I might draw the line at actually living underground.

I mentioned recently that a friend had scoffed at my dream of building a fully wired, off the grid home. Well, I figure if the US government can do it, anyone can. And I won’t be building a 222,000-square-foot facility like the one in that article. I’m shooting for something much smaller, though certainly not as small as say, an Ecopod, as cool as prefab and container-based designs like this can be. I’m planning to build from the ground up, which runs the risk of having a greater initial resource footprint, something I hope to offset by making the home so amazingly zero energy and integrated into the local environment – though not so integrated as to be literally underground – that this will be irrelevant in the long run. I have the good fortune to be on a ten year plan, and very willing to relocate, so I don’t anticipate this being an insurmountable problem. But obvious important factors will include finding the ideal location, selecting the best materials, and working with the best designers and builders, things I will definitely take the time doing as I assemble a business plan to seek funding. If you’re thinking about pursuing a green building venture yourself, there’s a wealth of information out there. For some starting points check out GreenYour.com’s How to Choose a Green Realtor, which has some good basic info that can help you assess if a realtor is really green, or just using green as a pitch. For a really in-depth look at whether you want to build new or renovate, where to build, materials to use, and even advice about considering the local community as much as your actual building site, check out this EPA Green Building page. And to find certified professionals and learn more about what their certs mean, check out Green Home Guide’s Find a Pro If you have any tips of your own, feel free to share. I have more daydreaming to do.