Most of my choices for resources center around building green homes. The topics under this category range from choices of building materials, working with the land the house will stand on, to building guidelines for safe homes. I feel that these green home options will slow the advance of the modern-day suburb- the planned grid streets with no trees and a neighbor in arm's reach. Hopefully, with an embrace of some of these ideas, future homes and neighborhoods will be low-impact, cost effective, and aesthetically pleasing.

Green Home Building
This website is not innovative for the new technologies it presents, in fact, it does the opposite; it provides information on how to create a modern home using materials and techniques that have been around for thousands of years. It promotes preserving the environment around the home when designing and building as well as a home that continues to have a low impact over time. I chose this website because it provides information on not only ideal green building materials, but how to integrate the design of a structure with the landscape to maximize the energy efficiency of the home.
www.greenhomebuilding.com

Green Home Building Guidelines
I chose this a source because it gives ideas from start to finish on how to build a green home. The guidelines cover topics such as water and energy efficiency, ideal lighting choices, and working around natural features of a building site. Although it is aimed at home builders, this site could be a useful tool when a soon-to-be homebuilder is trying to select an environmentally conscious contractor. Excellent resources for every topic presented.
www.nahbrc.org/greenguidelines!

Superbia! 31 Ways to create Sustainable Neighborhoods
I like this resource because of the broad vision of entire green neighborhoods. Instead of simply promoting new green buildings, this book shows how to transform existing neighborhoods, mainly through fostering communication and friendliness with one's neighbors. It also has an extensive resource list and the author has written a number of other books on similar topics.

Sustainable Buildings Industry Council
This is a non-profit group that promotes a holistic approach to construction and building use. I chose this group as a source because they have published their guidelines as a book and they maintain that buildings that are built to environmentally conscious standards must also be used in an environmentally conscious way.

Green Building Shines in Atlanta
I chose this article because it give a specific example of green construction practices being implemented. The EarthCraft House program described here uses a simple idea- reduce the amount of waste produced during house construction. This is accomplished by grinding up waste wood, drywall and other materials, and reusing them on the site of the house as additives to the soil. Other construction materials, metals, for example, are sold to recycling facilities. The amount of waste reduction using these simple practices is significant.

Worldchanging: A User's Guide to the 21st Century
I chose this book because I feel that we all need a little optimism about the ecological issues we face. This book gives ideas to the reader about every environmental issue imaginable with an overview of the problem and suggestions on what you can do.