Clarence Murphy 
Home renovation can be undertaken for many different reasons, ranging from providing their property with an updated look and feel, to making their space more functional.
No matter your motivations for renovating, it is essential that eco-friendly ideas be considered when planning any major home project. Green projects not only benefit the environment but can save both money and the planet!
Reclaimed Materials
While using reclaimed materials may seem counterintuitive for home renovation projects, their vintage charm makes them an eco-friendly alternative to new building materials. From weathered wood floors to repurposed doors, revitalized materials offer your home its own special style while cutting construction costs as they cost significantly less than their counterparts.
Repurposed materials can be found at salvage stores across the country, Habitat for Humanity centers and from homeowners looking to shed their old stuff. Pawn shops, thrift stores and flea markets may also contain useful repurposed items. Recycling paint and wallpaper is an eco-friendly way of beautifying your home while eliminating airborne toxins while saving money, energy and resources spent producing new products; you might also opt for natural flooring options like cork or bamboo as flooring solutions.
Bio-Glass
Remodel your home using eco-friendly materials that won’t damage the environment, such as bamboo floors. Bamboo grows quickly without needing pesticides for proper growth; plus they offer more style choices than other wood floors.
Bio-glass is another eco-friendly material ideal for kitchen countertops or backsplashes, manufactured by heating and compressing glass waste, available in various colors with satin-type glossiness.
Reusing materials during renovation projects helps minimize waste while saving you money by cutting manufacturing costs and shipping charges for new materials to your home. Before demolishing walls or taking down kitchen cabinets, take an inventory of what salvageable items there might be that you could repurpose in another room – such as light fixtures, faucets, flooring materials such as bricks or cabinetry that you could salvage and repurpose in another space. Repurposing old light fixtures, faucets, flooring materials such as bricks or cabinetry is especially advantageous.
Scaffold Boards
Every home requires renovation from time to time, whether to give the interior an updated appearance, repair damage caused by natural disasters and weather events, or add value. When conducting these projects it is crucial that they do so in an environmentally responsible way.
Scaffold boards, more commonly referred to as walkboards, are wooden or steel planks used on scaffolding structures to allow workers to move safely at height. They must meet OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) regulations.
Scaffolding boards can be an ideal material for eco-friendly home improvements if used properly, being both durable, affordable, and stylish. When properly used they can make shelves or crates with shelves made out of them that resist harsh weather elements and corrosion; roughness can also be removed through sanding while further protection can be added by coating in oils or waxes for further protection – light enough for easily moving around on job sites!
Cork
Cork, widely recognized for its use in office pinboards or cork stoppers, is making waves in modern design trends due to its sustainability and natural qualities. You’ll find this multipurpose material used as flooring, insulation sheets or surface finish and it can even be harvested without harming trees.
Cellular structure of foam makes it an effective thermal insulator, helping maintain stable indoor temperatures while decreasing energy consumption for heating or cooling. Furthermore, foam absorbs and dampens noise effectively between rooms.
Cork oak trees provide moisture resistance and fire retardancy as natural materials, without emitting volatile organic compounds (VOC). Furthermore, when painted with low VOC paints they don’t emit volatile organic compounds either – making this eco-friendly material the perfect choice for green construction and sustainable design projects. With very low embodied energy consumption it makes an eco-friendly option suitable for eco-conscious design projects such as green construction. Cork Oak trees also act as carbon sinks storing up to five times more CO2 than their unharvested counterparts do – thus contributing to green building efforts as a whole.
