Green Building, Flooring
jefutch
15 years ago
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floorguy
15 years agoConanc
15 years agoRelated Discussions
Building Lowcost/year round green house...Suggestions Please!!
Comments (6)Hi there, We're in MT too and we have a nearly year-round greenhouse. See the thread called 'my Riga greenhouse' for pictures of our setup and a rough idea of the yearly growing cycle. The Riga is a kit and was not exactly low-budget. So our latest experiment this year was to build a small poly-covered structure as a season extender. This was nice and cheap but no way will it go year-round. But if you are handy and have access to old windows or something you could probably get by without spending too much....See MoreBuilding green - soapbox
Comments (21)I've been trying to remodel "green". It's tough, especially if you're on a budget. I long ago came to two conclusions: - It's only possible to be shades of green. Much as I'd like to make the "greenest" decision every time, it just can't happen, either because the budget does not permit or the skills don't exist in my area or ... whatever. Being somewhat green is better than not at all, and there is a virtue in even that. Rosemary, good for you for trying to work out passive solar! - The "greenest" decision is a myth. There are so many components to "green" construction: Do the materials and craftspeople/laborers have to come from a distance? I "love" seeing people tout linoleum as the green choice even though there's nothing particularly green about the collection of the raw materials (limestone, linseed oil, and sawdust) or about shipping very heavy rolls of flooring from Europe, where most linoleum is made these days. Ditto for bamboo flooring, which is made of fast-growing native bamboo -- but manufactured primarily in a country (China) with very lax (or no) regulations on pollution or the use of non-toxic materials. How much work is required to reclaim existing product? Recycled-glass countertops like Vetrazzo and IceStone look terrific and surely will last a long time. But they're very expensive because one of the problems is how much labor needs to be expended in recapturing recycled glass safely and in sufficient quantities. Someday, I hope, the notion of clear-cutting to erect a building will be as quaint and laughable as the idea of attaching leeches to a human to make him/her get well. Until then, I'm afraid being a pioneer has its price....See MoreBuilding Bowling Green
Comments (1)I thought this post was going to be about building a pitch for playing the British game of Lawn Bowls!! Good luck with your build. Here is a link that might be useful: Lawn bowls...See MoreIs Insulation for Green Buildings Really Necessary?
Comments (2)Insulation is the most important thing you can do for building green...regardless of how you generate a btu, the longer you hang onto it, the better....See Morefloorguy
15 years agoConanc
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15 years agoConanc
15 years agomrehberg
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15 years agoal_horses
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15 years ago
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