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Green building is the practice of producing structures whose entire lifecycle is friendly to the Earth and its inhabitants. All it takes from here is to think about the entire project with this simple definition in mind. Then, decide just how green you want to be. REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE! . . . The buzz words of the recycling movement are a great place to start. With good job-site organization and supervision we manage to keep materials orders tight, preventing excess materials from ever getting to the landfill. You benefit twice; once from not having to buy more materials and once from not paying to haul it off. Excess useable materials get returned or go to the recycling center. Landfills across the country are bursting at the seams and one of the biggest culprits is construction waste! Many builders make a lot of noise about being green, but how many of them walk the walk? Check your intended builder's job-sites and dumpsters. Size Matters or Quality v. Quantity . . . By building only the space you need you take the single most important step toward being green. There are no 100% green builiding products. They all take some toll in the manufacture, mining, or harvesting process and delivery to your jobsite. So, design well to keep the size of you project under control. Build well to make a project that lasts a lifetime. Stay Healthy. . . Avoid products that create unhealthy indoor living environments; Many common building products off-gas harmful chemicals for years following installation. Poorly designed ventilation systems allow those chemicals to stay indoors, potentially causing respiratory and other heath problems. Energy Efficiency. . . Building code is not very strict when it comes to energy efficiency. Typically, builders have installed batt insulation and 80% efficient heating systems. This saves money up front (usually for your builder) but costs you every day in poor comfort, wasted energy and the increased pollution that goes with it. We have substantially exceeded the code standard for insulation in every house we have built. We also use high efficiency heating systems, windows and doors to create a high level of comfort and lower heating and cooling bills for your family. Leave it natural . . . Working under our close supervision excavators grub the footprint of the house and only the additional area to be landscaped. This saves in excavation and hauling charges and saves again when it comes time to landscape. You landscape a smaller area while keeping the maintenance - free natural vegetation in place. Beware of Greenwashing! Every time you turn around these days you hear someone talking about being green, buying green, manufacturing green, or just plain living green. Builders all over the country are suddenly billing themselves as "Green Builders" and talking about green lumber products, green apliances, green paint. . . . Caution: Recent surveys have shown that the majority of products labeled Green have been Greenwashed; marketing has obscured the true lifecycle impact of the product. |