As my time finds me concentrating more on selling real estate in Lethbridge as opposed to greening my current home, this week I thought it would be fun to feature my favorite Green Built Homes currently for sale in Lethbridge. In random order, here are my Top 5 Picks for Green Built Homes in Lethbridge:

1. 339 Coulee Creek Court South - MLS#20090028: This beauty is Built Green to the Gold Standard and is the Builder's own home. Fully finished and upgraded to the max, this home's list of features includes granite counter tops, basement in-floor heat, slate and hardwood floors, a walkout basement and a steam spray and body shower master ensuite.

Well here we are 2 months in, and I must say, the planning stages of this process are extensive. Although I have yet to labour away at the actual "greening" of my home, my research continues daily. Here are five tips and a helpful list of resources for anyone who wants to go green with their current home:

1.  Have an Energy Audit Done on Your Home - An energy audit assesses the current efficiency of your home. Find out who can perform energy audit in your area. An energy audit is essential if you want to qualify for government rebates.

2. Green Your Appliances - Appliance use comprises about 18% of a typical home’s total energy bill. Here are some great tips to follow when shopping for energy efficient appliances.

In Week 6 of Recycle This House (and week one of my standoff with the trades), I talked about wind energy as a source of renewable and made my pledge to the world to put my Enmax rewards towards their Greenmax program in my efforts to support developments such as wind energy.

This week, I found myself incredibly busy in real estate (which must take precedence over my home greening project, because quite frankly, if I don't pay my bills, I won't have a home to green!) I worked with several buyers this week who were interested in seeing homes in the Built Green community of SunRidge, Canada's first entirely green community. 

Along the way, I again found myself getting an education, this time in the department of Green Built TM homes. There are four levels of Built Green Homes, namely Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum Certified. Each home must meet certain specifications in order to qualify for their respective status and the "seal of approval" is achieved through inspection by a Certified Energy Adviser after a blower door test. 

In Week 5 of Recycle This House, I talked about the obstacles a homeowner might face on the path to greening their current home. My smile has returned, but I still am waiting patiently for phone calls to be returned regarding quotes on upgrading my attic insulation. What I have learned thus far is that insulation specialists and trades people who work with blown in insulation are very reluctant to even enter a home with a "flat" or "low-sloped" roof. 

I understand that working in an attic with limited headroom poses it's challenges, but there must be someone out there willing to do the work! I again called up my friend Ryan at AmeriSpec who encouraged me to keep trying. He gave me the names of two businesses who he thought would be more than willing to help me and they are on my "To Call" list for Monday morning. In the meanwhile, I'll share some some interesting information I learned this morning from a very wise man with regards to another renewable resource: wind energy

My Dad is one of the smartest people I know and he has passionately followed the subject of wind energy for more than a decade. Over several pots of coffee, we discussed the world's largest wind turbine (prototype) to date, the E-126 which is made by the German company Enercon. 

This beautiful enormity of a machine towers at 453 feet high (taller than one Canadian football field, for the spatially challenged) and it's rotor blades span a diameter of another 413 feet. The blades are so huge that they need to be separated into two pieces for transport! This majestic feat of engineering has the capability to pump out 20 million kWh per year... WOW!! Or is it wow? What the heck does that mean???