Temple Square Salt Lake City

Archive for November 19th, 2009

Use of locally sourced materials for your Salt Lake City home improvement project promotes the local economy, reduces harmful environment impacts of long distance transport and saves you money.

Renewable materials are resources that can be grown and renewed over and over.  These are valued by green builders and socially conscious homeowners.  Using this kind of material will contribute to home sustainability.  The following are the different types of renewable materials:

Certified wood – woods harvested from sustainably managed forests.  For your home improvement, choose a lumber store in Salt Lake City duly certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or the Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI). Engineered wood – small woods held together by binders to create a very strong and sustainable product.  Used to make large beams for a home. Certified bamboo – used mainly for flooring, which is as strong and resilient as wood.  Bamboo grows quickly and can be replenished with few resources. Cotton – cotton-based insulation is its most common use in homes. Cork – it is the bark that is scraped off the cork oak tree.  The tree is not harmed by its bark removal.  It renews for harvesting every nine (9) years.  Additionally, most of the cork used in flooring is the waste from cork wine bottle stopper industry, thus, making it a recycled material. Straw – can be used for walls as in straw-bale homes and straw-based cabinets. Soy – soy-based insulation is its common use.

Recycled materials are resources salvaged from older buildings.  Salt Lake City home improvement produces waste that can be recycled or salvaged for other uses.  Common recycled-content or salvaged materials are the following:

Carpeting – old carpets along with plastic soda bottles and other textiles can be woven into new carpet fibers.  This has similar look, feel and price as that of fiber carpets. Wood/plastic composite lumber – recycled plastic trash bags and waste wood fibers used for building products such as decking, door and window frames and exterior moldings.  These products contain no toxic chemicals and generally exhibit low moisture absorption and high resistance to decay, insect and ultraviolet ray damage. Wood floors – old wood can be given a new life if recycled into new wood flooring.  These are made from salvaged boards or trees that have been re-milled into a product suitable for home use.  These are often harder, denser and more attractive than new growth wood flooring.

The next time you shop for your Salt Lake City home improvement project, look at your local resources rather than importing from countries around the globe.