Another example of why I want to open our store

I was just surfing around a bit when I found this article from Japan. (Isn't the internet great by the way??) Well it tells a story that I have read seemingly over and over again of people wanting to build a more eco-friendly home. It gives a great example of what it really means to be green and also how much thought goes into every tiny detail, but it seems like almost always one member of the couple is an architect, in this case the woman of the house who not only designs the home but will also hand pick all the materials. This, to me, is the problem. I love that people want to build a more eco-friendly and also people friendly home, but it needs to be accessible to people that aren't architects. The fact is that it most definitely is available to anyone that wants to do it, but it takes a massive commitment from them personally to research every tiny aspect of the home. Asking the average homeowner to become an expert on all these things is really unrealistic. Imagine researching and becoming an expert on plumbing, greywater systems, heat and air exchangers, air current dynamics, building materials, heating and cooling systems, passive solar principles, insulation, etc. etc. etc. the list truly goes on forever. This is what it would take to fully understand and properly complete the modern green home. That is unacceptable to me. I have an interest in these things and am taking it upon myself to learn everything I can about them. The hope is that I will be able to pass that knowledge on to customers, and take a great deal of the tedious portion of the task away. Not nearly enough people will build green until it becomes as accessible as the fine McMansions that builders are seemingly building at the rate of thousands a day.

My other concern is that we are putting too much emphasis on building green homes. I definitely feel that we need to emphasize green building for as many new homes being built as we can, but the great paradox to building a new green home is that building new is inherently not green. The absolute most eco-friendly way to live is to find an existing structure that you can renovate and adapt to take advantage of green principles. This will be Green Home HQ's main focus. Make your current home green, have fun doing it yourself, spread the word and help your neighbors do the same and please don't ever tear down an existing structure (unless it is unsafe) to build new.