New Web site showcases resource-efficient homes

Anyone involved with buying, selling or building a home might be interested to learn that Montana State University has launched a new Web site that showcases resource-efficient homes. http://www.homes-across-america.org

By MSU News Service

The "Homes Across America" site features homes that stress natural resource conservation, use of environmentally sound products, healthy environments for occupants and lower-cost maintenance, repairs and utilities.

The Web site also offers a database of contacts, listed by state, for technical assistance on resource-efficient building.

"Before Homes Across America, there was no nationwide forum that featured ‘green homes’ from a variety of sources in a consistent way," said Mike Vogel, director of Peaks to Prairies Pollution Prevention Information Center at MSU, which designed the Web site.

"HAA enables people to compare different home building solutions based on things such as owner preference, budget, site and climate."

The site depicts a home in Stevensville with a passive solar design, tight building envelope, heat and air exchanger and innovative integration of the foundation, floor, walls and roof to assure low maintenance and operating costs.

It also features the "Gold Dust" apartment complex in Missoula, which uses sustainable construction and renewable energy sources to reduce utility bills for tenants, many of whom are low-income.

Other projects featured on the site are located in Texas, Utah, Oregon, Colorado and Washington, D.C.

According to Vogel, resource efficiency and pollution prevention go hand in hand.

"Many people think green building and green products are more expensive and perform less effectively than conventional means," Vogel said. "This is not necessarily so. Advanced framing, for example, uses less wood without compromising structure, and enables the home to be better insulated.

"So you save three ways: on materials, labor, and heating and cooling. Plus, the resale value of a ‘green home’ is usually higher than that of a comparable conventionally built home."

Resource-efficient building is entering mainstream residential construction, gaining the support of homebuilders associations and mortgage lenders, he said.

In addition, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy have programs that focus on pollution prevention and home energy efficiency, and some cities offer incentives for building resource-efficient homes. And there are tax breaks.

To see more, visit http://www.homes-across-america.org.

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2003/08/31/news/greenbzbigs.txt