Eco-friendly homes move into mainstream

The new houses that will line a rural tract in suburban New Jersey will have walls insulated by blue jeans. In Dallas-Fort Worth, a starter home will come equipped with a computer-controlled vent that pulls in fresh air.

The "green" movement that has spurred schools to discourage paper lunch bags and motorists to trade in gas-guzzling sport-utility vehicles for hybrids is creeping into the housing market as a growing number of builders construct environmentally friendly homes and state and local governments offer incentives to create such communities.

"You're beginning to see critical mass, beginning to see it not just be a niche," says Calli Schmidt, director of environmental communications for the National Association of Home Builders, a group of more than 800 state and local home building organizations. "It's pretty much the future of building."

Growing awareness among builders and home buyers of environmentally friendly building materials and methods — plus government efforts to address climate change — are fueling the focus on eco-friendly single-family homes, environmental advocates say.

"We're starting to see a greater focus on incentivizing green residential building," says Jason Hartke of the U.S. Green Building Council, a collective based in Washington, D.C. The council's guidelines for environmentally friendly buildings are the industry standard. "When you think about the idea that 40% of our carbon emissions in the U.S. comes from buildings, and about half of that is residential, we've got to address all our building types."

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