I am planning on starting my own business and working out of the home. I have no ties to any place, but I do want to eventually settle down. I can move anywhere.

Where would be the greenest place to live and build a new home?

My business does focus on green technologies, but its not so much about the home. I do want my home to be green though so that I am above reproach from my customers and consultants.

I don't know how to answer that. Its not really about where you build as much as it is about what you build and the approach that you take.

To make the decision easier you need to ask yourself some questions like;

What temperatures are comfortable for me?
How close to a city do I want to be?
What activities and past times do I enjoy?
and so on.

You answer questions like these and you will narrow down your choices. Then you will have a better idea of how to choose where to live.

I hear Portland is a pretty green place to live.

Chicago has a burgeoning green housing market, but I have to agree with hom-e, its not about where its about what.

You might find that there are certain areas where there are more professionals able to help you, but there are more and more people involved in the green building industry every day.

So my search continues and I am finding some good information and what was said about it being what you build made so much sense. I do however want to live in an area that is progressive and moving toward a more sustainable existence.

I went here - http://www.sustainlane.com/us-city-rankings/ - and found some pretty good information about green cities and what to think about when considering a location to live.

It is hard to say exactely, there are so many things to consider when choosing a site for green living. You can check out this article on Choosing a Location , basically you want to consider how much natural energy a region or location has. Hope this helps

Finding a "green" place to live is an extremely complex decision. Its more than energy, its more than food sources. Its an attitude toward sustainable living. Some of the cities on the list that you provided quincy, have this attitude. US cities are few and far between when it comes to having a sustainable attitude, but in Europe its much more pervasive. Try visiting the locations that make your short list. You need to be comfortable living in a location and not just choose it for statistics and what a list tells you.

I agree that its about comfort and green living. I am actually considering purchasing an old home now rather than building. It really doesn't change things that much other than I need to be in a place with older homes with character and room to improve.

I personally don't think its about where you live. Its how you live. Certain communities may be more conducive to certain lifestyles, but you can live sustainably anywhere.

My vote would be solidly with not building at all and buying an existing structure that fits your needs. I think that the question of where would still persist but why must you build new?

Live close to work, live close to those amenities that you use on a regular basis (grocery, drugstore, entertainment, etc), find a home that you can improve its performance with small efforts and look for a community that already supports sustainable living and some of the technologies that you might want to take advantage of.

I say Portland, OR in the US and Oslo Norway if you want to leave the country and experience real sustainable living.

IMO you need to stick with cities. While the rural areas can try to promote an idyllic setting and scenery, the amount of wasted energy you will have getting to all the amenities will outweigh the natural setting. Cities give you the benefit of density and proximity to the amenities that have become the norm in life.

This really depends on a lot of things, you want to pick a location with a lot of natural resources. Once you do that you can design your home around that. Don't do the opposite because you will never find the perfect lot for your dream design. Here is an article that can help you with your planning;


Efficient Home Design Guide

Yeah this is very true that it is not easy to find the nice green place.But before finalizing the place you should consider the following factors:
1)Location of place.
2)Availability of eco friendly cheap construction material.
3)Distance from nearest green/organic product market.
4)Availability of renewable sources of energy.


Thanks,
runka

I disagree with this approach of finding more natural resources. That is the issue that puts us in the place we are. looking at natural resources as the means to support life. We have raped our planet of its resources and moving to acquire those resources will only serve to perpetuate the problem. Life can exist in the harshest of environs on the minimum of resources, so why focus on how many resources their are? Why isn't the focus on responsible usage of resources? By doing so, a green life can be lived in many places.

Runka, its not just location of place, but what you do when you are there. If you want to live a life that mimics your current life of working in an office, then living in a city is the best approach. if you want to live a life that is more in tune with nature (ie growing your own food and living purely off the land) then the city isn't appropriate and a rural setting is more ideal.

There are plenty of building materials that you don't need to pay for. Earth, trees, farming waste, etc. It seems that you are saying that the only way forward is through consumerism and not a return to a simpler life. As far as the market, why can't communities revert back to communal farming, reducing the distance to the market to the distance to your neighbors land. Once again your focus is on consumerism And as far as renewable sources of energy, its a double edged sword. If you reduce energy consumption to sustainable levels, then existing sources of renewable energy in any region should suffice.

Too much focus is put on how to live a sustainable life that mimics current life. That is the fallacy here. We need to rethink the ways we are living, working, consuming, reproducing, etc, etc, etc. To ignore this is only to delay the inevitable and not to save humanity.