By Carl Seville, CR
Green remodeling can be divided into two major categories: building science and material selection. Building science shows us how each system in the house interacts with the others to create an efficient, healthy and sustainable structure. Appropriate material selection allows us to install products that are healthy, durable and environmentally friendly. Together, these concepts provide us with the tools we need to make our homes green.
Building science, also known as home performance, can be broken down into four main areas: high performance, indoor air quality, durability, and resource efficiency. Each of these concepts interacts with the others in a building. Understanding each of them individually and as a group is critical to creating high-quality green homes, so here's a quick rundown of each:
- High performance in a home can be viewed as a three-legged stool standing on energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy.
- Indoor air quality, commonly referred to as IAQ, has its own three legs: clean air, fresh air, and proper humidity.
- Durability involves techniques in constructing long-lasting buildings.
- Resource efficiency is accomplished by the using fewer and sustainably produced materials.
As you venture more deeply into building science, you will learn how to use these concepts to make the best decisions for your clients and produce high-quality green homes.
While material selection is integral to both IAQ and resource efficiency, I believe that it deserves consideration on its own. Material selection involves identifying products that reduce or eliminate toxic chemicals that diminish the air quality in our homes as well as the environment as a whole.
In reviewing a specific material's effect on IAQ, the primary consideration is the quantity of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that any product produces. VOCs are the toxic chemicals that are present in most manufactured products—the chemicals responsible for that "new-car smell" from vinyl flooring, carpet, paint, and other products. While you might think that anyone would do their best to eliminate these products from their homes, cost-effective substitutes are not always readily available.
As a professional considering undertaking green remodeling, you'll have so many options that you can become paralyzed with indecision. Just keep in mind that decisions are best made using the "low-hanging fruit" theory. Choose the materials and techniques that provide you with the most bang for the buck. The decisions you make will depend on your geographic location, local economy, social climate, and the interests of you and your client.
For example, in a cold climate with high utility costs, high performance will be the focus. In a moderate climate with a client whose children have respiratory problems, IAQ will take precedence. Or you may have a client who wishes to use renewable, sustainably produced materials. They'll all be green projects, but they'll all be different in how you approach them.
The key is to make the right decisions for each particular project, learn from your experience, and continue to incorporate green materials and methods in your work. As this series of articles continues, we'll discuss in more detail exactly how to do that.
Carl Seville, CR, is an Atlanta-based consultant focusing on sustainable building and remodeling. He is a former partner in Sawhorse Construction and has won several awards for his work in green remodeling, including the 2005 NAHB Green Advocate of the Year: Remodeling. For more information, visit Seville Consulting's website.
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