Green Zone - Sustainable Building Materials

Last installment I talked about how even though Zone 5 had to move, we were able to avoid constructing a new building which helped us to keep our carbon footprint contained. Now I’d like to highlight some things we did inside the building. Since it needed an interior makeover there was an opportunity to incorporate some reclaimed and sustainable materials. 

First, what exactly is sustainability? I really like this definition for it’s simplicity- “the capacity to endure”. But what does that refer to? To me it’s the ability to keep our planet healthy while providing the necessary resources required for civilization to survive and lead humane lives. 

We use a lot of natural resources. Water, trees, oil, land and more. Some people think we are using too many natural resources too quickly and eventually we are going to run out if we don’t change our ways. As I mentioned in the beginning of this blog, I’m no fanatic, but it can’t hurt to try and be conscious of what products and materials we’re using right? If there was a renewable product that served the same purpose as a product that wasn’t renewable shouldn’t we try to use the former? When you apply this line of thinking in construction, one option is finding ways to get the materials you need from a natural source without killing it. Another option is to reuse or reclaim something that’s already been produced. Zone 5 was able to do both of these things inside our office.

Let’s start with bamboo. It is what’s considered a sustainable building material. It grows quickly and abundantly, it’s surprisingly tough, and can be used for a variety of purposes. Most importantly, unlike trees bamboo can be harvested without killing it. In our case we used it for one of it’s more common applications which is flooring. It looks great and receives a lot of compliments. While hardwood was used for a couple applications around the office(mostly the wine rack) in this instance we were able to substitute bamboo in place of hardwood flooring and hopefully preserved a couple trees in the process.

Next, cork flooring. Second verse same as the first. Sustainable and renewable. The cork oak is a deciduous tree but instead of cutting it down the outer layer of the bark is peeled off. Cork was used to cover our main conference room floor. Again, it looks great and it should last us for years and years.

One of the building materials the boss really wanted to use was bricks. The house I grew up in had a brick fireplace and hearth. In spite of numerous stubbed toes and your standard issue chin scar, I always thought it was one of the nicest attributes of our home so I’m also a big fan. We all know that bricks are tough but they aren’t particularly green until you reclaim them. With a little extra effort we were able to locate some used bricks and reclaimed them from local sources. 

Bamboo, cork, reclaimed bricks. Just a decent effort to incorporate a little sustainability into our interior makeover. Of course, where there is talk of sustainability, energy conservation is sure to follow. See you in two weeks.