Building & Remodeling

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LEED Green Building Certification

To help the construction industry define green building, the U.S. Green Building Council(USGBC) devised a scoring method to rate how green buildings are. That rating system, called Leadership in Energy [more…]

How to Choose Green Building Materials

Typical wood-frame building methods are wasteful, inefficient, and far from eco-friendly. Several natural construction methods offer greener alternatives to using wood and may be the best choice for your [more…]

Types of Eco-Friendly Insulation and Their Benefits

Insulation helps your home maintain temperature and lower your heating and cooling bills, and it’s the best thing you can do in your home to save energy and boost your green profile. In a new house, add [more…]

Banishing Molds and Mildew from Your Environment

Mold and mildew may seem like minor players on the stage of hazardous environmental threats, but some molds can cause major health problems. If you want a green, clean home, you need to prevent or get [more…]

Keeping Forests Green: Sustainably Harvested Wood

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an independent, not-for-profit, non-government international agency that promotes the use of sustainably harvested wood, [more…]

Green Flooring Options

The floor beneath your feet can help you promote your green lifestyle and give you chance to support sustainable practices. Materials for green flooring include: [more…]

Detecting Radon in Your Home

Radon gas is a natural product, but it’s not one you want in your green, eco-friendly home. Radon is colorless, odorless, and radioactive; that last one can cause health problems, such as lung cancer, [more…]

Preserving and Restoring Historic Buildings and Sites

Rebuilding, restoring, or upgrading sites and buildings of importance to an area’s history is an effective way to contribute to your local environment. You can join in one of thousands of projects going [more…]

Moving toward Energy-Efficient Appliances

Upgrading your major appliances to those with a high Energy Star rating improves your carbon footprint, reduces your utility bills, and gets you to a greener lifestyle. The federal government rates appliances [more…]

Recycling to Create Composite Building Materials

Combining recycled materials into a new product is a good green goal. Made from recycled plastic and sawdust, composite lumbers are much healthier and more environmentally friendly than wood. They don’t [more…]

Reducing Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)

That “new” scent that comes with many new home improvement materials is the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) — hazardous chemicals that cause illness and contain known and suspected [more…]

How to Go Green with Home Building Materials

Natural products in home construction help protect the environment and conserve energy. The recycled and reclaimed green building materials available today for floors, walls, countertops, insulation, and [more…]