On Saturday,a wet and gray day, I took my kids to visit this so call GREEN HOME in the Villages of West Clay neighborhood in Carmel.

This GREEN HOME, built by Castalia Homes, is the one of the first LEED registered homes and NAHB home in the United States. The construction is still in the mechanical stage, we the builders, electrician, plumber, and insulation expert were on-site to answer people’s questions.

It was very interesting and informative. I learned several things that I had not known:

• Delta Faucet just came out with a whole new line of sustainable products which meets EPA WaterSense requirements, unfortunately, I cannot find any information on Delta Faucet website.
• Besides choosing between conventional tank and tankless water heater, there is one more option: Hybrid! This company, Eternal in Texas has developed the HYBRID water heating system which supposedly has 86% efficiency, and releases much less harmful emissions compare to both the conventional tank and tankless water heater.
• I also witnessed first hand how well the Icynene (Eco Comfort) insulating a house which is still under construction.
• Got to see the difference between a regular flood lamp and a $100 LED flood lamp
• and many more…

It’s a huge house in one of the most expensive neighborhoods. With all the GREEN features it has, the price is actually a little bit less the another conventionally built one on the same block. I saw some familiar GREEN faces when I was touring the house. I hope they accomplished their goal to actually brought awareness to the general public of the benefits of building GREEN during this open house event.