Green Homes for Sale

What exactly does it mean when you see a listing of a green home for sale? Is it the color of the paint, or is it what the latest new trend is, an eco friendly home? What you need to know before you choose to invest your money in this trend of homes is defining what classifies a home as green, or better yet as green sustainable.

It is common to see the word “green” associated with a lot of different products that are attempting to consider itself as eco friendly, a product that is friendly to the environment by using recycled materials. What most consumers do not know or do not care to investigate further in depth in the “green” label is how much or what percentage of the product is actually environmentally friendly. 5% of the product’s material can be made up of recycled material and still be classified as “green,” but is it really? It is more appropriate that if you are to consider anything green is best to define and categorize items as “green sustainable.” Green sustainable is the conservation of an ecological balance to avoid the depletion of the earth’s natural resources. The goal of green sustainability is not only to conserve now, but conserve for the future of your children, the product sustains over time.

With that said, what is the first step in the direction of making your home eco friendly? Below you will find a list of green home products that everyone can do to their home, existing or newly constructed home.

Green Home Products:

1. Bamboo Wood Floors – bamboo is an incredible eco friendly material. It is a member of the grass family, and is the fastest growing woody plant of the world. It can have a growth rate of 3-4 feet/day dependent upon the soil and climate. Once harvested, the extensive root system allows for the plant to create new shoots with a fast turnaround; no replanting is needed. It compares to hardwood very well, its weight and density are similar to that of hardwood. The look and feel of bamboo flooring is comparable to oak hardwood flooring.
2. Low E Grade Windows – low E glass works by reflecting heat back into its source. There is an ultra thin metallic coating on or in the glass that allows this technology to happen. The sun has three different types of light; visible light, UV Light and Infrared (IR) Light. These windows allow the visible light to pass through while blocking a majority of UV and IR light.
3. In Floor Radiant Heat – a system that allows heat to pass through your floor without pushing forced air through the house, forcing air to escape through cracks. This heating system radiates enough heat to keep the thermostat lower by 2-3 degrees. This is a green home product that does not allow heat to escape the home all the while keeping the energy cost down by keeping the thermostat turned down.
4. Photovoltaic – a system that converts solar energy from the sun into usable energy needed to make your home function. This is seen through solar panels that can be mounted onto the roof of your house.
5. Earth Tube Cooling – burying tubes underground that suck in fresh air from the outside, push it through the tubes, allowing the coolness of the earth to cool the air temperature as it is forced into the home ventilation system. By passing air underground, deep enough that the temperature is a stable temperature, the temperature inside the house can be effected by a cooling of several degrees.
6. Grey Water Plumbing – instead of allowing the water that is used to do the dishes, wash laundry, showering or pouring out a glass of water to waste, this water is taken and reused for your irrigation. Some of the benefits of using grey water are: lower fresh water use, less strain on septic and treatment plants, helps the topsoil, less energy and chemical use, groundwater recharge, plant growth, and reclaimed of otherwise wasted nutrients.
7. LED and CFL Lighting – Compact Fluorescent Lighting (CFL) is a mini version of the full sized fluorescent lights. These lights can screw into any normal light socket and can last up to 4x longer than incandescent lights, using 50-80% less energy. Light Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs are little tiny bulbs that are extremely energy efficient and green sustainable. These lights can last up to 10x longer than fluorescent lighting and up to 133x longer than incandescent lights.
8. Low VOC paint – A source of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), was necessary, up until recently, for the performance of paint. Paints and finishes would typically release low levels of toxic emissions into the air for years after application. With the development of low or no VOC paint, we can now enjoy the reduced toxins when painting your eco friendly home.

When you are ready to go out looking for that perfect home and come across “Green Home For Sale” you will think twice about what it really means. Look for those clues in the paint, flooring or even the air that you breathe. Also, if you are planning on selling your home and want to find a way to increase the marketability in the sale of your home, consider investing in some green home products that will not only look good on paper, but will give you a good return on your investment as well as help you to feel good on making the decision to better the environment by becoming green sustainable.

City & Mtn Realty is your source for Green Homes for Sale in Fort Collins!