CONSUMER'S GUIDE TO SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES -- BUILDING MATERIALS

Building Materials and Remodeling

Introduction
Primary Links
For More Information
Organizations

Introduction

If you're like most people, your home is among your largest investments. This, combined with the fact that you also live in your home, means that you might be interested in making changes -- improving your living arrangements, or increasing the value of your home.

This is an important time to realize the impact of your choices on environmental sustainability. There are two major major things to consider in analyzing the impact your home has on the environment and on our ability to sustain our planet's resources: how much energy your home uses or wastes, and what kind of building materials were used in making or remodeling it.

Whether you are building a brand new home, putting an addition on your existing home, or simply remodeling a bathroom or kitchen, you will probably be amazed at the amount of materials that will be consumed (and maybe wasted if you're not careful) in the process. Lumber. Tile. Insulation. All building materials have to come from somewhere, and using materials that either have a high recycled content or are manufactured in a sustainable manner can make a big difference in the impact your remodeling project has on the environment.

And because you probably also need to heat or cool your home -- or both -- it's important to remember that the design of your home, the detailed work done at the time of remodeling, and the materials involved all have an impact on how much energy your home uses -- or on how much it wastes.

A few facts to get you started:

The typical U.S. house loses 25% of its heating and cooling energy through its windows. If all the windows in the U.S. were energy efficient, we'd save up to 2.5% of the amount of energy the U.S. consumes each year.
Environmentally improved windows have the potential to pay back up to three times their cost in energy savings.
Insulating walls and ceilings, adding or improving caulking and weatherstripping around doors and windows, and wrapping your water heater in an insulating jacket can help reduce CO2 emissions by up to 4,000 pounds a year.
Because they are water-based, latex paints -- especially those with a flat finish -- usually contain fewer hazardous chemicals than oil-based coverings. Also, latex paints don't require the use of dangerous solvents for thinning or cleaning, which reduces environmental pollution and protects your health.
a standard wood-framed home consumes over one acre of forest and the waste created during construction averages from 3 to 7 tons. Consider some of the alternative building materials discussed by the sites below.

Questions? Please see our page of Frequently Asked Questions about Building Materials.

Primary Links

Environmental Building News

URL: http:\\www.ebuild.com
This is an online newsletter that primarily covers building materials and their impact on the environment. The best way to locate specific advice for a particular need you have is to use their search option -- just enter a general term for the materials you're interested in, such as "cabinets" or "insulation" and you will be able to choose links to newsletter articles and detailed, helpful product reviews on that topic. The newsletter archive goes back several years, so be careful to check whether the information is current enough for your uses. The site is updated at least once a month as new issues of the newsletter are added.

Resources for Environmental Design Index

URL: http://oikos.com:591/redi/default.html
This site is a database of commercially available products, which have been selected for low environmental impact. It includes all types of building products. Search by product keyword, general category, company name, or environmental benefit. Each entry gives contact information and indicates whether you can request literature on-line or link to a web site, as well as noting in what general way the product is of environmental benefit (for example, whether a product is water saving, or energy saving, or has a high recycled content). We recommend checking the help page for lists of the notations used to designate different types of environmental-friendliness. Please keep in mind that product info is supplied by the manufacturer or vendor, and while REDI is independent and attempts to make certain that environmental claims are substantiated there is no guarantee that all the vendors are honest.

The Gallery of Environmentally Preferable Goods and Services

URL: http://tbe.mit.edu/gallery/
This site is run by the Technology, Business, and Environmental Program Center For Technology, Policy, and Industrial Development at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It features a database of environmentally preferable products, which includes information about design tools used, marketing strategies, financial success and environmental success of different products.

Virtual Sample Room of Green Building Materials

URL: http://www.sampleroom.buygreen.com/english/index.htm
This is another database of green products and services, in many cases offering contact or supplier information to help you use these sustainable products in your project. The database will allow you to search alphabetically if you know of a product name, or by type of product or service. As a helpful feature, this database will also allow you to limit your searching to only those products that are "third-party" certified as being genuinely sustainably harvested, manufactured, or recycled.

CoopAmerica: Green Living Tips

URL: http://www.coopamerica.org/gp/Gliving.htm#building
This is a long page of several dozen tips on active ways to make your home a better and more environmentally sound place, with separate suggestions for those interested in renovating a home, building a new home, or just making a few "green" modifications.

For More Information

Environmental Organization Webdirectory: Environmental Building Materials

URL: http://www.suntek.mb.ca/kwcomm/restore
This is a directory site, but it is included here because it links to dozens of firms and organizations selling recycled and environmentally friendly building materials. We cannot vouch for the companies on this site, but most of these listings are for companies that specialize in recycling the huge amount of construction and demolition waste, and that is certainly an area where you can make a significant environmental difference if you're considering a major building or remodeling project.

Energy Star -- Windows

URL: http://www.energystar.gov/products/windows/index.html
This is a helpful page from Energy Star that deals only with windows, doors and skylights, all about a program that's designed to help consumers identify efficient products. The Energy Star Windows program is a partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy and window manufacturers, and they claim that energy star-labeled windows are twice as efficient as the average window produced just ten years ago. Scroll down their page for a link to specific purchasing advice tied to regions of the country. Site last updated 10/13/99.

Your Natural Home: A complete sourcebook and design manual for creating a healthy, beautiful, and environmentally sensitive house. by Janet Marinelli and Paul Bierman-Lytle. Little, Brown and Company, New York: 1995. 256 pages.
This is a two part manual. The first section uses five case studies to illustrate what the author thinks we're doing wrong with current design approaches. The second part focuses on environmental building, decorating, and maintenance products. Some 2,000 products are listed, grouped under the headings structure, life-support systems, interior surfaces, furnishings, appliances and fixtures, children's products, and home maintenance products.

Organizations

Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC)

URL: http://www.sbic.org 1331 H Street, N.W., Suite 1000, Washington, D.C. 20005 USA. Phone (202) 628-7400
SBIC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the design, affordability, energy performance, and environmental soundness of residential, institutional, and commercial buildings nationwide. SBIC offers professional training, consumer education, and energy analysis tools. They also provide accurate, easy-to-use guidelines, software, and general information about energy conservation measures, energy efficient equipment and appliances, daylighting, and sustainable architecture. The Council is also active in presenting workshops and seminars geared toward improving building energy performance in cities and towns throughout the nation.

Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development: Community Green Building

URL: http://www.sustainable.doe.gov/buildings/gbprogrm.htm
U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Denver Regional Support Office
1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, CO 80401
Phone: (800) 363-3732
E-mail: sustainable.development@hq.doe.gov
This site, run by the U.S. Department of Energy, offers links to a number of local and national Community Green Building Programs, most of which are designed to offer community incentives and support for sustainable building practices and environmentally friendly home design. Whether or not these programs are active in your area, their websites offer good ideas for steps you can take in your own home and differences that can be made on the local level. This list of links was last updated on November 23, 1999.

Building Materials and Remodeling

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