There are many reason to build a green home. Green home concepts also can applied for your minimalist home design. Perhaps if you want build a minimalist you can also learn about green home. With Green home concepts you could provide a safe, healthy place for your children to grow up. Or maybe you’re concerned about rising energy costs. Your priority might be comfort, or durability, knowing that the house will last a long time with minimal maintenance. For a growing number of us, building a green home is about doing our part to protect the environment, helping to make the world a better place for our children and grandchildren.


WHAT IS GREEN BUILDING ?
The term green building is used to describe design and construction of buildings with some or all of the following characteristics:
1.    Buildings that have minimal adverse impacts on local, regional, and even global ecosystems
2.    Buildings that reduce reliance on automobiles
3.    Buildings that are energy-efficient in their operation
4.    Buildings and grounds that conserve water
5.    Buildings that are built in an environmentally responsible manner from low-environmental-impact materials
6.    Buildings that are durable and can be maintained with minimal environmental impact
7.    Buildings that help their occupants practice environmentalism, e.g. by recycling waste; and
8.    Buildings that are comfortable, safe, and healthy for their occupants.

Green building addresses the relationship between a building and the land on which it sits; how the structure might help to foster a sense of community or reduce the need for automobile use by its occupants, how to minimize energy use in the building (energy consumption being one of the largest environmental impacts of any building), and how to create the healthiest possible living space.


Materials and Products for Green Building

When many people first think about building a green home, it is the materials and products that come to mind: insulation made from recycled newspaper and decking made from recycled plastic, for  example. Product selection is an important part of green building, but it is generally not as important as energy performance or where the house is built (to minimize automobile use and protect natural areas), or measures to ensure a healthy indoor environment.

There are really three stakeholders that can benefit from the use of green building products: the people who work with the materials in the factory and on the job site; the homeowners who live with the materials, and the local, regional, and global environments that are protected through the production and use of the materials.
The direct benefits of green building products to workers and homeowners are the easiest to justify. A construction company can save money if its employees don’t require protective gear and if they stay healthier, losing less time to sick leave. And that company can build loyalty among its employees if it works hard to maintain healthy working conditions.
Source : Alex Wilson