eco-building materials

12 ECO BUILDING MATERIALS REVOLUTIONIZING HOME CONSTRUCTION

Fine homes have always made use of natural materials. But these days you can find many products and techniques incorporating tried and true materials in surprising ways. Many of these techniques were used historically and are making a comeback.

RAMMED EARTH

Photo by Taj Easton. Courtesy of Rammed Earth Works

Earth construction is one of the oldest durable techniques for building structures. Think Great Wall of China! These days, it can be seen in luxury homes creating dramatic and durable walls which resemble sedimentary rock.

Rammed earth walls (or even floors) can be used as thermal storage, allowing the sun to warm them in the day and then slowly release the warmth in the cool evenings.

This low-carbon technique uses forms in which soil and binder is placed in layers and then pressure is applied to create a hard and durable surface. And now, Watershed Materials have put this technique into their Watershed Block, which is a replacement for conventional concrete masonry. These blocks use waste materials from quarries to create low or even zero cement blocks which can be installed by any mason.

STRAW-BALE

Straw-bale and Watershed Block home, Photo by Edward Caldwell, Courtesy of Arkin Tilt Architects.

Everything old is new again! The pioneers used straw bale construction for their homes in the Great Plains. Now, this technique has been updated for the 21st century.

Straw bales are made from the waste of the agricultural industry. It is a substitute for lumber and still sequesters carbon. Just be aware that the walls will be thicker than a conventional stick frame home. These thick well-insulated walls offer a very high R-Value. Contrary to what you might believe, straw bale homes are resistant to fire and can match your favorite aesthetic.

David Arkin, director of the nonprofit California Straw Building Association (CASBA), sums it up “People will be impressed with how comfortable these homes are. The buildings keep warmer in winter and cooler in summer.”

BAMBOO

Bamboo just might be the perfect sustainable alternative to wood. Although it resembles wood aesthetically, bamboo is actually a member of the grass family — meaning bamboo regenerates extremely quickly as compared to trees. In fact, bamboo is one of the fastest-growing plants on the planet — depending on the type of bamboo and the region, sometimes up to 3 feet per day!

eco-building materials elemental green

It’s not just the speedy growth rate that makes bamboo sustainable. For construction purposes, bamboo can be harvested up to every 3 years; in contrast, trees can only be harvested every 25-50 years (depending on the tree species). The rise in popularity of bamboo has helped allow forests to regenerate and will continue to do so.

Bamboo is a sustainable alternative in many different applications, such as tiles, trim & flooring, lumber, countertops, decking.

WOOL INSULATION

There are a number of different companies now offering sheep wool insulation. At Black Mountain USA, insulation can be purchased in rolls and batts, much like fiberglass insulation. Yet wool has a 10% greater insulating factor and is able to absorb, retain and release moisture and still keep its thermal properties. You will be warmer in winter and cooler in summer.

Caragreen explains how wool can improve your indoor air quality by pulling harmful chemicals such as formaldehyde, nitrogen oxide, and sulfur dioxide out of the air. They carry Havelock Wool insulation in batt and also loose fill. Wool is also naturally flame resistant, sound deadening, non-toxic, and biodegradable at end of life.

The manufacturing process for wool insulation is sustainable in production, safer in installation (no “spacesuits” needed), superior in its useful life. And when it reaches the end of life, wool insulation is compostable.

MUSHROOM INSULATION AND PARTICLE BOARD REPLACEMENT

Yes, you read that correctly – Mushroom-based building materials have arrived! Mushroom roots, or mycelium, can be used to make building materials that are stronger than concrete, more insulated than fiberglass, and completely compostable. Who would have guessed? Plus, the mycelium grows without light underground, meaning no external energy source is needed for growth.

Image courtesy of EcovativeDesign.com.

Ecovative, one of the first companies in the world founded with the purpose of growing mycelium for building applications, has a few products already in the works. One of the most notable: an eco-friendly insulation material, injected between an interior and exterior wall. Get this – the material silently grows and becomes so strong, the walls need no other supporting structure! What’s more, the insulation factor is better than that of fiberglass.

Another incredible product is called Myco Board, which looks and behaves like particle board but contains no wood. Not only are these boards cheaper, stronger, and lighter than traditional particleboard, they’re also completely compostable – and they can be modified to repel invasive pests and molds. But perhaps the most impressive feature of Myco Boards is that they contain no harmful chemicals. Formaldehyde is all-too-common in pressed wood products — but Ecovative’s mushroom-based panels are completely free of toxins.

AIRRENEW DRYWALL BY CERTAINTEED

Almost all homes in the U.S. use drywall. But now, with AirRenew Essential and AirRenew M2TECH by CertainTeed, formaldehyde can pass through your paint and be converted into an inert compound by the drywall itself. The product is suitable for new construction, and for renovations, and has no reportable VOCs itself while also neutralizing formaldehyde for better indoor air quality.

ATMOSPHERE PURIFYING PAINT BY ECOS

ECOS Paints are not only no-VOC paints, free of that “new paint” odor (polyurethane) that can cause headaches, nausea, and respiratory issues, their Atmosphere Purifying Paint has advanced VOC-filtering technology which absorbs and neutralizes chemicals, pollutants, solvents, and VOCs for improved indoor air quality. How does it work? This amazing paint contains a molecular sieve, designed to adsorb a targeted range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the atmosphere. The sieve (a non-toxic, crystalline tube) is sized to allow small molecules such as nitrogen, or oxygen to pass unimpeded, while larger molecules (organic compounds) become trapped.

SHIRASU KABE BY HABITUS

Shirasu Kabe is a unique plaster wall finish produced from volcanic soil in Japan, with special properties found in no other similar material. It’s proven to purify the air in the room where it is applied, due to the all-natural organic ceramic magma it contains. It also controls humidity; extracting indoor humidity when levels are high and releasing the same when the air is dry and humidity is low. How cool is that?

NOVELIO CLEANAIR BY ROOS INTERNATIONAL

Roos International’s Novelio CleanAir paintable wallcovering absorbs and permanently captures aldehydes and other toxins commonly present in indoor air. Exposure in a ventilated space shows that the aldehyde content in the airdrops in less than 72 hours when Novelio CleanAir is used. This revolutionary wallcovering absorbs 70% of aldehydes over time, purifying any room in any home. How does it work? CleanAir wall covering is coated with a patented, special formulation that acts as a scavenger and traps formaldehyde. CleanAir works even after several layers of paint since paint is porous and lets the formaldehyde penetrate. Once captured, they claim the formaldehyde is no longer harmful to health and that the wall covering doesn’t pose a health risk.

SMART GLASS

In the winter months, bright sunlight streaming through the windows can be the best thing in the world. But in the summer, that same sunlight streaming in can be invasive, harsh, and uncomfortable — not to mention the increase in electricity bills from a heavy dependence on air conditioning.

Smart Glass windows offer a solution to this problem. Smart glass (or smart windows) refers to glass or glazing whose light transmission properties change depending on how light or heat is applied. In general, the glass becomes translucent in the summer months to block certain wavelengths of the sun, and transparent in the winter to let in the warming rays. This translates to yearly cost savings in terms of both heating and cooling, as well as avoiding the cost and hassle of installing light screens or blinds. Smart glass can even reduce fabric fading, as it blocks up to 99% of harmful UV light.

RAVENWINDOW

Smart Glass transitioning technology is at the heart of RavenWindow smart windows. The RavenWindow thermochromic filter is applied to the inside surface of the exterior glass pane of a double-pane window. An air chamber separates the filter from both the interior glass pane and the standard Low-E coating. It’s an unbeatable combination to keep buildings energy-efficient year-round.

HALIO

Enjoy the view, but not the glare, or the heat. Now you can dispense with blinds and shades and still control how much light enters your home. This could save you up to 20% on your energy bills. 

Halio begins to tint in just 15 seconds and reaches maximum tint within 3 minutes with uniform tinting. And you can choose almost unlimited tint level options as well as control of individual panels of glass.

They offer two products, Halio and Halio Black. Halio Black can block up to 99.9% of visible light for enhanced privacy and light reduction. Halio passes more light in the “clear” setting and is ideal when you want to maximize natural light coming in to a space.