Green Building

Green Building as another hot topic these days. Building green simply means using energy efficient building techniques and mechanical systems as well as environmentally friendly products and finishes.

Hit Me With Your Best Site

Proper site orientation, which is simply the direction your house faces, can have a major affect the size of the mechanical heating and cooling system you'll need.

South facing buildings with the proper roof overhang use passive solar gain to take advantage of the lower angle of the sun in the winter for heat and blocks the intense rays of the sun, which is higher in the sky during the summer, reducing the amount of cooling needed. During the winter keep curtains and blinds on south and east facing windows open during the day to capture the sun's heat and close them at dusk to keep that heat in longer. Reverse this in summer months, close the curtains to block the sun during the day and open them at night to let the cool air in.

Minimizing the number of windows and doors on the north and west sides when building a new house will reduce the amount of heat loss, since these areas get less sunlight. If your exisiting house has quite a few north or west facing windows, thermal lined curtains or shades will minimize heat loss in these areas.

Make In the Shade

Did you know properly positioned tree can reduce the amount of energy a typical house uses for cooling by 25%, by providing shade during the hottest hours of the day? It can also act as a wind barrier in the harsh winter months. Consult a qualified landscape architect to achieve the maximum benefit.

Green Goods

There are so many new and exciting environmentally friendly home building products available today. Things like: countertops made from recycled paper or glass and concrete that offer almost endless design options. Those plastic soda and water bottles we just talked about recycling become plastic and composite deck boards. Bamboo has gained popularity quickly and is being used in everything from kitchen utensils to flooring. and you can now get insulation made from the scrap thread left over from the denim industry. Not only does it reduce the amount of waste going into the landfill, denim insulation is naturally fire retardant, doesn't emit toxic chemicals or produce respiratory or skin irritants. Anyone who has handled fiberglass insulation knows that itchy/scratchy feeling I'm referring to. Denim insulation comes in bats and installs like traditional fiberglass insulation.

Say No to Greenwashing

When researching any product that claims to be "green", beware of something called greenwashing. Greenwashing is a lot hype a company puts out about how environmentally friendly or non-toxic their product is. When in reality, the product itself might be natural and non-toxic, but the company that makes the product doesn't practice environmentally friendly standards of operation. To give you an example, let's say you are interested in putting in a bamboo floor. Bamboo is an environmentally friendly product right? It grows fast. Reduces the amount of trees cut down, but if the company that processes the raw bamboo into the flooring dumps toxic by-products into a near by river, produces massive amounts of air borne pollutants and glues the bamboo products together with adhesives that will off-gas toxic fumes into your house, it's not such a green product any more is it?

My suggestion is do your research. Not only about the products themselves, but also the company that produces them. If your still unsure, contact us, we'll research them for you.