SixLinks Wiki

Choosing Green Products

• Resource Efficiency:
  • Recycle Content: Products with postindustrial or postconsumer content, with postconsumer being preferred because they have been already consumed once, rather than being the byproduct of the production of other materials
  • Availability: Green materials are natural, plentiful, and/or renewable, they are harvested from sustainably managed sources and are hopefully certified by an independent, industry-accepted third party
  • Resource Efficient Manufacturing: The products were produced in a manufacturing process that was environmentally conscious, taking advantage of opportunities to lower energy usage, use sustainable energy sources, and lower packaging and waste.
  • Locally Available: Products would ideally have a short transportation change throughout the course of their lives, limiting both costs and energy usage from transportation.
  • Salvaged, Refurbished, or Remanufactured: Even better than materials that have been recycled into new products, are products that are reused in their original form, without needing to go through an energy intensive process to be remade into something useful.
  • Durable: Green products should be able to last longer than average products so that they do not need to be replaced as often as other products.
  • Reusable or Recyclable: Green products will be easily taken apart and reused or recycled at the end of their lives
  • Recycled or Recyclable Packaging: Products should ideally be enclosed in packaging that is produced from recycled and/or recyclable materials
  • Dimensional Planning: Building components in dimensions that the basic materials easily conform to, lowering waste. For example, building rooms on 4 foot increments.
• Indoor Air Quality:
  • Low or Non-toxic: Materials that emit few or no carcinogens, reproductive toxicants, or irritants are better for the home environment and the larger environment in general.
  • Minimal Chemical Emissions: Products that have minimal emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are also safer and better for the home environment
  • Moisture Resistant: Products that are moisture resistant will inhibit the growth of biological contaminants in buildings.
  • Healthfully Maintained: Green products should be maintained and cleaned using non-toxic and low-VOC methods.
• Water Efficiency:
  • Design for dual plumbing to use recycled water for toilet flushing or a grey water system that recovers rainwater or waste water for site irrigation.
  • Minimize wastewater by using ultra low flush fixtures, such as low flush toilets and shower heads
  • Install point-of-use hot water heating systems at the end of long runs to lower transport wastes
  • Schedule landscaping irrigation through a water budget approach.
  • Meter the landscape separately from the building to bring attention to the water used by the landscape
  • Use state-of-the-art irrigation controls

Green Construction Materials

• Materials are not necessarily green because of what they are, but because of when and how they are used. The first goal of green building is to use materials that are appropriate for where you live.
• Green buildings will use local building materials to reduce transportation costs and also to prevent disproportionate environmental effects on some populations
• Materials should be from renewable materials including fast-growing wood, wool, plant fibers, and other materials that can be replaced within the lifetime of the building. The most visible of these is sustainable wood products, unfortunately it is difficult to find local, sustainable products.
• Green materials are often less expensive in the long run, even though they may cost more up front. The lifecycle costs of green materials needs to always be considered.
• Some materials are more green because of their performance, without regard to their origin (although a green product that performs well would obviously be ideal)
  • Straw bale construction
  • Rammed or sprayed earth techniques
  • Insulated concrete form construction
  • Structural Insulated Panels (which can be built from sustainable materials themselves)

Home Recycling

• Recycling Metals: Should try to find these numbers for the US and get them directly from a source, not 3rd party
  • Figures from the British Metal Recycling Association show that energy savings from recycling a number of commonly used metals are substantial, and while these processes may release some harmful chemicals, they are less than what are released by mining enterprises. These energy savings include transportation and sorting.
    • Aluminum - 95% energy savings
    • Copper -85%
    • Lead - 60%
    • Steel - 62-74%
    • Zinc - 60%
• Recycling Plastics
  • According to the president of MBA Polymers, recycling plastic saves approximately 90% of the energy it takes to produce a pound of plastic from raw materials. Recycling plastics also reduce our oil usage; approximately 10% of US oil consumption is used to make plastics. Plastics do, however, have to separated into up to 20 different categories before being recycled, however.
• Recycling Glass
  • Glass can be recycled indefinitely, making it a very green material if used properly. Each ton of glass recycled prevents about 1.2 tons of raw material from being used and uses about 2/3 the energy that it takes to produce the glass from raw materials.
• Recycling Paper
  • The US Department of Energy states that a ton of paper made from recycled fibers conserves about 7,000 gallons of water, up to 31 trees, 4,000kWh of electricity, and up to 60 pounds of non-CO2 air pollutants. Recycling paper uses about 60% less energy than it takes to produce paper from raw materials, not to mention the fact that keeping trees standing in forests and growing acts as a carbon sink.
• A final note
  • Just because a product can be recycled, doesn't mean it should be before attempting to be reused or that it should be made with a shorter lifespan. In the list of characteristics of green materials above, recycling is below durability and reuse, because even though glass, for example, can be recycled indefinitely, it still takes 2/3 the energy of producing new glass to recycle it.

Construction Recycling

• There are four different ways construction products can come from recycled sources:
  • Post-consumer material that comes from household recycling that has been reprocessed to a new product.
  • Waste material from industrial processes. For example, fly ash, which is a byproduct from coal firing, can replace up to 35% of the Portland cement used to make concrete when mixed with other ingredients such as sand and gravel.
  • Scraps from waste of a manufacturing process or that are rejected by quality control can be reused to create a new product, such as scraps of wood that are used to create particle board.
  • Waste from demolition projects, by any company, that has not already been reprocessed can be reused in its original form. Doors, windows, cabinets, etc. can all be reused when a building is demolished.
• Building materials that can be recycled
  • Concrete, wood, drywall, asphalt shingles, asphalt pavement, metal, and cardboard can all be recycled and currently make up 70-95% of discarded construction materials. Recycling these materials is not only good for the environment, but also saves money on buying new materials and can reduce material hauling and disposal costs. There is also a premium that may become more valuable with the increase in demand for LEED buildings.
  • Uses for these different materials listed above are shown in the chart on http://www.constructionbusinessowner.com/topics/environment-and-compliance/recycling-construction-materials-an-important-part-of-the-construction-process.html (105) (Table 1)
  • Concrete can be recycled into many markets that currently use crushed stone. It is already common practice to use recycled concrete, so there are a number of facilities that exist around the country for recycling concrete.
  • Asphalt pavement is also heavily recycled currently, it is either crushed or recycled back into asphalt either in-place or at a hot-mix asphalt plant. Singles can also be ground and recycled into hot-mix asphalt.
  • Clean, untreated wood can be re-milled into lumber or chipped or ground to make particle board, boiler fuel, and mulch.
  • Steel, aluminum, and copper can be melted and reformed.
  • Cardboard can be recycled into various paper products.
  • Gypsum in drywall can be removed and recycled to create new drywall, or to be used in cement or agricultural markets.