Green Building Elements

How carelessness on the job site leads to overflowing landfills, with tips on how to reduce construction waste

If you feel like you are doing your part for the environment by taking your box of recycling to the curb, consider how much went to waste in the construction of your house.  According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) study, an estimated 8,000 lbs of waste is created from the construction of a 2,000 square foot home.  The majority of the 8,000 is wood, cardboard, and drywall.  Almost all of that waste ends up in landfills.  More than one green builder I’ve met first looked into green building after growing increasingly disgusted at the tons of debris carried away on a construction site.  Much of the debris was either unnecessary material or material that could be salvaged or recycled.  The problem can be solved by streamlining the material coming into the construction site and better managing how the waste is separated and where it ends up.

A focus on waste reduction comes with three major benefits: Read the rest of this entry »

Happy New Year!

Here we are officially at the start of what promises to be a year of taking steps towards the sustainable lifestyle that will positively impact us over the long term. What better time than now to think about how you can plan your green building efforts over the course of this year.

As always, the writers of Green Building Elements are here to guide you with all of the wonderful green resources that we here about everyday.

If you have not already read 2009 Green Home Resolutions, I suggest that you do with further ado. Joel offers some great tips for simple, inexpensive (or free) ways to green your life starting today. And Dawn’s post about Tax Credits available in 2009 provides a guideline of the energy efficiency tax credits included in last year’s economic bailout.

Beyond this, here are my favorite Green Building resources that our writers have written about in the last year:

1. New Green Building 101 E-book

Keith wrote a great post about Green Building 101: A Basic Guide to Building and Remodeling Sustainably. Green Building 101 makes for an easy intro for anyone not familiar with the green building process. Authored by our very own Dawn Killough, the book is broken down into categories such as energy efficiency, building materials, and construction procedures. Anyone familiar with the LEED system or Green Point Rated certification programs will be knowledgeable with these topics.

Click here for the full story.

2. AIA Launches “GreenStep” Video Series

Dawn also told us about a wonderful online video series launched by the American Institute of Architects (AIA). The series presents short episodes on several green building topics.  It is meant for those planning new buildings or the renovation of existing buildings, and shows how architects can help clients address their green concerns.

Click here for the full story.

3. Off the Grid Homes - Case Studies for Sustainable Living

Philip reviewed a wonderful book entitled Off the Grid Homes written by architect Lori Ryker. The book is less of a manual for systems to be used in off the grid homes (though it does include good information about the systems and strategies that are used in sustainable off the grid living) and more of a showcase of state of the art homes at the intersection of appealing architecture and high sustainability.

Click here for the full story.

4. Green Building Resource Guide

Finally, for the architects and designers out there, don’t miss the Green Building Resource Guide, a database of over 600 green building materials and products selected specifically for their usefulness to the design and building professions.  The Green Building Resource Guide is designed around four user interfaces familiar to architects: Site Plan, Elevation, Floor Plan, and Section.

Fast becoming staples of the green building industry are pre-assembled structural insulated panels, or SIPs, which replace conventional framing and offer greater energy efficiency, reduced lumber usage, and quicker construction.  SIPs are polystyrene foam sandwiched between oriented strand boards that provide structural framing, insulation, and exterior sheathing in one piece.  They can be used as floors, walls, and roofs and provide much greater energy efficiency than insulation in stud walls with an R-value improvement of 15% to 40%.  The oriented strand boards are made from wood of fast growing trees and emit very low levels of urea-formaldehyde.  The polystyrene foam can also consist of recycled content. Read the rest of this entry »

Hangar 25 at Bob Hope airport in Burbank, CA - Interior

Shangri-La Industries has introduced its newly formed business unit, Shangri-La Construction, at today’s unveiling of their inaugural project: Hangar 25, the world’s first aviation hangar to achieve Platinum certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Rating System™ at the Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, California.

Shangri-La Industries is a diversified firm integrating environmentally-conscious development, sustainable construction and innovative green technology to create the next generation of business solutions. Steve Bing, the founder and environmental advocate recognized that reducing energy consumption would not only yield environmental benefits, but also generate significant cost savings. Read the rest of this entry »

Can your hardwood floors contribute to global warming?  Which hardwoods are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council?  Are some types of bamboo greener than others?  Eco Timber’s Eco-Friendly Flooring Guide is a valuable source for information on sustainable hardwood flooring and a must read for any green builder.  The Richmond, California based company has promoted responsible harvesting of timber and sustainable practices such as reclaiming and salvaging wood (their guide tells you the difference between reclaimed and salvaged wood) since 1992.

Topics in the guide range from legal and illegal logging and responsible forestry to the presence of formaldehyde and other volatile organic compounds in the wood and adhesives.  Eco Timber tackles every step in the process from subfloors to floor pads to the panels themselves.  Looking for a specific hardness of wood?  They’ve got a scale.  Do you already have a hardwood floor and want advice on green care and maintenance?  Eco Timber has a section on maintenance, surface scratching, and refinishing. Read the rest of this entry »

Is it possible to build a carbon neutral home? Apparently so says the Australian Home Lifestyle TV show. Watch this segment about green building construction.

Follow Philly’s Postgreen as they attempt to build a modern green home for $100,000.

Just over a year ago, Philadelphia developer Postgreen undertook an ambitious project, to build a modern green home for $100,000.  Not only are they seeking to shatter the myth that green homes are unaffordable, but they are documenting every step on their site, 100KHouse.com.  Located in the New Kensington area of Philadelphia, the house will be a roughly 1,000 square foot two bedroom one and a half bath modern style home - and will not be a prefab; rather it is being built from the ground up according to LEED for Homes guidelines using such affordable energy saving materials as SIPs (structurally insulated panels.)

Documenting the progress of the 100K House are Postgreen President Chad Ludeman and PR Director Nic Darling.  Both are convinced that affordable green building is not only possible, but necessary to bring about true environmental change.  Their blog posts are not limited to the progress of the 100K House; they write about a range of interesting green topics. Read the rest of this entry »

Earthen plasters provide a beautiful, soft, and an organic finishing touch to your home, whether they be a straw bale house, cob building, wood cabin, or even plain old sheetrock walls. A simple natural plaster can be mixed from ingredients straight from the earth, including sand, clay, and fibers such as straw, cattail fluff, or even cow manure.

It’s a simple process and a creative one, too: you can let your imagination shine through earthen plaster with its vast sculptability and its variety of application.

Read on to learn more about making and applying earthen plasters!

Read the rest of this entry »

South African Anglican Archbishop and renowned anti-apartheid activist Desmond Tutu will give the keynote address at Greenbuild 2008, to be held in Boston on November 19 through 21.  Tutu’s appearance marks a continuation of the US Green Building Council’s commitment to tie green building to world issues.  Last year in Chicago, former President Bill Clinton gave the keynote address, which can be viewed here.  Archbishop Tutu, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, worked for social justice in South Africa as the General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches, pushing for reconciliation after the end of apartheid, as well as using his clout to fight poverty, human rights abuses, and AIDS.  “Bishop Tutu’s life, work, and message demonstrate the power of transformational change,” commented Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO, and Founding Chairman of the USGBC.  “Bishop Tutu’s role in ending apartheid in South Africa and bringing reconciliation to its people will inspire us toward the transformation of our buildings to a sustainable future, and will give us an extraordinary example of social justice in action.” Read the rest of this entry »

A southeast Portland, Oregon retail store is undergoing renovations intended to help it achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification.  If it reaches its goal, it will be the first retail store in Oregon and the first of Cincinnati-based Kroger Co.’s stores to do so.

“In the Northwest, we are immersed in the culture of sustainability, and we’ve been working on establishing sustainable practices for a long time when it comes to issues like energy efficiency, recycling and storm water management,” said Randall Douthit, group vice president for facility engineering for Fred Meyer. “Working toward LEED certification is really a national evolutionary step in our progress.”

Read the rest of this entry »