Shopping for a green home

If your in the market for a house in Austin and are looking for an environmentally friendly place to hang your hat, here are some tips on finding the real deal when it comes to green homes.

1. Landscaping: environmentally friendly homes will have landscaping that works with the native environment. Look for native plant species that are naturally drought resistance, large grass yards take up a lot of water and are to be avoided. Also look for homes that have kept large shade trees on the lot around the house, they can significantly cut down on your energy use in summer, making your house more environmentally friendly.

2. Appliances and fixtures: Look for appliances that are relatively new and energy star certified, this means they meet national standards for energy efficiency. Low flow toilets and solar water heaters are also things you can look for. Low voltage lighting also helps keep energy use down throughout the year.

3. Orientation and Windows: Here in Austin look for homes that have south and east facing windows and very few west facing windows. This will help keep warm the house up in the morning and during the winter but keeps out intense afternoon sun.

4. Building Materials: Particularly if you are looking at new constructions you should consider whether or not environmentally friendly recycled materials were used in the construction of the house. Recycled materials show up in floors, framing, rock walls and anything metal in the home. Also talk to your builder to see if they took steps to minimize wasted materials during construction, as builders who are conscious of this can help save a lot of materials and not fill up the landfill.