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Building Ecotopia:
Sustainable Homes
by Chuck Hall
The
good news with greener building methods is that such techniques are currently
in vogue all over the world. The bad news is that many builders make
a few changes here or there in standard industrial building techniques
and call it ‘green,’ without going nearly far enough towards
a truly sustainable building practice. Modern building methods are very
taxing on the environment. Cement production is one of the most energy
intensive of all industrial manufacturing processes. Cement production
now accounts for over 8% of total carbon dioxide emissions from all human
activities. Cement kilns in the United States are the third largest source
of dioxin contamination. Part of this is due to the fact that kiln operators
are allowed to burn toxic wastes as fuel. Concrete trucks require about
500 gallons a day of highly alkaline wash water to operate. This type
of water is toxic to fish and other aquatic life.
Steel, another predominant building material, is made from iron ore and other
non-renewable resources. Steel production is energy intensive due to the amount
of heat required. The fuels used to fire steel forges are also a major source
of carbon dioxide and other forms of air pollution.
Vinyl siding and other plastics used in the construction industry are made from
non-renewable petroleum by-products. Plastic manufacturing requires toxic chemicals
and produces more toxic waste. Plastics don't breathe like natural building materials.
Many plastics emit toxic fumes. Some plastics can take up to 50,000 years to
deteriorate!
Commercially harvested lumber products are usually treated with preservatives
that are highly toxic. For example, arsenic is a component in many pressure-treated
lumber products. Commercial forests harvested for lumber often use hazardous
pesticides and preservatives. Irresponsible deforestation causes soil erosion,
contamination of waterways from silt and pesticide runoff, and loss of biodiversity
in the forest ecosphere. Composite wood products such as plywood and other particulate
boards are often held together with toxic compounds which in addition to contributing
to the degradation of the environment, are suspected to cause allergies and other
health problems.
Commercially manufactured building materials cause problems for health and the
environment at all stages of their life cycle, from production and manufacturing,
to use in building, to disposal when buildings are razed. Additionally, long-distance
transportation of building materials contributes heavily to transportation costs,
not to mention the additional pollution caused by the large diesel-burning engines
required to transport them.
Clearly our current methods of building homes are extremely taxing on the environment!
But many natural building techniques go a long way towards promoting more sustainable
living. By using materials readily found in nature, building supplies don’t
have to be shipped great distances, or manufactured in factories that pollute
the environment.
There are many natural building methods. Some of these would include straw bale
building, earth bag building, and stone building. While all of these have their
advantages, I prefer a method that uses materials readily found on almost any
building site: clay, sand and straw. This ancient method is known as ‘cob
building.’ Next week we’ll look at this versatile building style.
Chuck Hall’s latest book , Invasion of the Vegans! will be available at the Culture Artist website at www.cultureartist.org later this year. You may contact Chuck by email at: chuck@cultureartist.org.
Chuck
Hall is a cob builder and author. His latest book, Green
Circles: A Sustainable Journey from the Cradle to the Grave, is
now available at the Culture Artist Web site at www.cultureartist.org.
You may contact Chuck by email at: chuck@cultureartist.org.
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