ATLANTA

There are many reasons to go green, whether building a new home or renovating an existing one. You'll save money when you make your systems function more efficiently, and you'll have a warm glow of satisfaction at saving the planet one solar-water heater at a time.

A beautifully seductive billboard for the merits of green building, the striking house that cable channel HGTV built sits on a hill in the 1,000-acre Chattahoochee Hills, Ga., community of Serenbe, 30 minutes from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

The three-bedroom, 2 -bath home will be awarded to one sweepstakes winner in late June and will be open for public tours through June 24. For chances to enter the sweepstakes, go to http://www.hgtv.com/green-home/index.html.Designed by Atlanta architect Steve Kemp, of Kemp Hall Studio, the HGTV Green Home 2012 is a 21st-century spin on the classic American farmhouse, a combination of nostalgia and forward-thinking green values evident in features such as solar panels to generate electricity.

The HGTV Green Home illustrates a new approach toward green. While in the past, green building might have meant using low-VOC (volatile organic compound) paint and Energy Star appliances, the approach to green is becoming much more holistic, encompassing a lifestyle that embraces existing with less space, living in a home longer, and, best-case scenario, locating your home in a green-friendly community.

Tiffany Barcik is an architect with Atlanta's Moon Bros. Architects, which has built three homes at Serenbe. All Serenbe homes are by design "green" because they have to adhere to EarthCraft principles and take advantage of the community's commitment to sustainability.

"It's not just individual houses trying to be green, it's a whole community," Barcik said.

With the economy affecting the way people think of home buying, there have been philosophical shifts that will impact the green movement.

One of the key green features of the HGTV home is its size. "Building smaller is the best green thing to do," Kemp said.

"I would say that the one thing we pushed in this home was challenging how much space we really need," Kemp said. "Having a maximum-efficiency geothermal system and you're still heating and cooling 5,000-6,000 square feet? If you can live the same way in 3,000 or 2,000 square feet, then you have gone way beyond anything you can do with any particular system."

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HGTV's eco-home goes lean and green