While I may have some criticisms of LEED, the USGBC green building program, there's no question that the program is an important step in the right direction. Hopefully, thanks to green building guidelines and programs, green building will someday soon become a standard part of any construction project, and not an afterthought.
Austin, TX, has the oldest regional green building program in the country, with its Energy Star program established in 1985, and the green building program evolving from it six years later. Read Related: austin Casa Verde eco energy star green building green design LEED ronald mcdonald house
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The federal government wants to give you a little incentive to go green.
Until Dec. 31, you can save up to $500 in consumer tax credits when you buy energy-saving products such as high-efficiency furnaces, water heaters, windows, and insulation.
The washer at our house has been on the fritz for a while. It's an obscure, European brand, and while it has some awesome features (requires hardly any detergent, frontloading, highly water- and energy-efficient), the fact that there's only one repair company in the entire San Francisco Bay Area that will service it, and that the repair company routinely charges $150 every time we have it fixed, is making me consider changing machines.
I was further tempted when I read about the 
