Building an Environmentally-Friendly Home

A family-friendly house with big ideas behind even the smallest details

Building an Environmentally-Friendly Home
John Dolan

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Flooring

Oak, one of the most popular hardwoods for floors, has a regrowth period of 80 years. Low-maintenance bamboo is beautiful, lasts as long as oak, is even harder, and regenerates in three to five years. It can cost more, and consumers should check out its source and method of manufacture.

Paint

Many paints release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that affect the environment of the house, indoors and out, for years. Low- or no-VOC products are commonly available from most major manufacturers, often at comparable prices.

Insulation

Instead of fiberglass insulation (a composite of mined substances and recycled glass), consider using recycled cotton or cellulose insulation made of at least 80 percent recycled newspaper. Treated for fire- and insect-resistance, it is also a superior insulator, so you need less of it per square inch.

Running Hot and Cold

The average American family spends about $1,300 on utilities each year, 44 percent of it on heating and cooling. You can cut your dependence on the local power company by converting to solar power, an option even in cold northern climates, or by installing a geothermal heating and cooling system, which harnesses the earth's constant temperatures. Initial investments vary widely, depending on geography and other factors, but savings — including state and federal government rebates and credit from surplus energy returned to the regional utility grid — eventually do kick in.

Also try reducing demand: by siting a house on its lot optimally (an east-west orientation is ideal) and using such passive features as well-insulated walls, awnings, louvered shutters, and wide eaves to help prevent heat from building up (and to retain it in winter). According to the U.S. Department of Energy, a well-designed landscape can reduce summer air-conditioning costs by 15 to 50 percent.

Landscaping

Conventional landscaping can exact a high price from the environment in terms of water use and chemical pollution. Sustainable landscaping techniques that emphasize composting, mulching, drought-resistant plants, perennials, and native species encourage bio-diversity and conserve water. For greatest water conservation, install a rainwater-collection system and replace sprinklers with drip irrigation. Visit www.asla.org, the website of the American Society for Landscape Architects, to find a qualified landscape architect.

Structural Methods

Before you lay a new floor or make plans for a deck, consider the source. The United States has already destroyed 95 percent of its old-growth (200- to 250-year-old) forests. Oriented strand board, or OSB, made from fast-growing farmed trees and used for subfloors, can be stronger than plywood sheeting and is cheaper; plastic and composite lumber can often substitute for cedar, redwood, and pressure-treated pine outdoors.

Written by Jenny Allen

April 2002

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