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Concern for the environment and for sustainability has dramatically increased in recent decades. More and more construction projects are being completed using sustainable building materials. These materials offer a number of advantages, both economic and environmental.

When choosing a building material for a construction project, a number of factors need to be considered when determining how sustainable the material is. These materials need to be harvested from renewable rather than non-renewable resources. The environmental impact of the material chosen must be considered over the whole life-cycle of the project, rather than merely over the short term.

Keeping in Mind Resource Efficiency

The resource efficiency is an important factor to keep in mind. This refers to materials that can be used as efficiently as possible with a minimum of effort. For example, choosing materials that include a sizeable amount of recycled, post-consumer or post-industrial content, makes a project more efficient, as does choosing materials that have been produced locally to reduce transportation costs.

How the building materials are manufactured is also something that needs to be kept in mind. Is the manufacturing process itself sustainable? Was renewable energy used to power the process, and were waste products kept to a minimum? Were steps taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

Reusing salvaged building materials from other projects or other buildings is another important strategy for making a construction project more sustainable. This helps to save resources in several ways. First of all, these materials are reused, rather than being disposed of in a landfill.

Second, re-using materials reduces the amount of energy that is needed, since new building materials do not have to be manufactured from scratch. The amount of energy that is required to refurbish these old materials is significantly less than the amount that would be required to manufacture brand-new materials.

Enhancing Sustainability

The overall design of a building should also serve to enhance the sustainability of the materials that are used. Buildings should be designed to be as energy-efficient as possible to avoid wasting excess power on heating, cooling, and lighting. By choosing the right material, architects can dramatically reduce the amount of energy that is required for a building's operations.

There are many questions that need to be answered when you are considering using sustainable building materials in a construction project. By keeping these principles in mind, you can ensure that your next project is as environmentally friendly as possible.

For more information on the role green roofing systems can play in sustainable buildings, please visit the dedicated section on our website by clicking here.

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What Are The Benefits Of Sustainable Building Materials?

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Concern for the environment and for sustainability has dramatically increased in recent decades. More and more construction projects are being completed using sustainable building materials. These materials offer a number of advantages, both economic and environmental.

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A refurbishment project on 200 flats, including External Wall Insulation, efficient windows and a new heating system will reduce the carbon emissions of each flat by 1.6 tonnes. A total annual saving of 315 tonnes for the whole block of 200 flats.

The expected lifetime of the improvements is 30 years. This totals a carbon emission reduction of 9,450 tonnes.

The treasury monetary value of this is £853,000

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This website has a great list of sustainable resources we could use to build the barn and it's LOCAL.

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Green building innovations!

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Think Green visits Eagle Point Oregon to take a look at a home under construction. Dale Siens, from APEX Block Corporation, gives us a tour of the construction site, showing us a new, green approach to building homes.

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Information regarding things to think of before building the barn.

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Information regarding things to think of before building the barn.

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A well-designed and constructed barn can be the centerpiece of a sustainable horse farm. Whether you plan on hiring an architect to custom design your barn or want a pre-designed kit style barn,...

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Solar power

Wind Power

Water Filtration

Sustainable furniture

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Barn and Bread Sustainable Design Centre

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Barn and Bread is the proposed conversion of a disused Grade II Listed barn into a Sustainable Design Centre in Watford, near London. The scheme would include educational space, living space and accommodation for guest designers.

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The Real Estate Report. Rising health concerns and water crises in the news have sparked people’s desire to check out how their water quality measures up and to take precautions to protect and improve it. Healthy living is gaining in prominence, too, and clean water is a key ingredient

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The Real Estate Report. Rising health concerns and water crises in the news have sparked people’s desire to check out how their water quality measures up and to take precautions to protect and improve it. Healthy living is gaining in prominence, too, and clean water is a key ingredient

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What is sustainability?There is no universally agreed definition on what sustainability means. There are many different views on what it is and how it can be achieved. The idea of sustainability stems from the concept of sustainable development which became common language at the World's first Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. The original definition of sustainable development is usually considered to be:"Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Bruntland Report for the World Commission on Environment and Development (1992)

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What is sustainability?There is no universally agreed definition on what sustainability means. There are many different views on what it is and how it can be achieved. The idea of sustainability stems from the concept of sustainable development which became common language at the World's first Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. The original definition of sustainable development is usually considered to be:"Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Bruntland Report for the World Commission on Environment and Development (1992)