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Reclaimed Homes Key To Green Building and Affordable Housing

October 13, 2010 By 6 Comments
Modular Home Reclaimed Materials

So, with homeowning being way, way out of reach for many people, and with resources rapidly becoming more scarce, a solution that addresses both problems, both very pressing ones at that in the 21st century, is required. So here it is; affordable, comfortable, and aesthetically pleasing homes can be created by using sustainable building practices on a mass scale. We've talked a bit about this on this blog when we've looked at modular homes, and how they reduce carbon footprints, and how more … [Read more...]

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Green Building, Sustainability, and Modern Design: The Last Straw

April 6, 2010 By 2 Comments
straw-building

The search for greater sustainability to preserve the future is being looked for in the opposite direction, it seems - in the past. Straw has been a key building material for thousands of years, used as a binding agent for mud and clay buildings, like the bricks made with straw in Egypt (and then not, because of Pharaoh's hardness of heart), purportedly by Hebrew slaves. Everyone watched The Ten Commandments over the Passover/Easter holiday, right? But another element of straw as a building … [Read more...]

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Green building: Is Saving Money Enough?

March 18, 2010 By 6 Comments
energy-efficient-home

Buying a home is an investment, with an expectation for a long-term return.  And with an energy efficient home, there is the hope of a shorter term return as well in the form of reduced heating and electricity bills.  It's no wonder that home buyers are favouring homes that feature tankless water heating, energy-efficient windows, low-flow plumbing, and other energy (and money) saving amenities. According to USAToday's Greenhouse blog, green homes sell at a better return, and faster … [Read more...]

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Garbage in, Green Building Out

November 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Even as the architectural and construction industries all over the world are scaling down traditional projects in the light of this global economic downturn, the numbers are showing that green building construction practice is on the rise.  This may be partly due to the significant returns on investment that green building represents, thanks to greater energy efficiency dividends.  Yet, as always, there are even more opportunities to be gleaned from the pursuit of green building practices, even … [Read more...]

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Sustainable Forest Certifications in North America

October 23, 2008 By 1 Comment

North American sustainable forestry certifications are outlined in an excellent article in January 2008 issue of Environmental Building News. You need a subscription to read it so I’ll render a précis here. Among others, the major certification organizations operating in North America are: Forest Stewardship Council (FSC); Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI); American Tree Farm System (ATFS); and Canadian Standards Association (CSA). FSC is a sprawling international not-for-profit with … [Read more...]

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NWFA’s Gate-to-Gate is Short Life Cycle in Forest Products

October 9, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Following the National Wood Flooring Association’s promise to deliver a life cycle assessment of hardwood flooring, and leading consumers to believe that this would be a cradle to grave assessment, the NWFA sponsored a report that was not anywhere near what its title implied. The “Life Cycle Inventory of Solid Strip Hardwood Flooring in the Northeastern United States”, produced by the Consortium for Research for Renewal Industrial Materials (CORRIM), was conducted by a reputable group … [Read more...]

Filed Under: climate change, global warming, Green Building, green marketing, greenwashing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,