It's Not Easy Being a Green Home

Green building and green homes are terms thatClean Air
get bandied about pretty liberally these days.Natural materials that don't pollute the
Quite often, what passes for green makes stridesenvironment or leech toxins are legendary for
in one area while backtracking in another. If we'regetting green points and keeping it clean. Wood,
really keen on going green these days, we'll needstone, slate, marble and plant products, for
to look beyond labels to find out if what we'reexample, don't require long chains of chemical
buying will truly benefit the environment. Read onprocessing or release cancerous fumes into the
for a run-down of the four biggest magnets forlived environment. Natural, minimally processed
the "green home" label and some of the noxiousmaterials are simply healthier to live with and
realities that lurk within:therefore green. These benefits are eliminated,
Recycled Materialshowever, if harvesting, extracting or transporting
Recycled building products may be consideredthe materials creates pollution, requires a huge
green because they conserve resources, rawamount of resources or depletes a resource
materials and turn post consumer or industrialfaster than it can be renewed.
waste into a valuable and useable resource. TheseEnergy Efficiency
benefits can be nullified however if producing theProducts that affect energy consumption and
recycled product requires an undue amount ofwater use on a day to day basis stand to effect
energy consumption, creates pollution or if thethe biggest environmental impact of all materials
final product leeches toxins into the environment.that go into a home. Those who wish to be truly
Rubber tiles for instance put old tires to good usegreen will make sure that operating their home
giving them green kudos but when used in anrequires minimum amounts of energy and water.
enclosed environment they'll leak unhealthyProperly insulated walls, windows and doors
chemicals into the air that are decidedly not green.minimize the amount of energy required to heat
Conservation of Natural Resourcesand cool a building and therefore have a favorable
Building products that use less material than theirimpact on the environment and are fortunately
predecessors, are rapidly renewable or have afairly easy to attain. But how will you generate
high durability factor make the green list becauseheat and power? Unfortunately, most of us will
they conserve natural resources. But like recycledhave to opt for some sort of fossil fuel or
products, products that conserve resources mayelectric power limiting our "green" energy options
also have qualities or histories that are notoriouslyto those that focus on using as few resources as
not green. For example MDF board can be madepossible rather than renewable resources like solar
from almost any quality wood including sawmillpower and wind power that don't need to be
off-cuts and uses almost 100% of the wood inmined or transported and create no pollution.
the final product. The result is that an MDF boardClearly, it's not easy being green. Though making
makes more complete use of natural resourcesstrides toward reducing our impact on the
than a natural wood board. But if it has beenenvironment by building and buying green homes
pressed with urea formaldehyde, as it typically is,is clearly one of the best places to start, it's
it will off-gas and working with it can make youimportant to educate ourselves if we want to do
sick. MDF also has a shorter lifespan and lessit right. Green isn't just something we buy, it's a
water resistance than natural wood productscareful balance between conservation, low
which means it will need to be replaced soonerpollution and sustainability.
and require the use of even more resources.