Sustainable Building Materials List
What are sustainable building materials?
Sustainable building materials are materials that are ecologically responsible because their impact on the planet is not as damaging as traditional building materials. Below is a list of six practical and sustainable building materials.
Low VOC Paint
VOC’s stands for organic volatile compounds, which are chemical compounds emitted from most paints and can affect human health. Low VOC paints are usually odorless and have no chemical solvents so they will greatly improve your indoor air quality.
Bamboo Flooring
Bamboo is a long lasting and rapidly renewable material that is beautiful and easy to install. Rapidly renewable materials are normally harvested within a 10-year or shorter cycle. It does not harm indoor air quality since it does not contain volatile organic compounds (VOC’s).
Wool Carpeting
Woven wool is a clean, environmentally friendly option for residential and commercial carpeting. Wool is a rapidly renewable material, has low VOC emissions, is fire resistant, biodegradable, compostable and adds a layer of insulation to the floor.
Cotton Batt Insulation
Cotton is also a rapidly renewable material and is a natural way to provide insulation. Cotton provides high thermal resistivity values, emits no VOC’s, works as a sound attenuator, is non-toxic, and 100% recyclable.
Ecological Concrete
Concrete is one of the most used materials in the construction industry. The problem is that generating concrete has a large impact on global warming. The solution is to use concrete mixtures that contain recycled materials. Recycled wood chips, crushed glass or slag can be added to the concrete mixture. Concrete has a very long life; it can be formed into any shape and is recyclable.
Paper Insulation Panels
These insulation panels are made from recycled newspapers and cardboards. They are an ecological alternative to using insulating foam and they are made fire-resistant by adding boric acid and calcium carbonate.
Sustainable building materials technologies can improve economic and resource efforts, increase labor productivity of building occupants and reduce harmful environmental impacts.
