Warm, inviting

“Green” living is more than lowering energy bills, conserving water and shopping with reusable bags. It’s also about ensuring that a home accommodates its occupants, from controlling how rooms are used to how they feel, says Linda Woodrum, the lead designer of the HGTV Green Home.

“Green also means not being intimidated by a space and being able to make it work for you,” she says. The 2011 HGTV Green Home is a 2,400-square-foot, fully furnished two-story residence in Denver valued at $700,000. It’s part of the network’s fourth annual Green Home Giveaway, which has a prize package that includes $100,000 and a 2011 GMC Terrain. Last year, nearly 18 million people entered the home giveaway. Tours of this year’s house are expected to raise thousands of dollars for its nonprofit beneficiary, Urban Peak, which offers services for homeless and runaway youths.

The idea that being “green” can be an approach to home decorating may be tough to swallow for people who are still training themselves to use less paper and plastic. But Woodrum, along with the Green Home’s builders and architects, highlights numerous ways to embrace a more Earth-friendly lifestyle.

A multipurpose space

During a sneak peak of the house, Woodrum whisks visitors to what she calls “the do room.” It’s a multipurpose space at the heart of the house where the laundry area, craft center, home office and a gift-wrap station are all neatly concealed behind paneled doors. A sleek, stainless-steel table for such tasks as folding laundry or doing homework slides out of the panels.

The room’s eco-conscious upgrades don’t stop there. Acoustic carpet tiles absorb sound, and chairs crafted from sustainable wood outfit the space.

There’s also no “new house smell” in these digs because all of the paint used had no volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, and all of the upholstery fabrics are organic.

Anything in the home that lowers stress should be deemed “green,” according to the South Carolina-based HGTV designer. For instance, its “do room” storage panels undercut clutter, and if something spills on an 18-inch carpet tile, the square can be replaced rather than an entire rug or roomful of carpeting.

“Being aware of things that trigger stress – such as clutter – and being able to manage it through a well-organized design is green,” Woodrum says.

Peace and comfort

“A green home offers a sense of tranquility and comfort because it allows you to control your environment.” Architect Michael Woodley of the Woodley Architectural Group, which has offices in Colorado and California, designed this modern, Prairie-style home. It features long, low, broad roof overhangs; lines that mimic airplane wings; an open floor plan; and copious windows to bring in natural light.

The synthetic limestone and natural-stone exterior distinguishes the home from its surrounding cottages and traditional craftsman-style homes. “The trend right now is toward modern homes that represent how we live today instead of replicating the old styles of the past,” Woodley says.

He adds that his take on residential modernism is meant to be warm and inviting. He trails his hand along an interior brick wall in the living room where a large television is masked by artwork.

The textured brick has a traditional look, but painting it black and integrating horizontal wood shelving make it well-suited to this modern house.

Still, signature touches make this home unique to its surroundings. Consider the old jet-blast fence used here as landscape railing, and the retaining walls made from pieces of old Stapleton Airport runways that still show airplane skid marks. The HGTV Green Home’s coveted LEED Platinum Certification from the US Green Building Council is the highest rating a home can earn.

Fewer than 40 homes in Colorado have that designation, according to Green Home builders, because the standards are so rigorous and specific.

Other “wow” features in the house include a central vacuum, a dog-washing station in the garage and solar panels that provide 75 per cent of the home’s electricity. But the item that blows away David Steinke, general manager of builder Infinity Home Collection, is the iPad that controls its major systems, including security, lights, temperature, music and TVs.