concrete is poured in the cavity and this forms the structure of the home. The 2" foam on each side give the ICF home wall, plus the mass of the concrete, gives the ICF an R-20 rating. The added plus is that, unlike the framed stud walls with fiberglass insulation, the solid concrete walls do not promote channeling in the walls from the outside air. These currents find their way into the home through electrical outlets in older wood frame homes.

3. Structural Insulated Panels (SIP)

If you can imagine an Oreo cookie then you can pretty well sum up structural insulted panels, or SIP's. The core is made of a rigid foam sheet (beadboard), between 3.5" to 7" thick and sandwiched between two oriented strand board panels (OSB). This panel is available in up to 12 foot lengths and the system takes the place of regular stud frame and insulation walls. In addition the SIP's can form the roofs as they are rated to take tremendous weight. In addition to the fast construction time SIP's form an energy-saving cocoon around the living area.

4. Wood Frame

During the past few years wood framing has become more efficient. The average width for walls has been increased form 4" to 6" extending the R-value to over 20. New home wrapping materials have also tightened the home from outside drafts and other heat loss. New air handling systems recycle the air in the home by using the exhausting air to warm the fresh air coming in. As a result, the heat loss is very small.

5. Low Emissivity and Argon Gas-filled Windows

One of the biggest advancements in window technology has been glass coatings to reflect heat back into the home or, in hot climates, back outside. In addition to this advancement is the heavy gas filling between the panes (argon and krypton) which slows the minute convection currents within the panes promoting the leakage of heat or cold energy.

6. Solar-Hot Water Systems

Water heaters take cold water from ground pipes and heat it to 180 degrees or so for showering and washing clothes. With the new solar-assisted tanks the sun heats glycol in a roof system. This heated liquid is pumped down to a holding tank which transfers the heat from the glycol to the cold water coming in from the ground line. The result is that the water heater does not have to work as hard to get the water up to bathing temperature and, in some cases, does not turn on at all.

These are just some of the new techniques that custom home builders are using to provide the most environmentally-friendly homes possible.