Jolly Green Builder

You’ve taken the initial steps of creating a green home: recycling, using less toxic cleaning supplies and unplugging your appliances when they’re not in use. Now, you’ve decided to start at zero and build a green home from the ground up. Yikes! Where to start?
 
With the right builder, of course. While green building is becoming more popular, there are a lot more questions you need to ask before you hire someone. Fortunately, the Chicago Tribune has a few of them laid out for you to take away some of the guesswork. For instance, ask about their certification, and make sure they are qualified to build an environmentally friendly home.
 
This is only a beginning—we’d imagine you also want to ask questions about specific building materials and how to add sustainable energy sources like solar panels or low-flow plumbing systems, too. After all, if you’re going to reinvent the wheel abode, you might as well do it right!  [Chicago Tribune]