Whether you’ve just been promoted, finally saved up enough or have moved to where you want your children to grow up, making the investment to build your first or forever home is an incredible accomplishment. It’ll probably be the biggest investment you ever make in life, and you want create a home you and your family will love for decades to come. Working with custom builders such as Eco Minded Solutions who are committed to creating luxury homes that embody their customer’s personal style while positively impacting the environment is a great way to build a home beneficial for you and the world. Here are three trending home designs to consider that will give you a current home chock full of environmental, monetary and personal benefits.

1. Prefab Homes

Like the name says, these are fab-ulous homes for the environment and your wallet. They are pre-manufactured in a factory and shipped to the lot you want to build on. This method of production is better for the environment because only what’s needed for construction is created and used. In addition, these homes aren’t made in the elements like regularly constructed houses are. Wind, rain and snow can all slow down the building process, leaving you with higher building fees because the home took longer to make. Probably the best perk of these homes is how economical they are. Homes run about $300,000 today around the country, but pre-fab models can start at $150,000 for beautiful, contemporary and sustainable homes.

2. Cargotecture

This style of home building is centered around using cargo containers to make a home. The containers serve as the base and are stacked, placed next to and welded together to make the shape of your home. Using this material not only gives the cargo containers a second life but keeps them out of landfills where they sit and contribute to the high amount of waste in America. For your home’s benefit, these are extremely durable bases for a home to be built around, very sustainable and can sometimes be relocated if you needed to move. Lastly, cargo containers are much less expensive compared to brick, siding or concrete-based homes.

3. Tiny Homes

These homes aren’t Barbie dream houses that came to life. They’re actual homes people live in and sustain for long-term housing. They average just under 200ft and come chock full of benefits. An average home releases around 16,000lbs of CO2 back into the air, but this home only produces an average 1,114lbs. What a difference! In addition, this style of home helps people scale back and really take into account what’s important to them, instead of hoarding and buying unnecessary items that collect dust. Many of these homes are created to be nearly self-sustaining, so if you wanted to live off the grid, you’d have virtually no monthly utility costs.

Change can be hard, especially in something as standard as home building. However, the materials, styles and design choices used in your home don’t have to be traditional anymore. You can opt for creating a dream home none of your friends will have that’s only perfect for you and your family but also benefiting the environment your house calls home.