How to Build the Environment

Construction practices used in building modern homes can have serious environmental impacts that people don't realize or understand. If you're interested in reducing your environmental impact through natural or environmental building, you can find many ways to either improve the structure of your home to make it "greener" or use natural materials to build.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Learn about environmental construction ratings like LEED certification for commercial buildings and Energy Star appliances for home use. Know what these certification ratings mean when choosing environmentally-certified products or practices.

2. Use recycled and salvaged material for building whenever possible, including recycled denim for insulation or any building materials salvaged from the demolition or surplus of other sites.

3. Use natural building materials such as straw bale. Natural building materials are often as durable or more durable than synthetic materials and create less of an impact on the environment when manufactured.

4. Use the natural environment responsibly. Take advantage of natural energy sources in environmental building by adding solar panels and use rain collection for non-potable water needs. You can also recycle your own resources by creating a "grey water" system to use waste water from appliances for irrigation.

5. Learn how to do environmental building yourself. Books like "The Straw Bale Book" and videos like "How to Build Your Elegant Home with Straw Bale" can offer detailed and easy-to-follow instructions for constructing a building using natural materials.

Tips & Warnings

• If you don't have construction experience, ask a friend or acquaintance with experience to assist you as you learn construction skills. While the skills required for working with natural materials differ slightly from conventional construction methods, experience can be helpful in making sure your building is structurally sound.
• Start small when building with natural materials. Try building a shed or playhouse first to experiment with natural materials and building methods.