Homes By Vanderbuilt on Green Homes

Being environmentally conscious, or “green”, is practically a standard in most practices these days. Homes By Vanderbuilt wants to help promote the awareness of green homes and their benefit to the environment.

Energy consumption has been a growing concern in the United States and other developed nations for at least a couple decades. The attention had long been on vehicles and anything that emitted greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, but recent attention has now shifted to the energy consumption that occurs in buildings. Homes By Vanderbuilt is one company that wants to help with making homes “green” certified.

There has been a recent wave in consumers retrofitting homes with technology that reduces energy consumption. Switching lights from incandescent to compact fluorescent bulbs, energy efficient appliances and more effective heating and air conditioning systems have made steps to reducing the energy footprint that a single home can put out. Most Americans overlook the bigger picture as to why they make these improvements: the building and the materials from which they are made.

Many houses may have energy efficient items in them, but experts say that the buildings themselves are leaking like sieves. Things from leaky windows to poor insulation are causing severe amounts of energy consumption. Homes By Vanderbuilt encourages homes be bought green, or retrofit with proper energy saving materials. Such measures can increase energy efficiency by 40 to 70 percent in older homes, and 25 to 50 percent in newer homes. The government and utility companies are encouraging green housing by offering rebates and tax benefits for homes that are green certified.

Many Americans have not taken advantage of the government incentives to fix up houses for green certification. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s program, EnergyStar, has estimated that to retrofit even one quarter of the homes in the United States would take 500 years at the rate in which people are moving to improve homes. There are new initiatives by the White House, as well as other governments, to encourage green improvements to homes as soon as possible. Some experts say that the mindset of the American homeowner must change before drastic changes are seen in the energy landscape.

Homes By Vanderbuilt specializes in custom modular home sales. They look to help their customers save money and energy through efficient modular building systems and materials, as well as make homes that will bring tax benefits for homeowners.