When people want to buy a car, typically the second most expensive purchase decision in life, they shop around. They look for a vehicle that appeals visually, has the features and performance they want and that’s in their price range. They know it’s an important decision—one they’ll live with for years—so they do serious comparisons before they dole out the cash.
However, when it comes to purchasing a home, the most expensive purchase decision in life, they often don’t take the same approach. They work with a realtor to find one in the neighborhood they want, in the price range they can afford and with the number of bedrooms and baths they require. Sometimes, other things come into the decision (for example, yard size or storage space), but the process remains fairly confined to these items. But that process is changing. If there’s one thing these recent economic times have taught us, it’s the value of saving money and having less debt. People are learning that, to have more money and be in less debt, they have to live smaller…and smarter.
Gone is the demand for 7,500-square-foot homes with exorbitant electrical and gas bills. People are now looking at their homes as more than just a shell they inhabit. They’re seeing them as places that can produce their own energy or save water, have room to grow their own food or that will stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter all by themselves.
What makes a home sustainable? Healthy Buildings Technology Group of Napa developed OHOME using 30 years of experience and three years of focused effort to design and engineer. Arriving at the construction site partially built, the OHOME takes less than four weeks to construct onsite. It’s small (300 to 1,600 square feet), available in multiple configurations, suitable for granny units in every Bay Area county and can also be designed for multi-family applications. Once the concept had been tested and marketing began, the company wanted to find a way to demonstrate all of the sustainable features an OHOME offers. The result is this Periodic Table of Sustainable Elements, which are what makes the OHOME a healthy and safe place to live.
The chart has become an educational and informative tool. It’s a fun way to teach people about the features we put into our homes. Have some fun yourself: See if you can identify what each of these 44 sustainable elements stands for. At the Healthy Buildings exhibit in Napa on Earth Day last year, we turned this into a game and asked people to see how many they could identify using a checklist. Literally hundreds of people took the challenge, but only one person got it 100 percent right, a local eighth grader. She went home with the prize, and her parents went home feeling proud and encouraged that their daughter’s school is teaching the next generation how to live sustainably.
Just as one looks for GPS, 30 MPG, cool cup holders or great stereo speakers when they buy a car, they should also be looking for the features in this Sustainable Elements Chart when buying a home. They should also be asking: What can this home do for me? Will I be healthy in it? Will it age well and require little or no maintenance? Will it generate energy so I can save on my monthly utility bill? Can I age gracefully in it and get around when I’m less than able? Will the sun heat my water and power my car? Can I grow my food on the roof, deck or in the yard? Can the water I use to wash my clothes be captured to irrigate my landscape? Can it stand up against heavy winds, rains, hurricanes, snow loads and earthquakes? Can it be configured to be completely “off the grid,” so I can live anywhere I please?
These are the questions to ask about any home you’re considering purchasing.
Bob Massaro is CEO of Healthy Building Technology Group, Inc. He’s been recognized throughout California as a leader in green housing and sustainable technology and would be pleased to invite you for a tour of the OHOME Showcase Model in Napa. Contact him at info@hbtg.com. If you’d like to know what each of the 44 sustainable icons represents, send your contact info to the same email address, and Bob will send you the legend.
