For a sustainable building or rennovation project we need to consider the environmental impact of materials we're using to reduce energy consumption in the home. There are many things you can do to make your build minimal in its environmental imact. They range from large- to small-scale, and most people have to choose priorities and make trade-offs.
Using carefully chosen recycled or reclaimed materials greatly reduces the carbon impact of your build or rennovation, and can be an extremely cost effective and easy way of reducing its impact. Using locally sourced, recycled or reclaimed material will not result in a huge saving in cost, but will make your building inherently sustainable from its inception - and lessen its emobdied carbon.
The ecological impact of the UK construction industry alone is massive. It accounts for 19% of the total national ecological imact, and 23% of total UK carbon emissions. It also accounts for 30% of UK freight traffic. (
www.wrap.org.uk/)
Wood is a beautiful, popular and natural material for building. Locally sourced timber and sustainable sourced pine can be used for frames and for the external structure. Readily available materials such as reclaimed or recycled tyres for insulation, bottles, recycled bricks, tiles and slates, and reclaimed metals, such as steel for beams and supports, can all help to lessen the environmental impact and cost of your build. Using reclaimed as opposed to new timber could lessen the impact of your build or rennovation by up to 79% - and up to 96% for reclaimed steel!
Concrete is an extremely popular and easy to work with material - almost every house these days has at least a concrete base. However, the cement used to make concrete is extremely polluting to the environment, and a major contributor to our carbon footprint and to the environmental impact of a build or rennovation project. Concrete can, however, be used in combination with eco building materials to help reduce the impact of the building process on the environment.
Building with Straw Bales
Building with straw bales is an increasingly popular choice when it comes to self building, and have proved a durable, cost effective and sustainable way to construct anything from sheds to grand family homes. Straw bales require no concrete, can be easily and locally sourced, and need no damaging insulaton materials once rendered. In fact, straw bales themselves double up as excellent natural insulation for you home!
There are an ever growing number of courses available throughout the UK, Europe and the USA on straw bale building and it is easy to learn, fun, and a cost effective and sustainable alternative to building homes with a large emobdied carbon.
On-Site Construction provides a significant resource for reclaimed materials. Unused materials, or over orders of materials not used on the project can always be reclaimed and used in a self-build or rennovation, as the costs of expensive landfill are saved for the construction project for mkaing it available for reclaiming.
Online sites such as ebay have many reclaimed items for sale, and sites such as freecycle.org have a thriving network of people exchanging and wishing to get rid of recycled and reclaimed materials, helping keep usable items out of landfills.
There are also an increasing number of
reclamation outlets throughout the UK and far afield. For detailed information on reclaimed building products and sources, please see:
www.wrap.org.uk/
Conventional insulation materials are cheap to produce, but are often made from petrochemicals such as fibreglass and polystyrene. They often contain a large number of chemical fire retardants among others, and the embodied energy in creating them is extremely high. There are however, plenty of natural insulation alternatives, such as wood fibre - made from wood chips that have been compressed into boards or batts using water or natural resins as a binder, and cellulose - a highly popular option and recycled product made from newsprint and other cellulose fibres. These natural insulation materials can be handled and installed easily and safely, as they are non toxic and contain no harmful chemicals.
Underfloor heating and double glazing are tow other vrey effective and easy means of increasing the energy efficieny of your home at the building stage, and effectvie double glazing can be installed during any rennovation.
For more information on sustainble insulation, see
/www.sustainablebuild.co.uk/InsulationMaterials.html and our
guide to energy efficiency best practice guide
Green roofs are roofs that have been designed to be planted with specifically chosen vegetation using a well-researched sustainable design methodology - utilizing a layer of 'green' natural material and vegetation on the roof of the building. Green roofs increase insualtion against sound and noise, reducing carbon dioxide emissions and icreasing home energy efficiency inherently. Green roofs have become widespread across Europe, but haven't received relative governemnt support in the UK as of yet, but are set to become far more prevalent as the knowledge of this efficient and easy way towards sustainability in the home is discovered.
For lots of detailed and helpful information regarding Green Roofing, please see
www.sustainablebuild.co.uk/RoofPlants.html
(Information sourced from wrap.co.uk, sustainablebuild.co.uk & responsibletravel.com)
