I talked about this on another thread regarding siting issues but thought this might be a good discussion here.

How do we as home owners, builders, buyers and so on take the existing standard built, suburban tract home (call it whatever you want) and make them more green. How do we create a sustainable future out of a wasteful past?

Who knows maybe someone can make a buck off of some of these ideas!

this is a wonderful question and one with some many nuanced answers. I will take a shot at what I think can be done.

- Installation of solar panels and solar hot water systems where ever possible.
- Community groups and forums to help educate the home owners about green technologies.
- Instate carpools
- Incentivize going green.

Its not an easy task to take something like a standard built neighborhood and completely change its nature of operation.

I just wanted to bump this one back up in everyone's attention.

I think those ideas are good.

I do think there needs to be some serious marketing and convincing the consumer that the premium they will pay to go green is worth it in the end and I just don't see much of that. I see the wealthy and the well-to-do making the shift to being green, but I don't see the everyday consumer, who lives in these tract home suburbs actually doing anything more than putting out recycling bins and installing compact fluorescent bulbs.

There is a huge misconception that going green costs a lot of money. Consider the return that you get on your 401k or mutual fund investments - not so great these days. Most green investments however, will pay for themselves in ten years or less. Ten years may seem like a long time, but that translates into a 10% return on your investment.

I published an article in Feb about this very subject: "Why You Should Invest in Energy Conservation"

boss, I think what people see as the expensive part of going green centers around the energy production end. Sure its not very expensive to do simple things like CFLs, insulation, low flow fixtures, etc, but for the big ticket items that do the most for you like solar hot water, solar pv, geothermal, tankless hot water, replacement windows, you are talking a serious investment.

I agree that the ROI on these investments is great and CAN outperform retirement accounts, but most people can't justify the initial capitol investment. I agree that we should all invest, but to do it right just costs too much right now.

I think this is starting to go off on a tangent. Does anyone have any ideas on how to redirect the current trends in suburban home development or existing neighborhoods to send them down a green path. Can HOAs begin to incorporate ordinances or incentives for greening the home or yard? Can people begin to chastise neighbors for wasting resources? Anything to steer us away from this decades old trend of wasteful oversized homes dotting the suburban landscape.