Traditional building materials have a significant environmental footprint because they require the use of energy intensive production processes. Concrete, steel, and brick are examples of such materials requiring large amounts of fossil fuels to produce, leading to greenhouse gas emissions.
Using sustainable building materials helps reduce energy consumption and operational costs for the occupants. These green materials include:
Insulated Concrete
Insulated concrete forms (ICFs) are a building material that replaces wood framing to create energy-efficient homes. Instead of studs, ICFs use foam blocks – either polystyrene or a recycled cement bonded wood fiber material called Nexcem – which are then filled with concrete to form the walls of a home. The result is a strong, solid-wall structure with built-in insulation.
ICFs save homeowners money and help reduce a home’s carbon footprint. They do this by releasing heat in the summer and storing it in the winter to reduce operating energy costs. In addition, they are resistant to fire, hurricanes, tornadoes, and mold.
Using ICFs reduces the time and labor required to build a home, but extra care is needed when adding fixtures such as doors and windows since they must be cut into the concrete walls. Because ICFs are a new construction technology, builders need to work closely with codes officials to ensure their ICF buildings meet all the necessary requirements.
ICFs are durable, require little maintenance, and can be made from locally sourced materials. While they may be more expensive than traditional wood framing, the energy savings that ICFs offer make them a good long-term investment. ICFs also help reduce a home’s operational energy needs, reducing the amount of electricity and natural gas used to heat and cool it.
Bamboo Plywood
Bamboo plywood is becoming an increasingly popular building material. It is used for cabinetry, countertops, and furniture. It has a wood-like appearance and can be cut with regular woodworking tools. It also has a high strength-to-weight ratio. In addition, it is environmentally sustainable.
It is more durable than most hardwoods, and it has a tensile strength that exceeds steel. Bamboo is also less expensive than traditional plywood. This makes it a great option for home builders who want to reduce their carbon footprint and save money at the same time.
Unlike hardwoods, which can take up to a century to grow to harvesting size, bamboo can be harvested in a much shorter amount of time. Additionally, it is able to sequester excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In addition, bamboo is a versatile plant that can be grown in a variety of climates and soil conditions.
Another benefit of bamboo is that it does not need to be treated with chemical stains or paints. Moreover, it resists moisture better than most hardwoods. This makes it ideal for bathrooms. It is also a good choice for trim, baseboards, or framing windows and doors. Additionally, bamboo is available in a wide range of colors and can be customized to match any design style. Depending on the manufacturer, it can be produced in natural, carbonized, or a combination of both finishes.
Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs)
Structural insulated panels (SIPs) are becoming increasingly popular in residential and commercial construction. These building materials are created by sandwiching a layer of insulation between two layers of OSB (oriented strand board) or plywood. This is a great way to reduce heat loss, increase energy efficiency, and save money on your monthly utility bills.
SIPs can be used to construct walls, roofs, and floors. They are also a good choice for retrofitting existing buildings. They offer many advantages over traditional stick framing, including a more energy efficient design, faster construction, and a stronger and tighter building envelope.
To create SIPs, manufacturers press four to eight inch thick rigid foam panels between stiff sheathing boards made from oriented strand board (OSB), plywood, fiberglass mat, gypsum sheathing, magnesium oxide board, or composite structural siding panel sheathing. They then inject liquid polyurethane or polyisocyanurate foam between the sheathing boards and cure it under high pressure.
SIP homes are incredibly airtight and limit incoming air to a controlled ventilation system, eliminating the need for holes, cracks, or gaps in the building envelope. This results in lower heating and cooling costs as well as healthier indoor air quality. The solid insulating foam within SIP walls also reduces noise transfer between floors, rooms, and the outside. Due to the solid design, SIPs are also much easier to build than conventional wood framing.
Straw
Straw has long been used as a building material, especially in timber framed buildings. It can be woven into a thatched roof and can be used as insulation in wood frame homes. It is also used as a source of fuel in a variety of biomass boilers and as a substitute for coal when combined with wood chips. In addition, straw can be converted to biogas and different types of transportable fuels. It can be found in both round and square bales, although round bales are often only available for large herds of livestock.
Straw can be used in the construction of straw bale houses which can save homeowners up to 75% on energy costs compared to conventional buildings. It can also be used to make wattle and daub which is a type of building that has been in use since ancient times.
Using straw in buildings and as a renewable fuel source can contribute to climate change mitigation by avoiding the use of fossil fuels. Using straw can also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from other sectors by acting as a carbon sink in natural systems like soils or artificial ones such as buildings, delaying the GHG emission. However, it is important to note that the benefits of this material are only realized in undistorted markets and current policies support specific straw uses instead of economizing the potential climate benefit (Scarlat & Sastre 2019). It is therefore recommended that future frameworks adopt a resource perspective that prioritizes minimizing adverse impacts while maximizing positive ones.