Ever dreamed about living in a mansion, surrounded by beautiful objects and the most modern and time-saving conveniences that money could buy? What if you wanted all of these things but your conscience as a world citizen was such that you could not justify the negative impact that having such a home would have upon the environment and the world? What kinds of choices would you have and how much of a difference could you make?

Currently, a range of options are becoming more readily available worldwide for eco-living. Throughout Europe, there are various types of sustainable housing solutions being utilized today. In London, prefabricated steel shipping containers are used in a variety of applications, such as commercial businesses, schools and community centers and live/work spaces. The Scandinavian company Ikea has set up energy efficient ready-made homes for sale in Germany. In addition to more sustainable housing options, hotels such as the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Copenhagen are offering guests an opportunity to earn free meal vouchers by producing electricity on specially adapted exercise bikes.

In Asia, where space has often been associated with luxury and prestige, ideas such as the famous “capsule hotels” in Japan are now in vogue in heavily congested cities like Beijing and have been modified to include apartments. Hotels in New Zealand are outfitted with dual-flush toilets to conserve water and one hotel in Christchurch includes rooms with no windows but a full compliment of light therapy technology to offset the lack of natural sunlight. Other hotels make it a practice of letting their clientele choose to have their linens cleaned with every-other day or weekly service, to minimize excessive water consumption.

Daily lifestyle choices and habits also are an important way that people throughout the world are working to minimize their carbon footprint. According to an article in the China Daily (12/03/2009), an online group called the “Low-Carbon Tribe,” is actively promoting a lifestyle in a “relaxed and fashionable way,” where members can cut their energy usage by modifying the choices they make—such as taking the stairs instead of elevators and utilizing public transportation instead of driving to work each day.

Still others are making choices which change what and how they eat. Eating locally grown foods and organic products has become both feasible and fashionable with organizations such as Canada’s 100 Mile Diet, leading the way. Communal villages, such as the Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in the United States, are taking it one step farther by combining the concepts of an inclusive sustainable lifestyle within a small, rural community.

These lifestyle choices reflect who we are and what we believe to be true. Some feel it just as important to live in the moment as it is to live with a vision or plan for the future. In the not too distant past, many people viewed success as having the highest paying job, the most expensive car and the largest home but times have changed with the collapse of world economy. Today, many view those superficial desires as greedy and simply out of touch with the rest of humanity.

Arguably, one of the most significant choices for many Americans is his/her home—where the majority of a person’s or family’s income and time is spent. Currently in the United States, there seems to be movement away from the McMansion style of home to smaller, more thoughtful and sustainable structures. Perhaps the idea of “bigger is better” and “you can’t take it with you” are now becoming outdated and outmoded ideologies—especially with the near collapse of worldwide financial structures.

Green Construction and Zero Energy homes are now coming of age in a very uncertain and unstable economic climate. With dwindling (and growing ever more costly) natural resources and a surge in the interest of eco-lifestyles, the business of remodeling or building “green” is on the increase—despite the sometimes higher cost of eco-friendly supplies and the challenge of procuring and locating one hundred percent green products when building.

A Zero Energy home uses various materials and cutting-edge technology to keep energy consumption low or “zero”, while utilizing sustainable products both inside and outside. Some popular ways to produce energy is to install solar panels, utilize Thermomax heat (solar heated vacuum tubes) and harness wind power. Sustainable components include wood that grows rapidly (such as bamboo and alder) and recycled materials (such as glass and salvaged lumber). In addition, some homes are utilizing roof gardens to capture water which can be used later for irrigation and water supply around the property.

The interesting part of green construction is that not only are the components and their sustainability measured, but also their performance. For example, heating a home using solar panels becomes much less effective if the windows in the house are not properly insulated or treated to keep the heat in and the UV rays out. In this way, an energy efficient house is then judged by the sum of its parts, not just one component. So, in order to build a zero energy or efficient green home, many details, much experience and some ingenuity is necessary.

Another fascinating thing about green homes is their link with nature and the positive effect they have on living organisms—both human, and otherwise. Where many homes are often built and finished (paints, carpeting, misc. furnishings etc) with toxic or chemical materials, green homes are actually often built and constructed with products that are of nature or less allergenic. Instead of becoming a dead zone—a place where humans remain separate and disconnected from nature, the space becomes something which embraces and nurtures nature.

With all of these positive attributes concerning eco-living, will the green construction movement and a low carbon lifestyle gain popularity and become the predominant trend of the future? For certain, as a new world financial structure struggles to emerge and a dramatic decrease in natural resources continues to plague our planet, we will continue to search for solutions—and hopefully they’ll be ones which place our environment as well as our humanity in a place of prominence.