In today's residential market, it is just too easy to go to a builder, look through some books, pick the home you want and poof there it is. It becomes almost a hassle to do it any other way and the finances seem daunting. And to go green with that new home adds so must complexity.

I have read alot on these forums about siting and orientation, but I was wondering, how do you go about choosing the right site for your new green home.

So much of the available cheap land is purchased by developers and contractors who just see the dollar signs and not the environmental impacts. They divide the land as small as they can for fitting the largest homes that each market will bear. In some areas these neighborhoods-to-be lay fallow for years before the market makes its way away from the city. Is that good use of the land. It isn't being allowed to grow and if it did, they would clear cut it just before building the first homes.

I want to know where to buy land that I can build my green home on. Something that I can be proud of and eventually sell (but not too soon, I want to enjoy my home)

The typical tract home neighborhood in suburbia is probably not the best location for the new green home. It is not to say that you can't do it or that there are no developers/contractors out there that are making these efforts.

If you want to buy land that makes sense to "go green" on then previously occupied land makes a ton of sense, but there is also something to be said about taking a piece of land and carefully placing a home on it with all attention paid to making the smallest impact possible.

I guess what I am trying to say, is that its not the land that defines the green home. Its the land, your interactions with it, your dreams and your desires that define the home. You want the home to have as little impact on the land, but that does not mean that the land you choose can't have the most profound influence/impact on the home you build.

So are there any resources for land that would be suitable for a green home? Is that even a fair question? I want to do this right and for some reason I am stuck on the where and what to buy as far as the land goes. If I am stuck on this, I can't imagine how bad it is going to get for all the decisions about the home. Yikes.

I would buy close to where you want to work, play and enjoy life. It would seem silly to buy some land and build this great "green" home, if you then had to drive 30 miles one way to get to work or to do shopping. Look at your lifestyle and your needs now and in the future and base your decisions on that set of criteria.

I myself would find something out of the ordinary and go as green as possible. Push the envelope as it were.

What do you mean out of the ordinary? Isn't it better to build as close to traditional architecture as possible to maintain resale value? If I stray from the market trends I run the risk of losing equity boosts and the ability to move on.

Is there land that would lend itself to this "out-of-the-box" type thinking or other green ideas?

Anyone. I know this thread may have been dead for awhile but does no one have anything to say.