This places a lot of responsibility on homeowners. The US Green Building Council shows that “Building operation consumes 40% of U.S. energy and 71% of the electricity, 12% of the water, and rapidly increasing quantities of land. Building demolition, construction and renovation generate over 35% of non-industrial waste. Buildings can also create health problems; indoor air pollutants are at concentrations typically between two and five—and occasionally more than 100—times greater than those of outdoor air. Building operation accounts for 38% of the country’s carbon dioxide emissions.” (edited for length). As large shareholders in all this “building operation” homeowners need to take the step to integrate ecologically (and economically) friendly materials. The cost has dropped dramatically for greening up your homes and the return on investment has risen exponentially. It’s time we demand that our residences promote a healthy indoor and outdoor environment.

sources: (http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=2464) and (http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/007475.html)

Some of these families have had terrible tragedies, others are destitute, and some are both. I wonder if building them a smaller, nice home that was equipped with solar panels and/or other systems to make the home and family self sufficient might be better than just building them a huge home. A huge home comes with huge heating bills, power bills, higher taxes, more maintenance etc. Would it be better to help the family out by providing a nice home that is low on maintenance, taxes and energy costs be better for the family in the long term?

Just some thoughts for anyone at ABC that may read this [doubtful]. Either way, it’s a neat program and wonderful that they are able to help so many families in need. And I guess many of them now have fund raisers to help pay off the mortgage, or help give the family a nest egg to help them out in the future. And, if the homes weren’t as big and spacious, the ratings might not be as good. Still, i’d like to see them build a modest, modern and self sufficient home for someone, sometime.