More Southerners use Earth-friendly home construction

There was a time when even Kermit the frog agreed it was hard to be green. That's certainly changing now as the South hurriedly catches up to the North with building and seeking more energy-efficient houses.

With skyrocketing energy bills, it's no surprise that "green building" is taking hold in residential construction as a way to try to curb that cost, as well as promote more efficient use of resources.

"My impression is that it is catching on rather fast, especially with the consumer," says John Allen, president of the Huntsville-Madison County Builders Association and owner of Southern Construction & Design. "The market, right now, is especially sensitive to energy costs that are on rise as this affects the consumer pocketbook. They are looking to ways to save on this cost."

It's become such an expense that Allen says people now look at how much they can afford in a mortgage and insurance and then want to know what they should anticipate in their first energy bill in any house they're buying. If they're building a house, then he says more consumers want an energy-efficient design these days.

If you're one of those people who may build then you'll want to know the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has green building guidelines that offer you three different levels - bronze, silver and gold - of energy-efficient design so your house can be certified "green."