Green4u’s Weblog

I need to start out by saying I entered several times in hopes of winning the house but the reality of the whole thing is, it is a not a very green home. To the best of my knowledge they did not equipt the house with rain barrels to water the beautifully manicured lawn. They have talked alot about the light bulbs in the house and the Energy Star appliances (these are two things that would probably qualify most of our houses as green homes if that was all that mattered). Even the cleaning products that they display as part of the promotion are not environmentally friendly. And really lets face it even a hybrid SUV is not the best “green” choice to make.

On the plus side the hot water heater although not solar powered, is tank-less. There are solar panels on the house but only enough to provide 10% of the power the house needs (more than my house) but with the ability you have when building a new house I would have thought they would have put more panels on to show what it can do.

The location itself in a low lying coastal waterway that makes the house possible victim of global warming by hurricanes or worse the rising water level from melting icecaps (OK that will take awhile but really it could happen).

I think the thing we can probably learn the most from the HGTV Green Home is how to decorate green. Bamboo carpeting, bamboo flooring,  no tropical hardwoods on floors, low-VOC paint..etc. They used quartz countertops and used extra insulation through out the house to make heating and cooling more efficient. They also used local materials whenever possible and recycled the construction waste. All of these things are wonderful ways to be green and help the environment.

Like I said I would not say no to winning the house but I am not sure it is the best model of what a “green” new build should be. For the amazing resources that HGTV has I would have thought that they could have done alot more than they did. I will try to find a house that I can write about that is “greener.”

To enter to win the house or take a look at it go to:

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/pac_ctnt_988/text/0,,HGTV_22056_66123,00.html