this green house

by Matt DeNoto

I do a lot of my TV watching over at Hulu, where I can watch full length shows (and feature films) for free, and with less commercials than watching them on an actual network.

That’s where I discovered Building Green, a PBS offering that applies Green philosophy to the most practical application possible: the building of a home.

Over the course of 13 episodes, home designer and host Kevin Contreras brings viewers along on his journey of building his very own green dream home. Because the building process is broken up over a whole season, Kevin is able to go in depth to each facet of the design, discussing with experts the pros and cons of the ever-expanding array of green options.

One immediately attention-getting detail about the house is that the walls will be insulated with straw bales. The builders literally stack straw bales where the walls will be, then cover them with chicken wire and plaster over it. According to the show, this will offer excellent insulation and protect against termites while preserving a delicate natural resource (trees) by using an abundant material often seen as a waste product by farmers. It’s also saving the project a lot of money. The only ‘downside’ mentioned so far (I’m only 3 episodes in) is that the outer walls of the house will need to be two feet thick.

 

Kevin’s driving concern is the high number of toxic chemicals that find their way into our living spaces, often causing the air inside our homes to be significantly less healthy than the outside air. But that’s just one part of keeping the house green. From adding fly-ash to the concrete that becomes the foundation to capturing rain water for use in the home, every aspect of the house has been considered. Reusing materials, energy efficiency, buying locally, all of these are factored in to every decision.

 

Of course, as one can see from the ‘Reviews & Discussions’ section on the Hulu page for the ‘Foundation’ episode, there are still plenty of points of contention about the choices being made. One commenter blasts the home for having steel supports, even though Kevin addresses the alternatives and explains his reasoning in the episode. Other commenters argue that the home is too big for Kevin’s small family.

Overall, the show is well-balanced in its approach to the various green options. There are a lot of factors to every part of the process, and all must be taken into account, including preserving the quality of life we as a society have come to expect from our homes.

With a light, fun tone and tips in every episode about how viewers can make small changes to green up their homes right now, Building Green is an important part of the discussion about how we start to work Green into everything we do.

For more information, visit Building Green’s website

Get the scoop on the live music scene in your area and hit a show tonight. Check out TourTracker.com!