Al Gore has made believers out of us. The price of oil has made the cost of all petroleum-based products - even beyond the pump - explode. The mortgage situation is in shambles. Many of us are beyond freaked, standing in the shadow of the stacked ecologic, energetic, and economic crises. So what now? There's an increasing hum around the essential buzzwords: local, sustainable, salvage, green. It has become clear that acting on these magic words could be our ticket to salvation.

We've all heard the discussions about alternative energy solutions, spearheaded by ecologically minded citizens. And holy Moses, does it sound great in the midst of all this energy and economic turmoil. But maybe we still don't know how accessible green living is. Irondequoit native Jodi Aman and her family do know, and they can show us the way, with a home that marries beautiful design with concern for the environment by utilizing a number of green companies and techniques.

On the threshold of autumn, on the edge of the woods in "the flats" of West Irondequoit, I met with Aman, a family therapist, who along with her husband, Ted, has decided to go green. Despite balancing a tight schedule with work, three kids, and extra duties surrounding the building process, Aman's calm, friendly manner flowed seamlessly with the peaceful scene of the sunny building site, with the happy chirp of insects and birdsongs sounding at random.

We settled on some random building materials, Aman absently digging in the dirt while we talked, pointing out a plant sprout to her young daughter. Near the house is a small pond, a nice feature that collects storm water runoff, and filters the water before it reaches the river. The Aman residence is set back from the road a bit more than the other houses in the quiet, semi-rural neighborhood, making the two acres of land nicely private. The in-progress house has clean, minimalist lines; the style is what Aman calls "modern prairie," with a stucco exterior. Awaiting the not-yet installed steps, the front door sits halfway up the face of the building, because the basement is actually the ground-level floor. Through discussion, I learned that the house, both in building and how they will live, is manifoldly eco-friendly.

The Amans did a lot of research after learning that a friend took classes at the Permaculture Institute in Ithaca and built a straw bale house. At first, they wanted to buy an existing home and update it with green technology.

"We were looking for properties that we could retrofit with some green design, like solar panels, or living roofs, or geothermal [heating and cooling]. But we didn't really find the right one, [one] that had an open floor plan, and some land to use for gardening and a greenhouse," Aman says. "So we were talking with some people and it kind of made sense to try and build it ourselves, even though it didn't seem green to build. We kind of took a little bit of a risk there and decided to do it, even though you're using more resources by building."

The couple began looking at lots in the fall of 2006, and construction began early in 2007. They hired the green builders of Riverstone Homes, who specialize in helping people work sustainable options into their lives. Builder Paul Randazzese says, "There are myths that green building is financially out of reach and aesthetically unappealing to the average homeowner. Green building can be conventional in appearance, highly efficient in performance, and comparable in price to standard building practices. This even applies to retrofitting energy-saving ideas to existing homes."

The Amans are incorporating passive solar design, which will use the sun's energy to provide heating and cooling without using fossil fuels. Sunlight is admitted directly into living spaces through south-facing windows, and warms the interior surfaces. The concrete floors absorb and store the heat, releasing it slowly at night and on overcast days. Extended roof overhangs over the south-facing windows will block much of the higher, intense summer sunlight, while admitting low-angled winter rays. The concrete floors work in reverse in the summer: they cool down in the evening and retain that chill through the next day, making the space comfy despite high daytime temperatures.

"So over the lifetime of the house, our energy use will be quite minimal because of the features we put in," says Aman. Essentially, what's been created is natural, guilt-free air-conditioning. The open, lofty design of the house provides easy flow for cross-breezes, and the Amans plan to plant trees to add shade.

For the exterior walls of the house, the Amans used insulated concrete forms, the cost of which "is just slightly higher than conventionally built [walls], but that is made up over the years with heating and cooling savings," Aman says. The Riverstone website says that in addition to being extremely strong, the special concrete is more efficient than traditional insulation. Another way that the family will save on energy use is through the cellulose insulation, which is nontoxic and made up of 85 percent clean recycled newspaper. All of that insulation, in addition to meticulous air sealing, should greatly improve the house's energy efficiency.

We crossed to the backyard, where the family will enjoy a shady, peaceful view of the nearby woods. On the back wall of the house, relief sculptures of the phases of the moon are embedded into the stucco, and the Amans plan to install a similar sun sculpture on the sunny front of the house. Next, we entered the house through the ground-level basement, directly into the space that will be the family's greenhouse.

"In Rochester, in the winter, you have to heat your greenhouse, so the best way to do that is to just attach it," Aman says. "The greenhouse will be for starting plants to extend the outside growing season. It will also warm the basement in the winter and provide light for an art area we plan to have right inside the greenhouse space."

In another section of the basement, Aman points out the geothermal heating system, which will work in conjunction with the passive solar design. Geothermal furnaces work by extracting heat from the earth. A refrigerant liquid is pumped through a length of buried tubing in the ground (roughly six feet under), which heats the liquid. This liquid is then brought back into the house, and the heat exchanged. The same technique is used to cool the house.

In essence, the consumer is paying only for a pump, which requires little maintenance, and when the solar panels are active, the family will have free heating and cooling, courtesy of Mother Nature.

Up the stairs, we climbed into the main level of the house, into the living room, kitchen, and dining room, which are all one open, lofty modern space. Despite the modest 2200 square feet (relative to the Amans' current 3300), the ceilings give an airy impression, reaching 15 feet at their highest point. Aman appeared a bit sheepish when she confessed the room height, but there's no need - this is a reasonable green-dream house. She wants the interior to feel cozy, and despite the bare concrete floors, that's beginning to take shape.

Concrete can be colored with a variety of non-toxic products, stamped, or textured to resemble other materials, providing many options to fit a homeowner's unique style. "The floors are staying cement," Aman says, as part of the passive solar plan, and they plan to let them "crack naturally instead of putting in cut lines like is usual on basement and garage floors. And we put a no-chemical sealant on it. Brian Roode, who did the cement in the walls, did the main floor cement. He put the leaf designs in there for me with real leaves." The imprints of ginkgo and maple leaves, located at the base of all of the doors of the house, are early signs of earthy décor touches. The Amans are planning a "modern organic style - natural, but not rustic," she says.

The interior design elements are all salvage, and costs vary. "Reclaimed lights may be less or more expensive depending on the quality," Aman says. Buying salvage brought "a huge savings on cabinets and tile," she adds. "The [kitchen] counters are from about a dozen old granite slabs that have been sitting in a warehouse for many years, sold from person to person, and are now owned by Rees Kitchen and Bath, from whom we reclaimed the cabinets as well."

The furniture was mostly found at garage sales, craigslist.org, or consignment shops. However, the family did buy a few new pieces - a bed and dining chairs - from a sustainable company called Cisco Brothers, in California. The Homecrest kitchen cabinets were purchased off craigslist, and the doors and staircase baluster they bought at ReHouse, a local company that re-sells salvaged home furnishings. For the spindles on the staircase railing, the family will use sticks. "We're going to build our own," Aman says. The door trim is made of local maple, sustainably harvested.

The bathroom is made of three modest rooms: you enter into the sink room, and the shower and toilet rooms are each off to the side, providing maximum use and privacy for a family of five. The bathroom countertops are reclaimed, too.

Even the finishing details are ecological. The Amans used AFM Safecoat seal for the floor, which will not only protect the concrete, but does not contain any volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as insidious formaldehyde, which emits harmful gases and causes indoor air pollution. For the walls, they used Green Planet Paints' clay paint, purchased from Home Green Home in Ithaca. The clay paint adds coziness, with a velvety, and, well, earthy finish in warm ochre and pale pink, and is applied just like regular paint. The company offers a wide and delicious variety of hues, but if you want to mix your own, you can choose from a variety of pigments and fillers.

In the kitchen, the Amans used non-VOC gloss from Sherwin-Williams, and the family purchased the best Energy Star refrigerator. For now, they will use electricity to power the house, but they are set to convert to solar power once the panels are installed.

Just off the kitchen, high up toward the ceiling, are windows to the "living roof," which they will access with a ladder from outside the house. A living roof is flat, with drainage that goes in toward the middle, so that a person can put plants up there. "You can either have soil on the whole thing, or have pots and grow vegetables. It will also help to insulate the house, and makes the solar panels about 30 percent more efficient," Aman says.

The family anticipates moving into the new home this month, but finishing touches, like the front steps, will be completed in the spring.

To see a slideshow of the house's progress, visit brianroode.com/icf.html.