From: USA Today

Updated 4/22/2010 2:19 PM

By Wendy Koch, USA TODAY

"We have seven sofas," my husband, Alex, said nearly two years ago during spring cleaning. He sounded unnerved.
"Seven sofas? No, we don't," I said dismissively, sitting at the breakfast table eating Kashi GoLean cereal and reading the newspaper.

He counted each one: the bedroom loveseat, the futon in the exercise room, the two in the living room, the one in the family room, the two in the play room.

"Seven sofas," I repeated, stunned. How did our life get so big? How did I, who grew up in a thrifty, blue-collar family wearing hand-me-down clothes until my three older sisters stopped growing, end up with so much stuff?

Our contemporary, though six-bedroom, home in the upscale Washington suburb of McLean, Va., never seemed extravagant, or stuffed. For good reason.

At 4,500 square feet — not to mention the 500 square feet of unfinished storage space and a two-car garage — it was nearly twice the size of an average U.S. home, three times the size of the home in which we had started our family. It was so big that seven sofas didn't crowd it, nor did the six TVs, exercise equipment or the arcade-sized air hockey table.

So began the journey to our green home, now only semi-complete. We expect to get our building permit and break ground early next month.

Our quixotic quest to right-size our life and reduce our carbon footprint has had more gut-wrenching twists and turns than San Francisco's Lombard Street. It could have been smoother, had we known then what we know now, and it could have been cheaper, had we taken a simpler road.

We've learned the hard way about the "Wild West" of green building — a frontier of pricey "eco-consultants," fraudulent claims and more than 100 certification programs, some with mind-numbing rules. At times, the details have been overwhelming. The red tape, frustrating. The costs, alarming.

Our biggest concern in up-ending our life was the impact on our daughters: Mary, then 11, and Grace, 7. They loved the big house. They had good friends and excellent public schools. I felt guilty about moving them, but figured if we made a change, we should do it before Mary entered middle school. We told them we wanted a greener life, that it was important to become stewards of nature. We also offered them a dog.

We set a plan. We'd build an ultra-efficient right-sized home, or renovate an existing one, in a walkable community with top schools. But first, we'd need to sell our BAH (Alex's shorthand for "big-ass house"). We made last-minute upgrades and tidied it to near perfection. Shortly after we listed it in September 2008, the economy collapsed.

Ten lessons I've learned that may help others considering a green home:

1. Don't do what we did.

Obviously, selling a house in a horrific market is not a capital idea. I also wouldn't recommend building a custom green-certified home unless you have time, money and patience.

Building green is not necessarily more expensive, but doing it on a budget requires thorough research and planning. Since Alex and I both work full time, the project has made our lives crazy-busy, especially mine, since I've taken the lead role.

Unless you plan to sell the home quickly, and thus want marketing cachet, I wouldn't recommend getting it certified by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). I'm writing about the process and learning a lot, so it's worthwhile for me. But it's likely to add $10,000.

2. Consider your goals.

If you want a greener home, look at retrofitting rather than building new. That's probably more eco-friendly, because you're not tearing down a house. (We're disassembling, piece by piece, the old rambler that stood on the lot we bought in Falls Church, Va. We'll salvage whatever possible.)

You can save a lot of energy and water with simple, low-cost changes: programmable thermostats, low-flow shower/faucet fixtures, dual-flush toilets, compact flourescent or LED lighting.

You can get tax credits for bigger fixes such as Energy Star appliances, high-performance windows, efficient furnaces, solar panels, geothermal heat pumps and windmills.

If you're not happy with your home's layout, consider reshaping it rather than expanding it. Sarah Susanka's Not So Big House books offer great tips for making smaller spaces live large.

3. Look at production and pre-fab homes.

If you're still intent on a new home, there's good news. An increasing number of major builders such as Pulte and KB Homes are offering eco-friendly houses at competitive prices, many of which carry the U.S. Energy Star efficiency label and some even a USGBC certification.

Their models can offer good value without the hassle of building a totally custom house.

There's also a widening array of attractive factory-built or pre-fab green homes, from the chic LivingHomes to more affordable BluHomes and Clayton Homes.

4. Buy a flat, sunny lot in a walkable neighborhood.

Building green isn't just about efficiency and recycled materials. It's also walkability. If you're close to stores and public transportation, you can drive less. Before buying a lot, check its rating on walkscore.com.

Our property is rated as a "walker's paradise," because it's within blocks of a library, farmers market, community center, shops, restaurants and bike trail.

It is, alas, shady, so solar panels won't make sense, and it's sloped, so pre-fab options became too problematic.

5. Hire architects you like and builders who know green.

Want a distinctive house, one that stands out from the crowd? Then spend the money and hire an architect. Good design, which can obviate the need for bigger spaces, is worth the cost.

Ralph Cunningham and colleague Michael Day of Cunningham/Quill Architects were the first architects I interviewed. I liked them right away. Alex was impressed with their work and wanted to hire them.

As much as it pains me to admit, my husband was right. I didn't think we could afford the D.C.-based firm, so I interviewed other architects and picked one who worked 50 miles away and had green building experience. After three months, he turned in a lackluster design. We fired him and hired Ralph's creative team.

Liking your architect is vital, because you spend a lot of time with him or her. My project's main architect, Heather Daley, has been incredibly patient, calming me when snafus occur.

We also made the mistake of initially working with a builder who was enthusiastic but hadn't yet built a green home. After six months, we switched to Arjay West of West Properties, who leads a local green building group of the National Association of Home Builders.

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