Green is in. Being environmentally conscious is no longer just about a healthier lifestyle for you and your family, it's about protecting the one earth we have for generations to come. And if you have not jumped upon this bandwagon yet, you are doing yourself and the rest of the world a disservice. So hop aboard the most intelligent and healthy trend since indoor plumbing and get green!



Green is no longer just about recycling plastics and aluminum, taking cloth bags to the grocery store and using green light bulbs and organic cleaning supplies. It's about a lifestyle and it includes the home you live in. Green homes describe the way a house was built and the energy it consumes. And although many homes may boast to be green friendly due to environmentally conscience builders and improved utilities and appliances, you can be certain the home you are looking at is officially green if it is a LEED-certified home or EarthCraft House.

There are a number of factors that go into creating a green home. If you are wondering if the house you are looking to buy is green, compare it to this checklist issued by the U.S. Green Building Council in their Green Home Guide:

?Location is key. New green homes and neighborhoods must not be built on environmentally sensitive sites such as farmlands, wetlands and endangered species habitats.

?Be sensitive to size. No matter how green friendly a house is constructed, a bigger house uses more materials to build and consumes more energy to heat, condition and light.

?Check out the building design. Are windows and skylights placed to catch the most amount of sunlight so that less artificial lighting is required? Are shade units installed to keep down on air conditioning use and are windows placed for maximum exposure to breezes?

?What building materials were used? Green homes are constructed or renovated with healthy, non-toxic building materials. And wood-based features should have come from rapidly renewable sources such as bamboo.

?Energy-Star? ratings should be on windows and doors and on all appliances, including heating, cooling, lighting and water-heating systems.

Jump on the environmentally conscious bandwagon today and do something good for yourself and the environment when you get green!