Know your product
This is an excerpt from an article in Sanctuary magazine issue 6.
Your choice of building materials can have ramifications far beyond your home. Choose sustainably sourced timbers, recycled and locally sourced materials, and low “volatile organic compounds” paints and finishes. When building, keep material use to a minimum. If you’re renovating, reuse what you can from the pre-existing building.
Inappropriate use of materials in building means one thing: waste. All materials have an “embodied energy”, which is the energy used over their lifecycle, from manufacture and transport though to disposal. If you build your house with poorly chosen materials, their embodied energy could cancel out the benefits of years of sustainable living. Generally, the more processed a material is, the higher its embodied energy, so go for materials that have a high recycled content and that are sourced as near to your home as possible.
