What do you think?  Why should we care about building green?  Why should we be using renewable and recycled materials?

Don’t Forget the Basics! Water and Power  CFL light bulbs- last 4-6 times longer than a regular bulb and use less energy  Low-flow water fixtures- place oxygen in the water to give it force, but save water  Water efficient toilets- use less water  Low or No VOC paint- paint with low- or no- Volatile Organic Compounds has no or low amounts of toxins in it and is healthier for our indoor air

Structure and Tree Positioning  Because we live in the northern hemisphere, structures should face south.  It is more expensive to heat a building than to cool a building where we live.  The sun shines through the building and warms it naturally, no heating required.  What about the summer, when it gets hot?  Plant trees around the building. This will help keep the sun out in the summer but allow the heat in during winter.

 In the morning, east facing rooms are warmer, and in the after noon, rooms on the west side of the house are warmer.  You probably have seen this in action. Are some rooms hotter than others in your home?  Proper planting of trees keeps the home up to 40% cooler.  SMUD has a free shade tree program!  Keeping the structure properly insulated and windows covered also saves energy and cost in heating and cooling.

What Renewable Resources Can We Use to Build?

What Recycled Materials can We Use to Build? All of These!

Recycled Denim Insulation  Recycled denim is used to insulate the walls of a structure, just like traditional fiberglass insulation.  The denim insulation is made of the scraps that the factories do not use. Photo courtesy of treehugger.com

Straw Bale Construction  This type of structure doesn’t require insulation because the straw is the insulation!  Once bound together, the bales can be plastered over, and never seen again! Photos courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

Recycled Glass Tile Photos courtesy of recycledglasstile.com -Comes in amazingly beautiful colors and patterns -Material made from recycled glass bottles, windshields, and industrial glass waste from factories

TREX “Lumber”  Material made from recycled milk jugs, water bottles, and grocery bags, mixed with wood waste  Looks and acts like traditional wooden planks and no splinters!  Use in decking, railing, fencing, trim, gutters and more!

Reclaimed Wood Used wood (“reclaimed wood”) is everywhere just begging to be saved from the landfill!  There are companies that sell reclaimed wood or you can find it yourself in homes about to be remodeled, rebuilt, demolished or re-floored and looks very nice once completed! Use reclaimed wood for any projects! It is often more beautiful than new wood!

Recycled Plastic Carpeting  This carpet is made from plastic, recycled plastic water bottles to be exact! =

Pass Around the Samples for Student Exploration. Talk about each product and ask what they think each product is made of. Q: You used to wear me! What Am I? A: I am recycled denim, cleverly disguised as insulation!

 Q: “Isn’t is bad to cut down trees?” student, 13, Riverbank Middle School  It is not good to cut down a lot of trees in a large area, but there are better ways of conserving the trees that we do have.  Forests can overgrow and some trees compete with other trees for space and nutrients. Fires and foresting for lumber can help alleviate this problem and the trees can grow even better.

How Can I Make Sure I Am Only Buying and Using Wood Products From Sustainable Sources, and Not From the Rainforest?

Sustainable Foresting  Forestry Stewardship Council  Began in 1993 in Germany  Main purpose: to certify wood products that are made from sustainably sourced timber so the builder knows he is building from a sustainable source and not deforesting the rainforest

Remember That All The Resources We Have Are Right Here On Earth. There Is NO Spaceship That Delivers Us New Resources. We have to Make Do With What We Have! Thanks ! I brought you some more trees!

Overcrowding and Forest Fires If there are too many trees in a certain amount of space, the trees will not grow as well. If we do it right, we can cut down some of these trees. It is best to cut down the younger, more unhealthy looking trees.

Forest Fires  We tend to think of forest fires as a bad thing, but they are naturally occurring.  Humans typically think of forest fires as a bad thing because we build things, like homes, in or near the forest.

Forest Fires  Forest fires are a natural process, and serve to thin out the forests.  The ash from the fire also provides amazing fertilizer and trees and other plants always grow back better. The forest have depleted the nutrients in the soil, and the fire puts them back into place. Think of it as nature’s way of “starting fresh”!

 Trees grow back, but if we cut them too many down we impair our personal air cleaner! Trees and other plants filter the pollutants out of our air! The oceans also filter our air! We must keep our home clean! + =

Deforestation: to clear of trees Definition courtesy of dictionary.com

Deforestation

Deforestation of the Amazon

How Much of the Rainforest is Cut down Everyday? “Three Football Fields Every Second”