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  (2) - What is the difference between “Green” and “High  
      Performance”

Homes with the characteristics above have been referred to as “green”, “smart”, “advanced”, “energy efficient”, and others – we prefer the term “high performance” since it better encapsulates all the benefits that the owner derives. The home performs highly in all the ways that you would want it to; it maximizes benefits to the homeowner, family and friends, the community, and the environment.

In the context of the building industry, “green” started out as a term linked directly to an environmental cause. But now it has become a more vague term used to describe the trend towards better building practices in general. For many, the benefits to the environment are a sort of bonus, but not the primary motivation for building green. And in that case, the term can be a little misleading.

Nevertheless, the term “green” has more meaning to more people, and so it will likely continue to be the preferred term. For our part, we use the words “green” and “high performance” somewhat interchangeably here.