Green Building Materials

The use of recycled building materials can not only benefit your health but also the environment and with the amount of options available it is still possible to construct exactly what you want.

The Greener options of building materials can prove to be more expensive but due to the increase of more and more people opting for them the price is slowly dropping. Green building materials usually mean those that are environmentally friendly and are sustainable as well as being non-toxic. There are some energy companies and even some governmental bodies that offer a rebate for those people who build green helping to lessen the cost.

Flooring Materials
One material that is becoming popular for flooring is bamboo. Bamboo is a very durable material and can last a long time. It has the great advantage of being naturally sustainable as it takes only one year to grow back once cut and it is very environmentally friendly. This makes Bamboo a beautiful green solution.

Another green material that is a great solution to flooring is cork. Cork is produced from the bark of the Cork Oak tree that grows mainly in Portugal and Spain. The Cork Oak tree is not chopped down to produce this material but rather the bark is stripped away without killing the tree. The bark begins to grow back immediately and can be stripped again in approximately nine years. Cork is also naturally fire retardant which means the benefits of using this material is improved even more.

Floor Heating
The most natural heating process is radiant floor heating. It is also healthy and comfortable. This type of heating warms your feet and legs before naturally rising to warm the rest of the room. The two main kinds of radiant floor heating systems are hydronic and electric.

Hydronic:- This kind of system uses plastic tubes beneath the floor with hot water passed through them to generate the gentle warm feeling that an electric system provides.

Electric:- This system heats the room electrically from beneath the floor. The preservation of the flooring is used to dispense the heat.

Insulation
One of the best ways to save money on energy costs is insulating your home. There are companies that are now producing insulation from recyclable materials. One company has begun producing insulation made from leftover post industrial recycled denim from the manufacture of blue jeans. The material is layered into panels and treated with a solution that is fire retardant as well as a mold, mildew and pest blocker. This insulation produces zero waste products as it uses very little energy to produce.

Tankless Water Heater
This type of water heating can save you energy and money. It is turned on when you open the hot water tap and turns off once you close the tap. This means that there is no need for constant heating and re-heating of stored water.

Windows
If your home is fitted with poor windows you can find that you can lose up to 25% of heat in the winter months and find that your home heats up very quickly in the summer. Good energy efficient windows will mean that you can improve your homes energy efficiency throughout the whole year saving you money and helping to protect the environment which is what going green is all about.