What is sustainable building and what is the philosophy behind it? Sustainable, or "green" building is the idea that we should build with the mindset that resources are limited and our future is an important concern.
Sustainable building is building as if the future made a difference. The strategy behind it, with regard to an awareness that the earth has limited resources and knowing that building consumes a lot of resources, is building appropriately for the future with respect to selection of sustainable materials. It is being aware that materials have a life cycle, and placing priority on what will ultimately consume fewer resources while still satisfying the need for habitation.
Q: What are the main concerns that sustainable or "green" building addresses?
Energy and resource consumption and, of course, safety, longevity, the health aspects of the habitat and the health issues concerning the building process as well. Fiberglass insulation, for instance, contains formaldehyde. There are a lot of formaldehyde plywoods and glues in the manufacture of fiberglass insulation, and those things are not healthy for the habitat. Eventually those toxic chemicals gas out. What that means is that certain manufacturing processes use chemicals that can emit toxic gases into your home over many months or years. There are hundreds of toxic adhesives used in plywood and other construction materials that are not good for you. Many are carcinogens. Take carpet adhesive, for example. When that's new, you can smell it in the house. That smell is a chemical that you're actually inhaling, rather than clean air. It's a chemical compound mixed with the air you're breathing in your home, and you don't know what that chemical is doing to your lungs and respiratory system. Over time, that chemical evaporates and you won't be able to smell it anymore. At that point, it becomes pretty inert, but the months or years you've been breathing it could be a problem sooner or later.
So sustainable and natural building both try to avoid those processes that use toxic elements. There are literally hundreds of toxic processes and chemicals used in manufacturing everything from carpet to sheetrock. When you move into your house, you don't want to be breathing toxic gases.
