By Judi Ettlinger
for the Mercury News
Posted: 03/21/2009 12:00:00 AM PDT

Q I want to take advantage of the housing market and buy a new "green" home. How do I know if it's really green?

A The question of how to find a truly green-built home is an important one. Evaluating the builder's claim of "green" is just part of the issue. The other questions to consider include "how green is green?" and "how green do I want my new home to be?"
In general, homebuyers are not, nor should they have to be, experts in green building. To know whether the house you are planning to purchase is built to a credible green standard, it is helpful to refer to a trusted residential green rating system. There are a number of systems, and that can be confusing to everyone, including professionals.

Rather than outline all the various rating systems, let's look at two that are recognized by numerous local jurisdictions in California. These represent programs that use a third party to verify a builder's work as opposed to those which allow the builder to do the verification.

GreenPoint Rated is a statewide residential rating system for California run by the nonprofit organization Build It Green, and LEED for Homes is a national residential rating system. Both rating systems consider five categories: energy efficiency, resource conservation, indoor air quality, water conservation and community.

Depending on where and when you're buying, as well as your individual priorities, knowing how your future home rates in a specific category may be....