Buy a home that’s made with healthy, eco-friendly materials and you’ll not only own a place of your own that’s easy to live in, you’ll also save more green.

According to recent reports on consumer trends, saving money, as well as saving the environment, is big motivation for many homeowners when it comes to “going green” at home.

The National Association of Home Builders’ annual consumer preferences study found that such money-saving features as better insulation, Energy Star-rated windows, more efficient equipment (like HVAC systems), and ceiling fans were at the top of many consumers’ lists of must-have home features.

What does it mean to be green?
At its most basic level, living a green lifestyle means using fewer resources. That could mean anything from buying a local peach instead of one from California (that added to greenhouse gases from its coast-to-coast flight) to installing a programmable thermostat at home that ensures you’re not running the air conditioner while you’re at work.

When it comes to your house, most people think of “energy-efficiency,” investing in appliances (like Energy Star) that save natural resources; making sure they have the right size HVAC equipment so there’s no wasted hot or cold air; and installing low emittance (low-E) windows.

But a green home has much more to it. Vinyl siding on outside walls will not only save money on maintenance, but also on installation, and fiber-cement siding is both termite- and water-resistant, and even boasts a 50-year warranty.

Rooftop solarvoltaic panels are another option; the initial cost can be pricey ($6,000-$10,000), but these ingenious panels use the sun’s energy to power anything with a plug in your house, virtually eliminating electric bills and enabling homeowners to literally live “off the grid.” In a state as hot as Texas, it’d be nice to get something from the sun besides sunburns and parched lawns!

And many energy utilities offer rebates to homeowners who go green, to help offset some of the costs. For example, Austin Energy offers a rebate of $4.50 per watt once homeowners take certain steps to make their homes more energy efficient, which the utility company estimates will pay between 45% and 75% of total costs. The Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE) has a great listing of rebates available throughout Texas.

Insulation is something else to consider, especially the amount and what’s called the “R-value,” a measure of thermal conductivity. The higher the R-value, the greater and more efficient the insulation is in your home.

Water efficiency is another sign of a green home. Here in the Lone Star State, that’s achieved by xeriscaping – using native plants that don’t require much irrigation. Today’s low-flow toilets are technological wizardry compared to their early counterparts – not only are you using less water, these commodes work great, too!

Green homes are more valuable
You will probably spend a bit more to get green home features if you’re adding them to an existing home. Because of the way it’s built and its features, a green home can be a good investment in the long run. In Austin, the mayor and some city council members have pushed a new point-of-sale ordinance that would make energy-efficient upgrades mandatory whenever a home is bought or sold. This could adversely affect many citizens, particularly the elderly and low-income families.

REALTORS® and other consumer advocates believe that a better alternative is to create more incentives and more education encouraging homeowners to go green – not because they might have to according to government mandate. But because they see the long-term value.

“The idea of price per square foot developed in the 1980s for competing builders,” says Marjory Gentsch, a certified EcoBroker and broker of record, Hill Country Green Team LLC, an Austin-area real estate company that focuses on green homes. “A green-built house is more valuable than a regular-built home, so it’s important to have a lender and appraiser who understand green building.”

The National Association of REALTORS has a great link in its consumer library on what it means to have a green home. The bottom line for consumers? Anything that helps you save money on heating, cooling, electricity, water, and gas is something worth paying attention to – and doing something about.