City of Virginia Beach Pattern Book Quick Tips – Make Your Home More Eco-friendly
Below is a list of strategies you can use to make your home more green and sustainable.
1. Replace conventional toilets, faucets and showerheads with Energy Star rated fixtures that conserve water.
2. When shopping for a new clothes washer or dishwasher, choose Energy Star rated appliances that conserve water.
3. Install a rainwater collection system. Rainwater is nutrient-rich and can be used to irrigate lawns and gardens. Depending on the complexity of your collection system, rainwater can also be a resource for indoor uses like showers or even drinking water.
4. Explore landscaping alternatives water.
5. Landscape with native plants.
6. For outdoor projects that require weather-proofing, use cedar lumber instead of chemically treated wood types.
7. Choose wood products that are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (
www.fsc.org).
8. Save and recycle materials that you or a friend may be able to reuse for future projects.
9. Choose products that contain few or no VOCs (volatile organic compounds).
Pattern Book Chapter 5: Specialty Design
Eco-friendly versions of many building materials are available at your local home improvement retailer or online. Below is a short list of eco-friendly building materials that you should consider using in place of traditional building materials for your next project.
Durable Roof Coverings
The more durable a material is the fewer times it will have to be replaced, which reduces waste. Certain types of roof coverings provide an extra degree of insulation or solar reflectivity. These
Page | 106 that require little to no 10. To the extent possible, use factory-built components for your construction projects. (“pre-fab”) Factories can
produce building sections more efficiently than the average consumer. This leads to less overall material waste.
11. See the Energy Efficiency section below for green, energy- saving strategies.
Green Building Materials It may not be obvious
themselves
at
first-glance, but building materials are associated with major environmental impacts.
Traditional manufacturing processes, for materials like sheetrock and concrete, consume significant amounts of energy and water and, at the same time, produce chemical by-products and CO2. Many building materials contain toxic chemicals or produce vapors that are detrimental to human health.
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