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Choosing Environmentally Friendly Construction Materials

With growing momentum, sustainable and environmentally friendly construction practices are taking hold with progress due to organizations such as the US Green Building Council (usgbc.org) and the American Institute of Architects (aia.org). Yet for the consumer who wants to build a 36-story office building or renovate their home, the task of finding what is sustainable or environmentally friendly leaves many in the dust. Who do you trust?

Each day you awake, a new product has hit the market as "green", some are of this shade and some are just shady. Marketing has a power that can sway even the hardest of heads. Yet to be totally successful, one must spend some time doing research to ensure what they are buying is indeed a trusted and green building material. How is one to be sure of what to do?

Simply ask questions and read labels and then ask more questions, that is if you are really serious about using a truly green product. First look beyond the product to the raw materials used to make any given product. Often this can be difficult but a real green manufacturer will be transparent and love to talk about their green raw materials. If the product is mined or farmed, have practices been implemented to minimize or avoid negative environmental impacts? Are the raw materials used from recycled content and to what percentage? A simple example would be printer paper, the manufacturer will state to what percentage and what type the recycled content is in the end product. Would the US Environmental Protection Agency consider the product for purchase, you can rest assured it's spot on if these red tape lovers would buy it. Are the raw materials renewable, such as bamboo that could be used in your next flooring project? Lastly and one of the most important factors, are the raw materials themselves meeting the EPA's National Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Emission Standards. Think that nasty smell that comes from a newly laid carpet, that smell is organic solvents coming off as the adhesives cure, this you don't want.

Now on to the product you are considering itself and what you should ask about it. Is the manufacturer minimizing the use of nonrenewable energy to make the product? If they were using renewable energy this would be a huge plus in the evaluation column. How many times does the product traverse the globe just to get to you? This is where thinking locally comes in and will pay off in not spending nonrenewable

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