Green Building Products

Here are several green building products you can use when building a new home from the ground up, or doing a major renovation to an existing house.

Adding these green building products at the time of construction is not only cost effective, but is the best opportunity you will have to make these improvements.

Radiant Barriers - these go underneath the exterior siding or veneer. They reflect infrared radiation away from the exterior walls. This allows your insulation to be much more effective.

This will keep bills lower both in cooling and heating seasons. Don't forget to add these inside the roof decking in your attic.

Insulation - depending on climate, you should insulate to the recommended R ratings. This is the most important item for you energy loss as well as for your comfort.

Don't try to save a few dollars by not getting the best insulation. For more on this, click here.

Windows - windows account for 46% of the energy loss of a home. Since utility costs are likely to continue rising for the next several years, this is your single biggest opportunity to keep your energy costs down. Put storm windows everywhere, and get the double glazed, low-E windows.

Ducts and Pipes - Heating and air conditioning ducts should be laid out to minimize the turns and breaks in the runs. These angles cause lost efficiency. Insulate all ducts and hot water pipes.

Sheathing and Sub-flooring - You don't have to chase this item much. It'll come to you. Most 3/4" sheathing made today is made from reclaimed or recycled materials, mixed with a resin and then pressed into boards. But I wanted you to know about it anyway, just in case.

Equipment, appliances, fixtures - I don't want to be redundant. I've covered these on other pages. But for the sake of having all the green building products together, I'll just mention again that appliances should be Energy Star rated; equipment should be high-efficiency; and fixtures should all be water saving models. The tankless hot water heater is of particular interest for saving energy.

I should also point out that the HVAC system should be sized properly to the size of the house. An oversized, or undersized, system won't be efficient, so have it engineered appropriately. The architect might work with a mechanical engineer, or the subcontractor supplying the unit should have one as well.

Have an "air balancing" included in the price of the system. This is performed after the installation is complete, and will insure even distribution of air throughout the house.

Flooring - Green building products include cork floors and floors made from compressed recycled cardboard. Neither of these will look very good after a few years.

Bamboo is a good substitute for hardwood flooring, and linoleum is surprisingly green. If you love hardwoods so much that you can't do without them (like me), don't worry.

There are wood recyclers that harvest hardwoods from old houses and barns, and have them milled into strips for flooring. This product is available in standard tongue and groove boards, or in wider planks. Ask at the flooring store. They should know which ones are recycled.

Tubular Skylights - If you have a dark hallway or other windowless area, you can bring natural light in with a tubular skylight. A tube, connecting the skylight to the ceiling of the room, has a reflective interior coating which sends the sunlight to a diffusing lens.

The lens is mounted on the ceiling of the room, spreading light evenly. These skylights are small enough to fit between rafters, making them easy to install. Just make sure that the flashing is properly done so you won't have a leak.

I didn't get very technical about green building products. I hope I just presented the material in a way that would be useful to homeowners. But if you want more information, or if you have questions or comments about green building products, contact me by clicking here.

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