Home & Garden...

Over the last two days we've looked at tips for choosing land when you build a green home from the ground up. Today, we'll finish up the list, and next week, we'll look at specifics on some of the tips.

1. Choose sites that are already well-drained: There are actually ways to dry out an area for your home on a wetter site. You can build on a slope which we talked about in our first set of tips, or provide some drainage around the foundation. You can even do some grading, or let a professional do it. However, it's easier if you simply start with a nice dry site to begin with.

2. Explore land hazards: We touched on this when talking about flood plains and arroyos, but there are plenty of other natural hazards (and some man-made) to watch out for. Clear-cutting, poor development, mud slide areas, forest fire prone areas, and more can cause you problems of course. These sorts of issues can also hurt land before you ever arrive. Check your land's history when possible.

3. Consider the wind: Wind power is useful stuff. It's starting to become more affordable, and easier to maintain too. If wind power is something you'd like build into your dream home, or something you may consider in the future, check out the wind strength and amount on your land. To power with wind you will need a fairly steady wind flow and not all plots have this.

4. Make sure you'll have water: You can power by sun or wind, but getting water when there's none nearby can be tricky, costly, and maybe impossible. Start looking at catchwater systems as one option and don't assume you can always use nearby lakes and streams. Too few water resources means that if you drain a pond, you could be draining the only animal water habitat around, which is not cool.

5. Balance needs: Balancing needs comes in many forms. You may have a need for an off-grid private home. However, if said home is too far from work, stores, recycling centers and other places you frequent, transportation costs and pollution could cancel out your green home. Also balance home location on your land. Many people go for the best view, or try to build right next to their favorite block of trees. You need to build for proper orientation above all else, or your energy costs and/or needs can outweigh the benefit of the area.

6. Research: Research a lot and then some more. In three days, we honestly didn't come close to considering all the aspects of what to look for in the perfect plot of land. Among each of the tips I presented, theres a multitude of smaller tips. This list and the previous lists in this series should get you started and if you need more information read: Overwhelmed With Green Home Options?

[Photo via author's personal home building photos - New Mexico land and house]