Environmentally-friendly construction
Green construction materials
Every time a home is renovated, new materials are added — any of which may reduce the indoor air quality and cause environmental problems both in the short and long term. Carefully selecting the right construction materials can help to minimize or eliminate these problems.
Volatile organic compounds, or VOC’s, are increasingly being found to cause respiratory problems such as allergies and asthma, especially in babies and children. They can even affect the health of your pets!
As much as possible, we use natural materials such as wood, clay-based paint and natural finishes — instead of vinyl flooring, synthetic carpet and chemically-formulated paints. This not only ensures the best possible indoor air quality, it also minimizes the environmental impact when these materials are eventually disposed of.
Old construction materials are a major contributor to landfill. Synthetic carpets in particular are non-biodegradable, bulky items that are one of the biggest single sources of landfill waste. By avoiding these materials, and by recycling old construction supplies, we try to keep our waste products to a minimum.
Here are some of the materials we use:
- Recycled construction materials and supplies: Habitat for Humanity ReStores
- Clay-based paints: Farrow & Ball
- Recycled paint: Paint Plus Reuse Program
- All-natural carpets: EarthWeave
- Bamboo flooring
- Linseed oil wood finishes
- Metal roofs
Environmentally friendly construction methods
Besides using the most environmentally-friendly materials we can find for our homes, we also have a number of techniques that minimize the impact our renovations have on the environment.
Here are some examples:
- Reconditioning old kitchen & bathroom cabinets instead of replacing them with new ones. Often just replacing their old handles can update the look of a room.
- Steam-cleaning old carpets can often bring them back to life and prevent having to take them to the dump.
- Old wood, even if it has been badly scratched, can be quickly restored with a mixture of equal parts double-boiled linseed oil, natural turpentine and white vinegar.
- Kitchens and bathrooms can be tiled with ceramic flooring rather than vinyl — it is much longer-lasting and is completely non-offgassing.
More information
There is plenty of excellent information available on the Internet on environmentally-friendly construction. Here are some good reference websites:
- Architectural Resource Guide & Database
- Athena Sustainable Materials Institute
- Build Smart
- Building Green
- Centre for Sustainable Energy & Renewable Technology
- Eco-house
- Ecologo / Environmental Choice
- Forest Stewardship Council
- Green Builder
- Green Home Building
- Natural Life Network
- Natural Home & Garden
- Oikos Green Product Directory
- Straw Bale and Natural Building
- Straw Bale House Plans & Resources
- Whole Village Sustainable Community
Green investing
Better Planet Investments offers you the opportunity to invest in our high-growth real estate plans, so that you know you are supporting environmentally-friendly construction methods while making an excellent return on your money. Your investment also supports the suppliers of the green construction materials that we use, and results in lighter burdens on our waste disposal systems.
Learn more about our green real estate investments.
Click here to invest in green Ontario real estate now!
