recycled materials

My hands have been on this keyboard for 100s of hours now, researching these last details of our house. Since most of the materials, applications and fixtures are not normally used in residential applications, I've had to swim through oceans of information to find these items with the help of my architect. Jan says that most of the residential norms are crap, so we HAVE to research every little corner and crevice for the ultimate THING. Most of the stuff we want has primarily been used in the commercial sector or green building, and as Ted says, it's because those things are built to last and simply are better (sigh!)... so here we go, I am freakin' tired, but am grateful that the Internet was invented in my lifetime.

First, insulation. Yes, we are using SIPs for most everything. But because our 2nd story cantilevers (overhangs) out above our pool, we have to use something other than our beloved SIPs. So, Ted suggested using batt on the floor of our 2nd story overhang to save money, but now I want to look at this natural fibre insulation that's safe, environmental because their made with post-industrial waste (recycled blue jeans!) and they are good quality for not too much money. The advantage is that even though they are more expensive per square foot ($0.39/sf batt insulation vs. $0.89-1.09/sf natural fibre insulation), you will save in labor costs because batt has to be stapled in and handled with care because of the itch and fiberglass irritation. This stuff can be put in by hand and don't need to be stapled in, so they are quickly installed and safe to handle as you can see with the baby below.

I found this company:
Bonded Logic at http://www.bondedlogic.com/

I couldn't resist posting this adorable photo:

Then on to ventilation ducts. We learned of a system that removes humidity from our bathrooms that can be planned with fewer punctures through our roof because they share the same vent to the outside. They are quieter & better designed so that you can control 2 or more bathrooms with the same ventilation duct....MORE HERE

Broken concrete recycled into a wall on a residential street in Albuquerque: this wall was laid up with some mortar, but it could have been laid up dry. The material works really well for retaining walls, also. It's attractive, cheap, and easy to work with (for someone with a strong back).

This particular wall really wasn’t laid up that artfully – the joints aren’t staggered as well as they probably should have been, and it’s not so level – but still, I think it looks good. It’s certainly functional. And, there’s no shortage of broken-up concrete – it's readily available.

I had a big pile of broken-up concrete that sat for a l-o-n-g time before I found someone to lay it up into a low retaining wall. My neighbors weren't very happy about this part of the process!

Gigacrete is a new, eco-friendly cementitious building material that uses no Portland cement; rather, it consists of a proprietary nontoxic binder, and a filler utilizing waste ash from coal fired power generation stations, of all grades, not just the fly ash currently used as a ten percent filler in concrete. Other fillers include waste paper, cardboard and plastics, styrofoam packaging, sludge from paper mills, and agricultural waste fibers (leftover from food crops like rice, corn, wheat and other grains). Since most of these materials would just end up in a landfill (sacrilege!), they instead make a great alternative building material. All of the above materials become totally fireproof and can be made very lightweight, yet are as strong as traditional concrete, sometimes even more so. Gigacrete composites do not shrink or crack like concrete, they're fireproof and water/insect/vermin/mold/hurricane/earthquake resistant. Products include: PanelSystem, Stuccomax, StuccoMax-E (Environmental), Floor Overlay, PlasterMax, GigaCast and GigaPatch. The site is definitely worth a look-see.

From the site:
PanelSystem is the basis of a complete panelized building system with many residential, commercial, and industrial applications. Utilizing new manufacturing technology, the PanelSystem is vertically cast in a factory and delivered to job sites ready for rapid installation. The PanelSystem is engineered to be fireproof and water, insect, vermin, mold, hurricane, and earthquake resistant. While GigaCrete™ panels have minimum compressive strengths of 1,200 PSI, the panels are a fraction of the weight of most Portland-based concrete panels and require only hand labor to move and construct. The GigaCrete PanelSystem can be molded for structural walls, interior walls, floors, and roofing - providing a turnkey building system that significantly reduces the time and cost of construction.

GigacreteUSA

Voted one of the top 25 "Best of Green Design", by Popular Mechanics

Africa and the developing world are in many ways far ahead of the West when it comes to recycling, this reflection after visiting with a delegation from South Africa to the NEOCon trade show in Chicago. “Recycling is not a matter of policy for many in Africa but a matter of survival – which it is fast becoming for the rest of the world,” said Peter Simon, Managing Director of Albert Carpets in Cape Town. “Repurposing, as you call it, is a practical and essential way of life in cultures where nothing goes to waste, nothing technically is waste.” Albert Carpets is a top installation company for InterfaceFLOR, a world leader in sustainability, which has for many years provided chic, eco-friendly and socially responsible modular flooring to customers throughout Africa such as the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and Standard Bank. “Our customers have recognized the environmental impact and value of our sustainable products for years,” said Lesley Fidrmuc, InterfaceFLOR’s General Manager for Africa. “For them, making the decision to go green is nothing new.”

Ever heard of Durat? We hadn't either before this morning, but that hasn't stopped us from admiring both Durat the material and Durat the company. Durat (the material), according to its website, is a 100 percent recyclable, polyester based surface material. It's incredibly sleek, modern, comes in an amazing variety of colors, contains recycled plastics and makes for one sexy bathtub.

Durat (the company) is privately owned, based in Finland and always looking for new ways to integrate recycled plastics into new and innovative products.

Besides bathtubs, the Durat design collection includes furniture, basins and showers ... but we imagine the stuff would work well as countertop material among a million other things. Seriously, given the array of color choices and the apparent versatility of the material, we're having visions of entire Durat homes with bright green Durat picket fences in the front yard.

via Greenthinkers.org

Image Durat.com