Deciding green is for me.

Most, (well, some),of the people who have built a green home remember a defining moment when they discovered that this green building thing is real and really delivers as advertised. I was planning a new home for my family back in 2007. We wanted to move a little farther out and get a little more space for ourselves. Found a nice little piece of land with a pond. Being a home designer, I now had to figure out what we wanted in the way of design. About this time, I was serving on the board of the local HBA (homebuilders association) and this builder at the board meeting was going on about this new thing called "green building". Never heard of it. Was it some Al Gore carbon credit scheme? We all thought the guy might be crazy, or struck by lightning, but what got to me was his raw enthusiasm, he certainly had drunk the Kool-Ade. Said there was a better way to build houses. Well I was getting ready to build a house...and my electric bills were pretty embarrassing, might want to at least take a look at this... Well, I went to an EEBA seminar that the HBA set up. Oh, my, that was a shock. There really is a better way to design and build homes! Smarter, safer, more comfortable and more energy efficient. A way for me to afford the power bill without sneaking around behind the wife and changing the thermostat, no more yelling at the kids "turn off that light and close the door were you raised in a barn?!!" It wasn't us... it was the house! Didn't sleep for four or five nights...remembered all those duct sizing classes in architecture school they told me I'd never need again. Those calculations for thermal transfer and solar gain...man this stuff just might work... Well needless to say I drank the Kool-Ade and became a believer. Joined the green building council, became the chairman, learned how to design it, build it, teach it, preach it. Got a killer house! Got a super low power bill! Now I'm the only guy I know that can't wait for the power bill to come to see how low it will be. Yeah, I might be crazy but it's a good kind of crazy. Learn to be green, get a better home, life will be good!