The recent and increasing attention being paid to green or sustainable building offers many benefits to the housing industry and homeowners. At the same time, it reinforces and renews the value of a comprehensive approach to land-use planning and housing design.

The notion that a whole can be more than the sum of its parts is an especially apt phrase for green building. While there are several land-use and building practices, product and systems applications, and materials that qualify as green, it is the concerted and thoughtful integration of those "parts" that enable a markedly higher standard in housing performance and resource efficiency.

Consider, for instance, a home sited on an east-west axis to optimize the path of the sun. To gain those benefits, the home's design-build team would likely incorporate well-placed windows and a corresponding thermal mass, such as a tile floor or brick fireplace, to enable passive solar heat; in turn, that design reduces the burden on the home's mechanical heating system, saving the energy to operate it and extending its usable life.

Next, think about the domino effect created by advanced or optimum value framing techniques. In a sincere effort to build green, the framing package is likely to include as much engineered lumber as possible, which not only reduces the amount of lumber required (given its long-span and higher design-load capabilities), but also makes more efficient use of forest resources.

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