Tag: eco friendly building

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Articles Eco Tips Recycling

A Re-Purposeful Life

New isn’t necessarily better. In fact, repurposing items can create a unique environment filled with pieces that can’t be found in chain stores and can keep articles out of landfills. You can take this a step further when you reclaim materials from a deconstruction site. If you’re building or deconstructing a home or business, consider buying or selling materials to use again.

PlanetReuse connects buyers and sellers to materials for repurposing from deconstruction projects. You can build a home or business with reprocessed items from top to bottom. The PlanetReuse Marketplace features links to roofing materials, ceiling fans, wooden beams, lighting, molding, siding, windows, carpet tiles, and pine flooring. There are kitchen cabinets, bathroom sinks and various types of tables waiting to be recycled. For treasure hunters, stained glass windows, vintage clawfoot bathtubs, and antique sconces are yours for the salvaging. Moreover, if you’re interested in redoing your driveway or garden, you can use reclaimed landscaping rock, edging pavers, bricks, cobblestone or granite to create your own work of landscaping art. It’s all available at PlanetReuse, so check out its Marketplace section to see what’s available online.

Habitat for Humanity ReStores are nonprofit home improvement stores and donation centers throughout North America. Its website features a drop-down menu with filters by zip code and state to find Restores in the U.S. and offers an alternate filter for Canadian Provinces. Not only can you buy new and gently used furniture, appliances, home goods, and building materials, you can buy items far below retail prices. As an added attraction, proceeds go to build homes in communities in need of aid.

The Building Materials Reuse Association (BMRA) specializes in finding deconstruction or reuse businesses in your area with its business directory of listings and an interactive map. BMRA works to advance the recovery, reuse, and recycling of building materials by reducing resource consumption and landfill waste.

When it comes to interior decorating, you can adorn your home or business with vintage items from antique stores, yard sales or check out Freecycle.org; it’s an organization dedicated solely to recycling free items. Another option is to conduct online searches for reuse centers and resellers in your area. Lastly, if you see a deconstruction project in your area, contact a project representative or community liaison to see what may be available.

To reprocess an old saying, they don’t make things like they used to, so why not reclaim it? With recycling options at your fingertips, you can make your life a re-purposeful one.

~Maureen F. 

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Green Building Home Design

4 Sustainable Home Building Materials

Thinking about remodeling your home? The best way to remodel your home is by using green building materials. It is a great way to help save the environment and get the most out of your home.  Since it is sometimes difficult to define if a particular material is green there are some general guidelines to consider.

  • Typically, the best material for any job is the one that performs the best with respect to the green criteria of you and your home. Factors might include: the product’s longevity, how well the material or product works with the rest of your home, whether it contributes to reducing energy or water consumption, or if it helps to improve air quality.
  • If two materials perform the same and have roughly equal expected lifetimes, natural materials are normally preferable to man-made ones.
  • Local materials are generally preferred to ones that must be shipped long distances, but you should weigh each material case by case.

Here is some information about the types of green materials you can choose for your home!

  • Framing — Wood. Two types of wood are gaining traction among green builders — engineered lumber and wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Engineered wood is very common on both green and conventional home because it uses wood scraps and smaller trees to produce framing that’s stronger than traditional logs. Engineered wood also allows the builder to use less wood and use wood scraps that would otherwise go to waste.
  • Insulation — Fiberglass. Builders generally don’t consider fiberglass insulation a green material because it typically contains a toxic binding agent and is very energy-intensive to make. However, “superinsulating” a structure beyond building-code requirements is a fundamental principle of green building. Many green builders take advantage of the low cost and ease of installation to “superinsulate” and save money that they can use for other green features.
  • Roofing – Steel. Steel roofing (both panels and shingles) is an increasingly popular green choice because of its high recycled content and longevity.
  • Interior Finishing — Natural clay plaster.  Natural clay plasters are a great green alternative to the more common gypsum-based plasters.

Sources: isopropertyresources.com, (http://www.isopropertyresources.com/Feature-Story/Articles/Green-Building-Materials.html), greensource.com, (http://greensource.construction.com/products/2013/1303-product.asp)

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Featured Green Building

Why Use a LEED Certified Builder?

Whether you are building a brand new structure or having work done on your existing home, if you’re an eco-conscious homeowner, you should consider pursuing LEED certification. This involves two aspects of your project: hiring a LEED certified builder and having the structure itself certified.

What is LEED certification?

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. It is a rating system created by the USGBC (US Green Build Council) to help business and residential builders and building owners create and maintain more sustainable properties. There are two types of LEED certification for structures: standard LEED certification and LEED for Homes certification. The LEED for Homes guidelines lay out how efficient residential structures need to be to be LEED certified, while the general LEED guidelines refer to commercial structures.

The Advantages

LEED certification for your home comes with many advantages. Part of getting the certification involves making a home that is healthier. This is due to the requirements involving air quality, sunlight exposure and more harmonious views.

LEED certification also requires water and energy efficiency. This makes your home more eco-friendly. It also reduces your costs, as reduced water and energy usage translates into lower monthly costs for those utilities.

But this isn’t the only way it can save you money. Indeed, homes that are LEED certified also have higher resale values. This makes your home more valuable should you choose to sell it.

LEED Professional Credentials

But it isn’t just structures that can be LEED certified. Builders can also be certified. That is, their work has been evaluated by experts and rated based on how many of the designated areas they have hit, and how well. Builders with this credential have been acknowledged for their innovation and awareness of green building techniques and processes.

Getting LEED Certified

You can use the LEED for Homes Green Rater to determine how efficient your home already is. To get certified, you’ll need to register your project with USGBC and have your project evaluated by a professional LEED for Homes Green Rater. You’ll also need to have your home rated by a Home Energy Rating System Rater.

You can find a map of LEED for Homes providers on the USGBC website, www.usgbc.org. If there are no providers in your immediate vicinity, don’t worry. You can contact any of the providers listed and seek their aid.

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By Topic Home Improvement

Green Materials to Use for Home Improvement

In need of a new look for the inside of your home? Widespread concern regarding pollution and the conservation of natural resources has prompted more homeowners to consider greener ideas and environmentally friendly materials.

Install Bamboo Floors. Most people think bamboo is wood, but bamboo is actually a grass … and one that grows quickly, within three to five years to be precise. This means bamboo is a good renewable resource. Most bamboo is grown and harvested in either Hawaii or China. Bamboo is resilient and comes in a variety of colors and shades.

Use Reclaimed Wood. Reclaimed or salvaged lumber can be used to build walls, as support beams or even in roof construction. Instead of dumping previously used lumber into a landfill, it can be put back into new construction projects.

Choose Low or Zero VOC Paint. A new coat of paint can transform the look of an old room into an exciting new space. However, most paints contain harmful volatile organic compounds that contribute to air pollution, smog and respiratory problems. By choosing low VOC paint, you can help reduce the volatile organic compounds in the air and still have a beautiful, freshly painted room.