YukonJoel

I agree that there is a problem building green homes if no one will buy them. The solution is education- for builders, bankers, realtors and buyers. I attended a series of "contractors breakfasts" offered by the Yukon Housing Corporation in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory this spring. At the last one they addressed the issue of building green being too expensive. Jurgen Korn who works at YHC and was the presenter had crunched the numbers to compare the building cost of four houses of the same footprint but different building styles- 1)2x6 stud walls, R-20 insulation
2)2x6 studs with 2x3 horizontal strapping, R-28 insul.
3)R2000- A Canadian energy efficient building program
4)Supergreen-see www.housingyk.ca A new wall system with R-60 insulation, R-80 to 100 ceilings, greatly reduced thermal bridging, HRV, etc.

The difference in building cost was about 10%. This could be a lot depending on your perception and your financial situation but look further. the difference in energy use between house 1 and house 4 was that the Super green house used five times less energy for heating. Jurgen looked even further and calculated the heating costs over 25 years (using todays oil prices, not even accounting for the inevitable increase in the cost of heating over the 25 years) and found that the Super green home would save approximately $175,000 in heating costs over that of the house built with 2x6 walls. The person in the Super green home would be ahead of the game right from the start because the savings in heating costs was greater than the increase in mortgage payments for the higher building costs.
Now, what if i went to my investment advisor and told her I had some money to invest and she told me about two mutual funds I could get into. One would cost me $150,000 and after 25 years it would be worth... $150,000 (okay, maybe a bit more for inflation, etc.). The other would cost 10% more and after 25 years would be worth $340,000. The choice would be a no brainer. It should be the same in choosing a regular house or a Super green house. And this only speaks to the financial advantages. It says nothing about reducing our impact on the environment, increased comfort and air quality in the home, improved resale value and the every day satisfaction of knowing you are in a quality home.