Building a new home? You may want to consider "green" building. To build green is to be concerned with the environment, sustainability, energy consumption, reducing waste, the renewability of materials, and minimizing the overall impact on the earth—as well as the community.

Building green doesn't have to be expensive, or time consuming. In fact, green building lowers costs over time while making your home healthier and more enjoyable to live in.

You can pursue green building at any level of involvement-from building a state-of-the-art green home that uses zero energy, to simply finishing your floors with products that contain little or no volatile organic compounds.

For the last decade or more, communities and the building industry have worked together to develop building programs that foster the attributes of green building. Most of these efforts have focused on commercial buildings. But there is an increasing effort to promote green building in housing construction.

Learn more about green building at the Green Building Initiative website.