Green building is becoming the industry standard
- Randi Pokladnik
- September 20, 2018
- 1245
It was a little over 20 years ago our family decided to build our own home. We wanted our log home to be designed and built using the most ecologically sustainable materials that we could find. The project ended up being a bit more expensive and time consuming than we anticipated, but we love our home.
Green buildings were just becoming popular during that time period, and it was not always easy to find affordable or locally available sources of green building products. We did manage to incorporate several sustainable materials into our design, ones that were ecologically better than their contemporary counterparts.
Our log home is built from logs salvaged from trees killed in a forest fire. These logs came all the way from British Columbia. The only living trees that had to be cut down were the ones used as supports for the roof.
Our counter tops are made from recycled glass tiles, and our aluminum roof is made from recycled cans. We tried to use as much slate and ceramic flooring as possible to cut back on out-gassing, a process that results when hydrocarbon-based polymer materials (vinyl flooring) emit vapors.
Today, as far as green building goes, things have changed for the better. A quick search on the internet will uncover endless choices in green building products for very large or small eco building projects.
Depending on your budget, you can go as green as you want. If money is an issue, there are still ways to green your existing home by constructing a smaller project like a garage or storage shed utilizing green building practices.
Many years ago during a trip to New Mexico, I had the opportunity to visit a small community college that used straw bale construction to create a new wing for their campus.
Straw bale construction uses bales of remaining straw from crops such as wheat, rice, rye and oats. They can be the main structural element for the entire home or used to add additional insulation in outside walls. This technique is very sustainable. The costs to the environment are low, and the materials are almost always locally available.
Straw bale construction also is very energy efficient with the thicker, 18 inches or more walls allowing for an insulation value of R-30 to R-35. A conventional fiberglass 2-by-6 wall has an R value of 21.
Straw bale homes are naturally fire resistant because unlike conventional homes there is at least 1 1/2 inches of plaster material on both the inside and outside surface of the bale. However, in a conventional home the first line of defense is only a half inch of interior drywall. Additionally the bales are so tightly bound that no oxygen can move through the materials. An article in Mother Earth News said a straw bale home has a fire resistance of up to three times that of a conventional home.
One downside to straw bale construction is you must make sure a low moisture level is present in the bales to prevent rotting over time. There are some straw bale houses located in Germany over 400 years old.
Today 70 straw bale structures built during the 1850s are still standing in the Sandhills region of Nebraska.
Another type of green construction technique still used today is called rammed earth. This method can be used for foundations, floors and walls and employs natural materials such as earth, chalk, lime or gravel. A good example of this type of building technique can be observed at Blue Rock Station, located near Philo, Ohio.
The owners, Jay and Annie Warmke, built their “earthship” home using old car tires for the home’s foundation. The tires were “rammed full” of soil from the building site and stacked up to create a foundation. The remainder of the home was built using reclaimed wood and recycled glass bottles. The bottles allow sunlight to pass through exterior walls.
Rammed earth homes have been around since ancient times, and according to Rowland Keable of Rammed Earth Consulting, there are rammed earth structures on every continent except Antarctica.
A final green building idea catching attention, especially in larger cities, is the green roof technique. The traditional flat or sloped roof is covered with a rubber membrane and a living roof system that can actually be planted with flowers, vegetables, herbs or small trees.
The roof is constructed like a normal roof but with a stronger support system to accommodate the extra weight of the soil. There are multiple layers including a vapor barrier and drainage system.
There are many examples of green roofs across Ohio with one of the most prominent ones being located in Columbus on top of the Lazarus Building and one on the Ohio State University campus. There also is one in Tiffin, Ohio on a roof owned by the Sisters of St. Francis.
These roofs are gaining in popularity as they help mitigate run-off from heavy rain storms. They also reduce the amount of energy needed for cooling and heating, cutting down on the heat island effect often seen in cities and providing a source of grey water that can be used to flush toilets.
Denver, Colorado requires the use of green roofs on all roof structures greater than 25,000 square feet.
Green building is a great way to help the environment, save money and provide green jobs for the construction industry.