PHILO – Faucets with aerators. Geothermal heat pumps. Energy-efficient appliances.

With all of its environmentally friendly features, the new home being built for the Montgomery family as part of ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" will be certified green according to a new certification program.

The family is also expected to save about $2,700 in annual energy savings, according to the National Association of Home Builders, which runs the National Green Building Program.

To be certified green by the association, the homes need to meet certain benchmarks in several areas, said Calli Schmidt, director of environmental communication with the homebuilders' association.

Those areas are energy efficiency (such as appliances, heating and air conditioning system); water efficiency (such as low-flow toilets, drought-resistant landscaping); resource efficiency (using less materials or materials that are recycled); lot and site development (using natural shading); indoor environmental quality (using materials that don't release gases); and homeowner education.

The homeowner education component is key, Schmidt said.

You can have a green home, "but if you run the sprinklers for three hours or run the dishwasher with a cup and spoon," it won't save money or energy, she said.

The Montgomerys' previous home was demolished Thursday and construction on the new 2,800-square-foot home has been in full swing since then. It is expected to be completed and revealed to the family on Tuesday.

The home's interior will feature items such as a built-in recycling collector in the kitchen. There will be faucets with aerators and low-flow toilets to reduce water consumption. Appliances, such as the washing machine and dryer, will be rated Energy Star because they meet energy-efficiency specifications set by the federal government. Doors and windows will also be Energy Star-rated.

The home's builder, Bloomington-based Brady Homes, has built many homes that have been certified Energy Star, said Ed Brady, part of the family that owns the company. But this is the first one they have built to the new standard, he said.

"We thought this would be a great opportunity to build a green home and build awareness about the (certification) program," Ed Brady said.

The Montgomerys' home is being built using what's called a panelized construction approach. Instead of building the wood frame on the home site, large sections of the home, made from oriented strand board, are made ahead of time in a factory, in this case in Oklahoma.

Building these huge pieces ahead of time reduces waste (and time) at the construction site, Schmidt said. And at the factories, the waste from making the pieces is recycled or used as fuel, said Dave Schur, a field sales director for Huber Engineered Woods. In addition, the oriented strand board used on this home uses a formaldehyde-free resin, Schur said.

Brady said he was also excited about the home using geothermal heat. Early Saturday, a crew was expected to drill eight holes, about 150 feet deep, on the home site, for the heating system.

And although the crew took down several trees around the former home, the line of trees on the west side of the home will stay, Schmidt said. In the summer months, they will help shade the house from the afternoon sun, she said.

The home's landscaping plan also calls for using native plants and shrubs that are drought-resistant.

On the Web

More information about building green homes is available from the National Association of Home Builders, www.nahbgreen.org, as well as the Energy Star site, www.energystar.gov.