Materials
“Green” materials need to be considered on a few factors: durability, sustainability and imbedded energy. Durability is obvious, if something last, it does not have to be replaced and less is used over the life of the house. Sustainability is the concept of not destroying the natural supply of the materials you are using. Imbedded energy is a total carbon footprint concept. Taking into consideration the energy used to harvest, make and transport raw materials. Marble mined and shipped from Italy may be beautiful, but a lot of energy would be used to get it to our house in Illinois. We also tried to use products that were made by companies that have made a commitment to environmentally sensitive manufacturing. They are out there, you just have to look. We considered these concepts with everything we used to build the house.
We did not always have a good “green” material option. Some building supplies are not yet offered with these green characteristics, they were cost prohibitive or ugly. With all our finishes, we wanted something that was attractive. Not something that was trying to look like natural stone, but something that was nice to look at for what it was.
Wood Framing
The wood we used to frame the house is FSC certified, meaning it has been sustainably forested. Or forested in a manner that considers the environmental issues of the area and insures the long term viability of the forest.
Counter Tops
So many builders turn to marble or granite for their counter tops. It seems to define a high end home. While natural stone can be beautiful, the green quotient is very low. We wanted something that would stand on its own in appearance. You could look at it and know it was not marble, but appreciate it for what it was.
We used IceStone for all of our counter tops. IceStone is made from cement and 100% recycled glass. It has no VOCs and has a cradle-to-cradle certification. It is manufactured in New Jersey. IceStone operates on what they call a triangle bottom line. Working toward financial, social and environmental success. Their manufacturing process is committed to energy conservation, reducing water use and lowering the carbon footprint.
Tile
