If you are passionate about sustainability and are keen to do your bit to fight the ongoing climate crisis, you may be thinking about building a sustainable home. As well as allowing you to come up with space that works for you and your family, investing in an eco-friendly build is a great way to cut down your electricity bills, lower your carbon footprint, and set an example for other people thinking of making the switch to a green way of life.
Indeed, the importance of sustainable homes should not be underestimated. If everyone in the world switched to a sustainable home today, then the world’s carbon emissions would drop significantly. Every little helps, of course, so builders of sustainable homes are pioneers in what is quickly becoming an important eco-friendly movement.
If you’re wondering how to make a sustainable home, we’ve put together some of the key eco-friendly materials you may wish to use:
1. Eco-Friendly Foundation Blocks
Eco-friendly foundation blocks such as Celcon or Fibolite blocks are great alternatives to traditional breeze blocks or bricks. They feature a special cellular structure that offers effective thermal insulation, thereby cutting down energy expenditure and even offering noise insulation.
2. Environmentally Friendly Paints
Try opting for paints that are low in volatile organic compounds (VOC). As well as potentially endangering human health, VOCs can harm the environment. Look for water-borne or plant-based paints that are labelled as eco-friendly and avoid paints containing titanium dioxide.
3. Products Manufactured From Renewable & Recycled Products
There are many eco-friendly home building materials out there made from recycled products. Indeed, savvy designers are coming up with increasingly ingenious ways to turn used products into building materials such as roofing made from used polymers, wooded planks made from old newspapers, and insulated walls made using mycelium, a bacteria that grows in rotting organisms such as agricultural by-products and trees.
4. Recycled Aggregates
Recycled aggregates are those that have been used in previous construction projects. There are easy to source and include materials such as gravel, crushed stone, recycled asphalt, and recycled concrete.
5. Environmentally Friendly Cleaning Products
Many cleaning products feature stringent chemicals with the potential to harm human health and that of the surrounding environment. Fortunately, there is an increasing number of products on the market designed to be eco-friendly which you can use on-site.
6. Sustainable Materials
Generally speaking, search for products that are sold as sustainable, energy-saving and fully recyclable. This will ensure that your eco-home can be repurposed when it comes to the end of its lifespan.
For all the latest in eco-friendly home improvement and building, contact the experts at BDS Construction today.
Image source: flickr
