Act Green Blog

Archive for the ‘Construct Green’ Category

Green home renovation requires a lot of thinking and effective use of material. It is not necessary that you need to renovate your entire home yourself! There are professionals who will do that properly and effectively. What are the things that you need to consider during the whole process?

• While green home renovation, make sure you abstain from lead based paints and use low VOC paints.
• Make use of green materials like wood. If the Forest Stewardship Council certifies it, it is safe.
• Use construction items made form recycled goods like plastic, wood etc.
• Besides using eco friendly material while renovating, stress on installing skylights for letting in natural sunlight.
• Use solar energy to heat water and outdoor pool. This also reduces your electricity bills.
• Incorporate natural insulation in your home, this is energy efficient.

Green home renovation not only requires eco-friendly products, but also an attitude to say yes to the power of ‘green’.

Because of increasing awareness about the environment, there are several green home construction products available in the market now. Products like recycled metals, non toxic materials and reclaimed woods are used for constructing walls. Insulation has also become greener with the use of denim and recycled cotton materials in place of dangerous and toxic materials. As far as flooring is concerned, products that are used include recycled tiles, cork, recycled metals, sustainable woods, recycled glass, bamboo, linoleums and reclaimed woods.

Whether you want to paint your bathroom, staircase, wall or floor, there are green products that are non toxic for the health of people and these are also very easy to dispose off. The materials that are used in making and installing eco-friendly carpets are also sustainable or recycled. As far as padding of these carpets is concerned, it can also be made up of recycled cotton which is a more environment friendly option. Bathroom and kitchen countertops and cabinetry can also be made eco-friendly by using cabinets made of sustainable woods with the use of non-toxic finishes. Countertops can be made of non-toxic composite materials like recycled glass chips and quartz. Glue that is used for adhering the cabinet to countertops can also be eco-friendly water-based glue product.

Green building is a phenomenon that aims at instilling environmental-friendly practices in contractors and others involved in construction of buildings. Some of these trends that have been adopted include: substituting cement with other materials that are less toxic. These include fly ash, rice hull, silica fume and slag. Just like cement these materials are durable but cause no adverse effects on the environment. Another trend is use of low or no volatile organic compounds paints that are a major air pollutant. An alternative is the latex-based paints.

Another trend is use of bamboo for making floors as opposed to the hardwoods. Bamboos are beautiful and grow very fast. Further still, builders can incorporate equipment used for harvesting and storing rain water in the buildings as this reduces demand on the country’ s water supply. Installing of solar panels is also a green building practice as it makes use of the sun-a natural resource.

Using green building products will not only help in protecting the environment but will also reduce the land field expansion. If you are considering a renovation in your home, then the best thing you need to do is buying green building products most of which are recycled materials.

For this, you have to find out a building contractor who has specialty in using green products only. He will not only be able to use the products more efficiently and usefully, he will also suggest you which products are suitable for your kind of home and which are the latest green building products coming up in the market.

Also make sure that the products that you are purchasing are really green, because there may be product manufacturers that may claim their products to be green but actually, they are not. You can also visit a nearby green products store so that you can choose the products as per your individual choices and requirements.

Apart from being environment friendly and beneficial to the human health, green building technologies also help in saving a lot on energy efficiency and costs. Because they are made up of natural and renewable sources of energy, they depend less upon sources of energy such as electricity and air conditioning.

Sources of energy like the Sun and water play a more important role in constructing such buildings and that is why they help in saving a lot of money and energy for the households. For example, a house that receives a lot of heat and light from the sun will need a very nominal cost on its lightening and air conditioning needs.
Similarly, a house that has solar geysers installed will save a lot of money on electricity. So, what can be a better way to save a lot of money and energy than using green building technologies in your home construction project?

The concept of green building has come out of the need for meeting higher standards of environmental responsibility and energy efficiency. The major focus is upon the resources such as materials, water and energy and attaining of efficiency through these resources. In this way, you will have reduced energy bills and a more comfortable and healthier environment for living. The green building technologies reduce the effects of environment related hazards and ease out the effects on environment and also on human health.

One of these technologies is using the natural daylight designing technology in which a home is built in such a way that day light enters into the home to the maximum extent possible, so that the energy costs are reduced to a great extent and people’s productivity and health is also improved. These buildings are made up of eco-friendly materials like wood, cork, jute, rubber and bamboo, highlighting the entire concept of green building technologies.

Green building, in other words, the construction of highly energy efficient office buildings, hospitals, schools, etc., may not be as popular in headlines as global warming or renewable energy, but it is no less important in the fight against climate change.

Thomas Friedman outlined the underlying problem in his new book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded. He discussed the importance of switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs, recycling, and being as energy efficient as possible. But then Friedman inserts a reality check, identifying several growing cities in Asia. Some small cities in China are booming with population growth, new construction, and with thousands of new cars on the road each week. Any of the progress made here at home with improved recycling and energy efficient light bulbs just went down the drain.

During the upcoming United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, there must be a strong emphasis on the benefits of training laborers to build buildings and infrastructure of new and growing cities to be highly energy efficient. Without new growth becoming energy efficient, or better yet, having a net of zero emissions, no significant progress will ever be made to fight global climate change