According to Anna Porter, her new green home has heightened, rather than calmed, her eco-consciousness. "Every time I use water now, I am keenly aware of the waste," she says. "The other day I was washing a dirty glass and realized it takes three glassfuls of water to get it clean!"

Last November, Porter and her husband Dave--parents of four grown children--traded what she describes as a Woodinville "McMansion" for a "deeply green" 2700-square-foot beach house near Camano Island.

The home, developed partly as a green building demonstration site, boasts five green building certifications, including Built Green and LEED for Homes awards.

The first thing you'll notice about the new Porter residence is that a green home can look a lot like any other house on the block. But the charming shingled beach cottage is loaded with cutting-edge environmental features. For example, there's insulation made from 100% recycled blue jeans, a green roof, a rainwater catchment system for the garden, a tankless hot water heater and radiant floor heating. Kitchen countertops are made of locally produced, recycled Paperstone, and many elements--such as the fireplace mantel--are salvage items.

One of the most important elements in their process wasn't a purchase, but a repurposing: 80% of the materials from the building site's existing 100-year-old home were reused.

Though green choices can cost more, it is also true that the investment can result in energy savings later. And sometimes, green choices (like the Porters' $250 salvaged marble kitchen island) are cheaper.

Porter admits that trying to build the greenest possible home can lead to "analysis into paralysis," when weighing considerations like energy efficiency, local vs. non-local, durability, and even which companies take care of their workers. But she tries not to get stuck. "Every day you keep trying to get better and better about choices," she says.

See images of the Porter home online. For more about green homebuilding in our area, check out the Cascadia Region Green Building Council, Built Green, Northwest EcoBuilding Guild and Ecohaus. Or check out the Built Green conference, open to the public this Friday!