When planning to build your home, it’s important to consider the impact that your choice of materials will have on the environment and on your health. Some materials and construction practices pollute the air or create hazardous waste, which means that you’ll be exposing yourself to toxins every time you enter your home, especially if you live in a climate where doors and windows are often opened and closed frequently. Others use toxic chemicals during construction, which can leach into the soil or contaminate water supplies around your home remodeling Cincinnati.
Whether you are building your home from scratch or renovating an existing one, you might have questions in mind such as how can you make your home greener and more environmentally friendly? Which building materials are the most eco-friendly? These days, it seems that everyone wants to do things green. In fact, eco-friendly materials are becoming more popular than ever with homeowners, who are concerned about the health of our planet and their own carbon footprint. While there are plenty of green materials on the market, there are some that are more sustainable than others that many home builders choose, so you’ll want to be sure you choose top eco-friendly materials to use in your home build or remodel project.
Top Eco-Friendly Materials to Use in Your Home Build or Remodel Project
Luckily, we’ve compiled an extensive list of eco-friendly home building materials and some suggestions on how to use them within your space to help you make an informed decision on which ones you choose! Take a look at this list of top eco-friendly materials to use in your home build or remodel project to make your home truly green!
Concrete
Where do you start when it comes to building a home? Concrete. It’s more than a foundation—it’s an eco-friendly material with many advantages. Here are just a few reasons why concrete is a must for any green build.
- Strong
- Durable
- Sustainable
Sure, it might not be as light or airy as some other materials, but concrete is strong, long lasting and sustainable. The greenest concrete is mixed with recycled content such as old tires or crushed cans.
The embedded carbon from these materials will keep your house cool during summer while keeping it warm during winter by reducing energy loss and heat transfer through insulation.
Timber
One popular material for home building is timber, or hardwood. Many green home builders prefer timber during home building because it’s sturdy and relatively inexpensive. Timber has been an important building material for centuries and is likely to be one for a long time yet. Moreover, there are many types of timber available including:
- Pine
- Oak
- Ash
- Cedar
- Beech
- Mahogany
Another benefit of using timber in your home building project is that it can also be recycled; you could use materials from demolished buildings or you could even recycle your own lumber—it’s all good!
Adobe Brick
Adobe brick is yet another standard and environmentally beneficial building material that is still utilized today. Adobe bricks are constructed of clay and straw and are popular in the Americas and the Middle East. And, like other natural materials, adobe insulation helps to maintain stable house temperatures. This architectural style is mainly common in the United States Southwest. Most house insurance companies classify adobe buildings as masonry construction, which means that the building material is noncombustible and hence easy to insure.
Stone
With plenty of various designs and colors available, stone is one of the most popular materials for home building or renovation. It’s also durable and lasts longer than other materials—which means you get a return on your investment. For example:
- Limestone costs around $2 per square foot
- Granite costs about $4 per square foot
- Marble costs around $10 per square foot
Stone can be made using recycled material which means it helps reduce landfill waste! Be careful when deciding on what type of stone you should use. For example, granite has low toxicity but marble contains lead so make sure you do your research if you’re concerned about toxins in your home. In general, however, stone is a great eco-friendly choice for home building and home renovation projects that won’t break your budget!
Metal
When compared with plastic, metal building materials are completely recyclable. Wood and plastics require energy to remove them from landfills, whereas recycled metals can be reused again and again. Aesthetically speaking, wood is much better suited for traditional homes than it is for modern ones. Metal or glass would look best with a contemporary home design that incorporates clean lines and natural light. If you decide to use metal as your main building material, opt for aluminum if you’re concerned about weight (although steel is stronger).
Glass
Although glass is typically not seen as an eco-friendly material, its inherent recyclability and other green qualities make it a great choice for home building or renovation materials. Glass is an exceptionally durable building material, making it resistant to shattering during natural disasters and other extreme weather events. To top it off, glass has many different looks that you can incorporate into your design scheme such as
- Clear Glass Panels
- Frosted Glass Panels
- Colored Glass Panels
Glass is a versatile building material that can be used in home design and build projects ranging from high rises and large scale buildings to standalone homes.
Bamboo
Bamboo is becoming more popular as a home build choice. It has high tensile strength and may be used for walls and floors. It is an excellent building material since it can be utilized behind the scenes — for example, beneath another form of flooring and wall screens and mats. Bamboo is exceptionally sustainable due to its rapid growth. While trees like pine and cedar may be replanted, the process can take years. Bamboo can be reforested considerably more quickly and grows all over the planet.
Composite Materials
If you’re looking for an eco-friendly way to build your home or renovate your home, it’s time you started using composites. This material is made up of a resin bonded fiberglass; wood has typically been used as a replacement in things like siding and decking because it can be milled easily and economically. However, composites offer several benefits over wood: they’re stronger, more durable and are less susceptible to decay. Plus, they don’t require painting or refinishing every year or two—or at all! Some manufacturers even back their composite materials with a 50 year warranty.
Eco-Friendly Faucets, Sinks, and Showers
There are so many different ways you can improve your faucets, sinks, and showers without sacrificing style. Manufacturers are creating more and more fixtures that look as good as they perform, using materials like low flow shower heads, water saving faucets, and waterless urinals. One company even created a sink made from a potato. It’s eco-friendly because it can be composted after its lifespan is over. You can also use these products to beautify your kitchen or bathroom; less waste means more savings for you! Other alternatives include cutting costs with new green appliances, ensuring energy efficiency with every fixture choice.
Energy Saving Features
One of the most cost-effective ways you can make your home green is by installing energy saving features like insulation and energy efficient appliances. For example, consider replacing single glazed windows with double glazed windows; they’ll help keep out drafts and conserve heat better than single glazed versions. Installing ceiling fans can also reduce your energy consumption. Ceiling fans work much better than A/C units because they use less power while circulating air throughout a room, making it feel significantly cooler; however, ceiling fans don’t actually lower temperatures so if you live in a warm area that doesn’t often experience extreme weather, try using A/C units instead.
You could even save some money on cooling costs just by lowering your thermostat for when you are away from home or asleep during warmer seasons; many experts recommend keeping the temperature at around 68 degrees when no one is home. Or, better yet, program your thermostat or smart meter so that it automatically drops several degrees when there aren’t any people around. That way no one is uncomfortable due to high temperatures even though it might take longer for certain tasks (like cooking) to complete.
Sum-Up:
Homeowners thinking of renovating their old home or those building their first home may find themselves overwhelmed with the many choices available to them in terms of materials and finishes to use within their space when it comes to making their home green. There are so many options that it’s hard to determine which ones will have the least impact on your environment and the earth. So, hope this blog will help you choose the materials for your home build or home remodel project!
If you need any professional help to build your dream home, then you can contact home builders at Homednb! We have many ideas to make your home eco-friendly as well as stylish!