A Healthy Home | What is Sustainable Construction?

This is a REALLY big topic and since my role in construction is mostly in space planning and decorative finishes (I don’t actually purchase lumbar and insulation) I thought it made sense to fit it into one category. I feel as though this is the one topic that is already widely talked about. There are loads of green certifications like LEED and the Green Building Council regulating sustainability in the construction industry.

In case you didn’t know, the renovation industry as a whole is extremely wasteful. More so than new construction.

A lot of products goes to landfills (unwanted kitchens, perfectly good but ugly flooring.. You get the idea); The majority of this waste is NOT recycled.

And as we learned a few blog posts ago, a lot of this material like vinyl flooring isn’t even recyclable in the first place.  There is nothing that bugs me more than seeing perfectly good materials taken out of a home and thrown in a bin. There are many alternate ways to dispose of products.

Check out companies like Habitat for Humanity’s restore, sell it online, or donate it. 

Cheap updates end up being torn out by the end homeowner and end up costing the planet more.

This why I can’t stand a cheap “house flips”. Sure the home looks decent in pictures and better than before but it’s never well made. It’s so disheartening to walk through and open house of a recent flip. It makes me so made because they had an opportunity to do it right so that the reno lasted 50 years - not 5!

Before

After

After

Alright, I’m getting heated up… Let’s change topics!

Energy efficiency

A lot of conversation revolves around a more energy efficient home. A new build home is built so tightly that yes it’s efficient in energy consumption but now is so tight that it traps all the air. Even the etoxic off-gasing fumes from your cabinetry and flooring. In a new build it is even more important to be conscious of your materials selections. 

Older homes have walls that breathe (hence they cost more to heat and cool) but that also means there is more air circulating and the off-gassing of items won’t last as long. 

In order to achieve this desired air tight barrier, a lot of contractors use Spray foam. It’s touted as the most efficient with a high R rating blah blah blah… but it’s actually the most potentially toxic insulation. You know that if someone needs to wear a pandemic approved mask - it can’t be a health material. A much better solution is ROXUL (RockWool) which is a stone wool insulation. 

There are certainly more elements in the world of construction that we could dig into but these are the ones that are top of mind. Keep in mind that sometimes these sustainable “upgrades” might cost a little more money. But you don’t know if you don’t ask.

Make sure you’re doing your due diligence and asking your builder to provide you with safe and eco-friendly options.

As always the path of least resistance is usually the most popular. It’s up to the designer and the homeowner to get the information from your builder so that you can make educated decisions.

Check out this awesome Green Builder in Toronto: Greening Homes