Green home trends are here to stay. Technology in the green industry keeps advancing. Each year, new items come out that make it easier to create homes that consider the environment but are also functional for everyday use.

In one survey, around 33 percent of homebuilders said that green home building made up a significant amount of their work. Experts predict the demand for green homes will double by 2022. As more and more customers seek out green home solutions, staying up on the trends allows you to implement some of these features and capture the extra business green building brings.

Implement these five trends into the homes you build:

1. Alternative Energy

People often request alternative energy sources for their homes, such as solar panels or geothermal energy. Although the cost to install these items is a bit more than a traditional system, the sustainability of renewable energy saves money over time. About 68 percent of green building homeowners stated that they are satisfied with the energy performance of their home.

2. Green Materials

More and more homeowners turn to materials, such as bamboo, which can be generated more quickly than hardwoods. Not only do green materials focus on using resources that are more sustainable, but the manufacturing process tries to reduce the impact on the environment. Another option is to repurpose older materials, such as wood from a building that was torn down.

In a study of 146 green buildings, researchers found that using green materials and adding green features only added two percent to the cost of building the structure. This cost is recouped rather quickly in the resulting energy savings and efficiency of the home.

3. Resilience Features

Many people who build a green home want the ability to live off the grid and have some resilience in case of a crisis. Water is a limited resource, for example, and the ability to access clean drinking water is vital in a crisis. Reverse osmosis is one of the most reliable solutions to produce clean drinking water in natural disasters.

4. Smart Windows

How many times a week do you open and close your blinds to let the sun in, keep the sun out and find a bit of privacy? What if you could accomplish the same thing with the push of a button? If you want your buildings to be unique, look at the new smart windows. These windows offer features such as the ability to go from clear to opaque with the push of a button. No more blinds to block your view or raising and lowering them throughout the day.

Smart windows covert solar radiation into heat and kill E. coli bacteria.

5. Smart Homes

A wide variety of features make a home smart. You can add simple features such as a thermostat that adjusts automatically to save on energy usage or you can make the entire home smart. Give homeowners the opportunity to turn lights on and off remotely, set the temperature and even plugs that suck energy when not in use.

If everything is set up on the same system, the homeowner can control every part of the house from a single app, set up automatic processes and find ways to make their lives more convenient. Once the world of Hollywood movies such as "Back to the Future II," smart devices now are more commonplace than ever before.

Demand for Green Homes

The demand for green homes is on the rise, so look at some of your favorite features and add them as options for your clients. Come up with a game plan to look at the efficiency of a home from the planning stage, through construction and finish work. Those clients who want a green home will appreciate the option to add the features they can afford and come up with a sustainable solution that works within their budget.

Author Bio: Emily is a green tech writer who covers topics in renewable energy and sustainable design. You can read more of her work on her blog, Conservation Folks.

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