When deciding on the building materials used for home construction,there are many high-tech opportunities to make a greener and more sustainable home.  In terms of combining high-tech science and green home construction, the first things I usually hear mentioned are photovoltaic solar cells.  Having personally spent a couple years in the laboratory working on next generation solar technology I wholeheartedly agree that this is a very important solution to reducing a home's carbon footprint and our societal dependence on oil, but there are other scientific solutions worth discussing and indeed implementing alongside solar energy harvesting.

From a scientific standpoint, alternatives that I find interesting are building materials that have been engineered to help reduce household energy consumption required for heating and cooling, such as Phase Change Materials (PCMs) that passively reduce peak temperatures within a house.  As opposed to  air-conditioning which uses electricity to cool the house, these PCMs use their inherent physical properties to absorb the heat from the rooms of the house, store it within the material, and then release the heat later in the day as the temperature begins to drop.

One such PCM is comprised of paraffin wax (similar to candle wax) that has been engineered to melt as the house rises beyond desirable temperatures.  Simply put, these materials will melt as excessive heat is absorbed, store that heat  throughout the hottest part of the day, and then release the heat through crystallization as the temperature drops below a certain point.  This phase change mechanism, from solid to
liquid and then back to solid, acts to reduce a home's peak
temperatures without the use of electricity.  These materials are tightly enclosed so they will not melt and leak out; and typically they will last the lifetime of a house.

Similar to solar cells, Phase Change Materials are still evolving and are another innovative and affordable way to green your home and reduce your carbon footprint.