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