"Building A Greener Future" By: Stacey Moore "Green building" is a home-building concept that uses design, construction and

maintenance to create more energy-efficient, environmentally friendly buildings !he popularity of this concept is gro"ing According to a recent study, green-built homes "ill account for bet"een #$% and #&' billion in construction by the end of ())* As the demand for green buildings gro"s, e+perts at the Southeastern ,umber Manufacturers Association -S,MA. as/ homeo"ners to consider these "green" facts: 0 1nli/e steel and concrete, "ood does not conduct heat and cold, ma/ing it the most energy- efficient building material 0 2ood products re3uire less energy to manufacture than cement, steel or other alternatives -five times less than cement and (4 times less than steel5 0 Forest gro"th in the 1 S has continually e+ceeded harvests-the geographic area that encompasses the 1 S today has more forest cover than it did in $%() 6ne of the "greenest," most energy-efficient home-building materials is "ood 7t re3uires less energy to manufacture