It isn't easy being green: deconstructing Utah's green homes.

• Author: Sorensen, Dan
• Position: Sustainable Living

Whether it is out of concern for the environment or their pocketbooks, more Utahns are going green than ever before. Many are commuting via TRAX, others are driving alternative fuel vehicles, and some are going a step further by purchasing or remodeling their homes to be green.

Several Utah companies specialize in building green homes for energy-minded families. Other builders provide energy audits that can identify opportunities to make older homes more efficient. Either way, reducing energy consumption in the home has never been easier.

But what really goes into making a home energy efficient? Most people have seen the billboards about $5 power bills, but the path to an energy efficient home comes down to viewing the home as an entire, holistic unit.

Low-flow Features: While many hate them, low flow faucets, showerheads and toilets save gallons of water each year. In addition, they can reduce homeowners' gas bills, as they require less hot water to do the same job.

Air Sealing: A blower door test quantifies how tight a house's envelope actually is. By hooking up a large fan and calculating air pressure, this test determines how much air leaks out of a home. "During a home energy audit, one of the more common things we do is perform air sealing, where we find places air is leaking out of the house says Bill Wilson, principal at DwellTek. "A lot of the common places are along baseboards and windows, where we do caulking. Recessed can lighting, outlets and plumbing penetration are also notorious for leaking air." Problematic areas are identified using infrared cameras and then sealed and insulated using foam, caulk or gaskets.

Bathroom Vents: Have you ever been in the bathroom of an old home and felt a chilly breeze pass through? Oftentimes, cold or warm air enters the house through bathroom vents. To keep this from happening, ducts can be looped to keep air out.

Smart Home Technology: Many of Utah's high-end homes are beginning to add smart home technology that turns lights on and off as you enter and leave the room, among a variety of other automated features all controlled from a smart phone. While this technology will surely make your friends jealous, it actually does little to save energy--unless you have a bad habit of leaving on the lights.

Insulation: Without a doubt, the experts all agree that insulation is key to keeping a tight envelope--a term used to describe how much air inside the house is allowed to escape. Not only is...