When constructing the HGTV Green Home, the walls were made from ICFs lego like walls. ICF stands for Insulated Concrete Forms and is a good energy saving product that makes the walls 6 inch thick  in reinforced concrete.  It has an R-value of 32 which is the insulation’s effectiveness.  The “R” stands for “resistance” to heat-flow, or cool airflow.

Part of the roof is a Green “Living” roof with special ground mats under the soil that both retains water and drains water as needed.  It makes a good eco-friendly use of a space that you can plant vegetables and herbs on for your use.  There is alsoa rainbarrel to collect the water to use on your plants.

The wood floor is an eco-friendly floor by Shaw Floors.  It is an innovative floor that uses 50% recycled content which means that every part of the tree is used. Also the area rugs are recyclable and the tiles are made from 40% recycled material and they are made in the USA.

Energy Star appliances are used throughout the home with an efficient washer and dryer. Also there is a re-circulating water system and an aerator used by the faucets which pumps air through them to use less water.

This is a wonderful green home in the Port St. Lucie area of Florida. Check out the full project on HGTV Green Home and don’t forget to register to win on this site or directly on HGTV.  You can register once a day until June 5, 2009.  Good Luck to all our weblog readers at Green Earth Friend!

Surrounding the roof is a glass canopy with a decorative band of 60,000 photovoltaic cells, providing 213,000 kilowatt hours of energy per year, preventing the release of 405,000 pounds of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.  The skylights in the roof open and close automatically to maintain a perfect temperature inside the building.  There are special humps on the roof which create a natural cool breeze that is diverted into the building. 

It cost half a billion dollars to complete this project .  The museum also contains it’s own rain forest and several aquariums.  They also have an albino gator in captivity and a living coral reef in a huge aquarium along with 4,000 fish.  Ocean water is pumped in from 2 and a half miles away.  It is filtered and warmed and pumped into the aquariums. There are hundreds of other energy saving systems in the building. 

Below are  some videos so you can see for yourself.

Kron 4 Newscast on the Museum:>

California Academy Of Sciences:>

California Academy Of Sciences Virtual Tour:>

During the day the plants and vegetation on your roof will absorb most of the heat, keeping your building nice and cool during the day.  After the sun has gone down, your roof continues to work for you by keeping your building warm with the heat absorbed during the day.  Other advantages of having a green roof include extending the life of your roof, filtering dust and pollution, raises green credentials of the owner of the building, improves the aesthetics of your building and reduces rain runoff by 90%.

The types of plants you can use on your green roof depends on how much room you have and whether aesthetics are important. You can make your roof look like a park with trees, grass and a swing set, if you want. If you do not have much room and aesthetics are not important, you could just plant different mosses which will do the same job as other plants and trees.  Green roof technology has really expanded in Germany where 12% of the country’s buildings have green roofs and demand for green roofs has risen 15% per year since the concept began.  Just the area of a 2 car garage, if planted like a green roof will supply enough oxygen for 25 people over the course of one year.

You can expect to save anywhere from 25% to 43% on your power bill which is a significant amount. Typical application of the white roofing paint runs around 70 cents per square foot. If your roof is 3,000 square feet, your cost would be $2,100. If you save 40% on your power bill and your power bill costs around $300, the product will have paid for its self in approximately 2 years. Most of the manufacturers of these materials used in making your roof cooler have a waranty for 10 to 20 years, making your roof save you $28,800 in 20 years. You will also help make the environment greener and more sustainable and be on your way to living in a Green Home.

Be sure to check with your Home Owners Association before painting your roof. If you need more information about cool roofs, just leave a comment with your questions and we will be happy to answer your questions.