Let’s set the record straight on four of the biggest misconceptions of going green.

Myth #1:  Green building costs a lot more than conventional building.

The truth is there are lots of examples of green homes that cost more than their conventional counterparts, and some the highest-profile demonstration green homes are incredibly expensive. And, yes, it’s also true that many of the building materials we think of as “green” (bamboo flooring, composite decking and recycled-glass tiles) are more expensive than their non-green counterparts. Features like photovoltaic (solar electric) panels and geothermal heat pumps are anything but cheap.

But, it’s very possible to build a green home with just a moderate increase in construction costs—or none at all. First, a large part of what we consider conventional construction by today’s standards is already green.  One of the most important green strategies, building smaller, almost always brings the price down. If you thought you needed a 3,000-squarefoot home, think again. You can get by with less than 2,200 square feet with better design and really analyzing what spaces you will actually use.

A key aspect of green design is a better-insulated envelope (walls, roof, windows and foundation) that will curb heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the summer, so another way to reduce costs is to improve your home’s insulation. Using structural insulated panels (SIPs) and energy-efficient windows are two ways to raise your home’s R-value. And if the R-value can be significantly increased, it can be possible to greatly reduce or even eliminate a traditional whole-house heating system and opt for less-expensive and innovative systems. The money you save can offset much of the envelope improvements.

Myth #2:  Green homes look different than “ordinary” houses.

There are many green homes that are fairly unconventional: straw-bale houses with roof-mounted photo-voltaic panels or passive-solar homes buried into a south-facing hillside. Remember the “Envelope” homes of the early 70’s?  Who could live in that!  But now most green homes are almost identical in appearance to conventional housing. Much of what makes a house “green” is hard to notice unless you look carefully: thicker walls to increase insulation, better windows with multiple low-E coatings, energy-efficient appliances and water-saving fixtures. Good architectural design can integrate south-facing windows, which support passive solar heating, into a fairly ordinary design.

Green design is also about durability, and you could argue that “timeless architecture” is a big part of building a house that endures. The home has to be beautiful and comfortable if it’s going to last for centuries. A green home should look good enough that people will want to live in it today and a hundred years from now.

Myth #3:  Green building is mostly about using eco-friendly materials.

Though green materials, like reclaimed wood floors or sustainable compressed-paper countertops, can reduce the environmental impact of a home, far more important are energy performance and location. Energy-efficient design is fairly obvious, but few people think about how significant location is, relative to the overall environmental performance of a house as well as issues such as water efficiency, moisture control and indoor-air quality.

It’s possible to build a green home without using any recycled materials. Conversely, it’s also possible to build a house using almost entirely “green” products that wouldn’t be considered green if that house isn’t energy-efficient, suffers moisture problems or is too large.

Myth #4:  Green building is a fad.

As someone who’s been promoting responsible building practices since the 1970s, I’ve seen my share of fads come and go. People still argue that soaring energy prices will never last. “Drill, baby, drill!!”

What has been a fad is the era of fossil-fuel dependence. If you look at the oil that’s been expended since the mid-1800s, 68 percent has been consumed since I founded my first construction company in 1976. Think about that! In just the span of three decades, two-thirds of the oil in the history of the world has been used—and, not insignificantly, the burning of that fuel has released all of that stored carbon as carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming. The reality is that many of the houses we’re building today are dependent on cheap fossil-fuel energy. They’ll become obsolete long before their useful life is up—like most fads.

Building a green home is far from a fleeting trend; it’s common sense. Within a few years environmentally conscious construction will be standard practice, and homes not built to such standards will be devalued, making building a green home a shrewd investment in your future.

Some GREEN tips:

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (Reclaim). Incorporating this mantra into your lifestyle is the first step to going green.

Incorporate dimmers for your incandescent bulbs. By dimming your lights just 25 percent, you’re only using 20 percent of the electricity you’d typically use and your bulbs will last much longer.

Buy better light bulbs. Energy Star-qualified CFLs (compact fluorescent bulbs) use 75 percent less energy than standard lighting, and LEDs (light emitting diodes) can reduce energy consumption by 80 to 90 percent.

Build with low-emitting and solvent-free adhesives (e.g., grout for tile) as an overall plan to ensure good indoor-air quality.

Switch to Energy Star qualified appliances which use 10 to 15 percent less energy and water than standard models. (Appliances account for up to 34 percent of your home’s utility bill.)

Service your furnace annually. Look for furnaces with annual fuel utilization efficiency ratings of 90 percent or higher.

Use low-flow showerheads and faucets to reduce water usage. Screwing on a WaterSense labeled faucet can decrease the amount of water a household uses by more than 500 gallons per year.

Choose sustainable flooring made from reclaimed wood, rapidly renewable bamboo, recycled ceramic tile or wool carpet.

Install high efficiency toilets (HETs). They use 20 percent less water than ultra-low-flush toilets. Toilets account for approximately 30 percent of indoor water consumption.

Use low-VOC paints, stains and finishes, which are guaranteed to have less than 250 g/L VOC content, contributing to healthy indoor-air quality.

Wrap your home in structural insulated panels (SIPs). They not only have high R-values, they also create a tight shell, the other major component for an efficient home.

Harvest rain for household uses such as irrigation. (Roof runoff will be your main source for this.) 

Solar electric and thermal-energy systems use sunlight to heat water and make electricity without greenhouse gas emissions. They can reduce your monthly energy bills; plus, you may be able to sell energy back to your local power company.