When it comes to home building, eco-friendly options are fast becoming a priority. More and more people are waking up to the serious concern of environmental damage, and many others are concerned that non-green options are unhealthy for their families.
Builders are constantly needing to reevaluate their material options to accommodate these concerns. Luckily, the best green construction materials for a home don’t have to be rare or expensive.
Earth-Based Materials
Hands down, the best green construction materials for a home are ones that come from the earth itself. It’s easy to get hung up on the idea that we need to produce an alternative to taking what’s around us. In truth, it is better to harvest responsibly and avoid creating unnatural concoctions that end up poisoning the earth.
Buildings constructed with stone, clay, adobe, and rammed earth are not only sturdier but also totally safe for the environment. Not to mention that houses made from stucco, brick, and rammed earth are incredibly gorgeous. They also heat and cool much better, saving more energy in the process!
Sustainable Woods
It’s not uncommon for eco-friendly material lists to simply not list wood as a green option. However, this is a huge oversight. There are many green options when it comes to wood, and there is nothing cleaner for the environment than materials that were actually produced by the earth. The issue only comes in when there is a demand for endangered or exotic woods. Many carefully cultivated species are produced and harvested sustainably.
While some companies will try to push synthetic materials as a green alternative, this simply isn’t true. This is especially true when it comes to flooring options and doors. It is much better for the environment to have solid wood doors and hardwood floors than any sort of fiberglass door, carpeting, or similar factory-made products.
Fast-Growing Wood Varieties
Besides hardwood, there are elegant options to be found in some of the more peculiar forms of plant life. In particular, bamboo and cork. Bamboo grows extremely rapidly, which makes it highly sustainable. The finished wood has both sturdy and flexible traits, making it a reliable material that retains its beauty and form for years and years.
For instance, cork is harvested from the bark of the cork oak tree, and it has been used as a mold-resistant insulator in Europe for years. Because only the bark is needed, cork can be harvested by hand without using carbon-spewing machines or even harming the trees. It doesn’t get much greener than that!
