Building Your Sustainable House
Building a sustainable
house begins a long time before the foundations are laid. Your choices about
where you are building and what you are building with will impact on your
wallet, your family and the environment. When building your home, you
should consider the following.
Choose a good location
A
conveniently located home will save on car travel costs and cause less air
pollution. When choosing a block of land or home, consider:
- is it close to where your family can walk,
cycle or catch public transport to and from school and work?
- does the land allow you to build a home
with a north–facing aspect?
Adopt a construction waste
management plan
Building a home creates
various waste products. A construction waste management plan should address all
aspects of waste management including waste reduction, reusing materials,
recycling waste and correct disposal procedures. Before construction,
check:
- have the builders adopted a construction
waste management plan on-site to reduce waste generated during
construction?
Choose the right building
materials
Building materials are the
result of activities such as mining, logging, manufacture and transportation –
all of these activities use energy and release pollution. When
purchasing materials for building, check:
- have you specified resource–efficient
materials with less environmental impact?
Information on sustainable
building materials can be found at:
- The United States Environmental Protection
Agency’s website: www.epa.gov
- Construction
Industry
Compliance
Assistance
Center’s website: www.cicacenter.org
- have you used recycled materials and
avoided old growth timber where possible?
- have you avoided materials treated with
hazardous substances such as benzene or arsenic?
- have you avoided products (paints, MDF,
particle boards, adhesives, carpets) that release high levels of toxic
gases such as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), ie. used low–VOC or
zero–VOC products? Many products now indicate on their labels that they
are low-VOC