Listedgreen.com

Why It's Good:

If you've ever gone to an open house out of curiosity, or accepted a party invitation only to see their apartment, you just may become addicted to this national website.

Why It's Green:

Listedgreen.com vets all house listings and makes sure they are actually energy efficient, solar- or wind-powered, water saving, built using recycled materials and/or finished with low or no VOC products.

Open House All the Time

Because I'm on a budget, my house-hunting is limited to fixer-uppers. While I welcome the chance to shop around (on, say, the Sprig database), roll up my sleeves and get creative with the solutions I can afford, I dream of a time when gorgeous houses for sale are already green—energy efficient, water saving, with lawns landscaped in cool indigenous plants, reclaimed dark hardwood floors in the parlor and jewel-like recycled glass tiles in the bathroom. (Not that I've thought about it that much or anything.) ListedGreen.com is the beginning of a beautiful thing: The website lists and allows you to search homes around the country (and beyond) for free. Click on the map and check out, say, the Key Largo waterfront mansion. Sure, it may be too pricey (and be too big in square footage and carbon footprint) for me, but it’s fun to look at the pictures of the Florida Keys beachline, and read about the energy-efficient French doors and rainwater cistern. Maybe I should consider moving to South Australia—a three bedroom, two bathroom adorably modern home comes complete with a nearby organic orchard! I can dream, can't I?