Drawing a Line in the Sand
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alt=""Joshua Lloyd, LEED AP and blogger of Symbiotic Home, explains a bit of the process by which he selects green building materials.
As a working architect with several years of experience of project management for green buildings, I believe that the sooner you can draw a line in the sand that defines your green objectives, the more likely your building will achieve sustainability success. Let's take materials for an example. While materials are the most visible features of a green building, they are often the most publicized features of green buildings as well. When choosing green materials, we should research the data and then be able to answer why we chose this material and how it fits into the sustainability of the project.
Xavier Vargus
Here are a few questions you may consider when choosing green materials:
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Is the material produced with a high-recycled content and can it later be recycled?
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Are we trying to stimulate the local economy by selecting locally-sourced and regionally-manufactured products?
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Does the client have chemical sensitivities so materials with a low volatile organic compound (VOC) content or no added urea formaldehyde should be a high priority to improve the indoor air quality?
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Are the materials durable so that they require little maintenance and will stand the test of time?
Green buildings involve decisions beyond those related to selecting materials, such as: location, footprint, energy and water usage, and how each of those decisions are intertwined. Therefore, when designing a green building, we need to draw that proverbial line in the sand and determine what is important for the project's design and budget. Most importantly, the project team should set its goals early in the process and do what they can with the parameters given.
