Amicus Green Building Center

Easy Steps to Make Any Project Green

The process of making a project green can seem bewildering because it means different things to different people—healthy, safe, energy smart, or environmentally friendly. But the process can be simplified—and achieve all these benefits—with a little strategy.

First, remember there are 3 parts of a project to make it truly green:

Products are the easiest place to start. They provide important features including health, safety, energy savings, and environmental integrity. Essential components are listed below.
Design: integrating all design points and building system components is important to ensure the building operates with minimal expense and bother, and lasts a long time. Design features, as much as possible, should include passive lighting, passive ventilation, passive survivability, and modularity (flexibility to change or repurpose a space) characteristics.
Craftsmanship/implementation: the quality of work performed and adherence to specifications to ensure quality work. If it's not quality, then it won't last and won't be “green.”

When it comes to specifying the litany of potential products, break it down into 3 general categories:

No Brainers: These products are simple to implement and have super benefits.

• Use American Pride paints because they—and the colorants—have zero VOCs and other dangerous chemicals (ethylene glycol, crystalline silica, acetone, formaldehyde, solvents) but they do a great job doing what paints are supposed to do—vast color options, super scrubability, great opacity and coverage, and they cost right in line with other good “conventional” lines.

• Use Titebond's Green Choice caulks & sealants everywhere you have to caulk, seal, and affix products. The line includes very low VOC caulks; and solvent-free and very low-VOC drywall, subfloor and general purpose adhesives. Bonus: caulk generously to weatherize walls, windows, sill plates, and other areas of the envelope to improve energy efficiency and comfort.

• Lighting: Choose LLF and Permlight LEDs in recessed fixtures, stairways, walkways, and other applications; Albeo LEDs for under cabinets; and Evolution CFLs almost everywhere else. They give off nice bright light with good tone, instant on, no flicker (common problems with many CFLs). Bonus: LEDs are dimmable and will last upwards of 20+ years.

• Install Toto Aquia dual-flush toilets. They work great, save lots of water, are stylishly sleek, and are an easy install. They have 2 buttons—one for 0.9 gallons per flush and one for 1.6 gallons per flush when you need a little more.

• Install Low-flow showerheads and sink aerators: Niagara units save lots of water and the gas and/or electricity needed to heat that water, and they use air pressure to keep the pressure up, so no compromise in comfort.

• Use Timbron moldings—quarter rounds, base shoe, crown moldings, casing, streamline base, and closet poles. They can be cut, painted, nailed, and glued; they are cheap; and they are made of recycled plastic.

• Seal all new ductwork with mastic. The usual method of taping seams results in leaks that can waste up to 15-20%. Bonus: AFM Safecoat's DynoFlex does the job with low VOCs and very low odor.

• Reuse, reclaim and recycle. Reuse products you have in good condition (such as cabinet boxes that can be refaced with new “green” fronts, framing lumber, etc.); buy certain reclaimed products, fixtures, and building materials when applicable; and donate or recycle products you are giving up. Reuse and reclamation prevents perfectly good materials from the landfill and is a great money saver, and recycling prevents landfills from filling up and leaching toxins.

Choose Among the Design-Oriented Products: Choose from a variety of design and finish features for your aesthetic plan, in a range of budgets, to craft a stylish, healthy, comfortable and long-lasting place. These products often include:

• Flooring and carpeting

• Countertops

• Cabinets and vanities

• Wall finishes (paint, plaster, backsplash, etc.)

• Tiles and panels for backsplash, showers, flooring, closet doors, and other areas

• Hardware (sinks, drawer knobs, door pulls, etc.)

Higher Hanging Fruit: Some features take more consideration but can deliver huge benefits and cost-savings. Integrating all features into a well-planned system is critical.

• Insulate with the best option for your project: Blown-in foams (such as Icynene or Bio-based) help make the building envelope tight like a styrofoam cooler. Another option, UltraTouch cotton insulation , is made from recycled denim; has high R-values and excellent sound attenuation; is Class A fire rated, safe and non-toxic; and can easily be handled with bare hands.

• Energy supply options—such as solar photovoltaic (provides electricity); solar thermal (provides hot water for domestic and/or space heating); small-scale or utility-provided wind power; and geothermal—work well combined with energy demand controls.

• Mechanicals & comfort systems , such as the heating, cooling and ventilation (HVAC), should be right-sized, planned out, and built in integration with the rest of the building's envelope, insulation, windows and doors, and other systems.

• Plumbing systems, such as PEX-based home-run layouts, can save 10-30% on material and labor costs (and time), make maintenance easy, and avoid the use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) piping.

Have projects, ideas, questions, or need more details. Give us a call at 301-571-8590.

Download as a pdf (much prettier layout)