Lower-Impact Renovations

PENCINTA ALAM FEBRUARY 2010
GREEN LIVING COLUMN

LOWER-IMPACT RENOVATIONS
By Wong Ee Lynn


The latest buzz in the residential market for home improvement enthusiasts is green living. Green renovation means creating a cleaner environment and using cost-efficient energy-saving building methods. Here are some low-impact home improvement ideas:

• Choose sustainable materials for your home finishes. Items like countertops, wall surfaces, and flooring can be sustainable. Use finishes like recycled plastic, salvaged steel, salvaged wood, bamboo and rattan.


(Photo: Kitchen countertop made of recycled plastic resin. Photo credits: Wong Ee Lynn)

• Whenever possible, salvage and reuse building materials like wooden beams, railroad sleepers, and bricks, flooring and tiles that were once part of other buildings.

• Opt for locally-mined and produced stones and tiles and locally-sourced bamboo, rattan and wood. Not only will it translate into lower shipping and transport costs, less fuel used for transportation also means lower carbon emissions.
• Opt for long-lasting materials like stone, marble and salvaged hardwood, not cheap but easily damaged materials like fibreboard. Materials that are not durable cost longer in the long run, as they will frequently have to be replaced.

• Select low-toxic paints and finishes for the interior and exterior of your home. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), paints, stains, and other architectural coatings produce about 9% of the volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from consumer and commercial products, making them the second-largest source of VOC emissions after automobiles.

- Alternative paints to explore:

Latex Paint:
Because they use water as the carrier rather than petroleum-based solvents, latex paints have lower VOC levels than oil-based paints. Latex paint actually contains no latex, so it won’t affect people with latex allergies.
Latex paint cleans up easily with water, so you don’t need harsh VOC-emitting solvents to work with it. It can also be “recycled” by combining leftovers. Oil paints cannot be recycled in this way.

Natural Paints:
“Natural” paints are made mostly of renewable or abundant naturally-occurring materials such as citrus oil, lime, clay, linseed oil, milk casein, and chalk. Because natural paints do not contain petroleum products, they emit few, if any, of the EPA-listed VOCs.

• Install low-flush or dual flush toilets to conserve water usage. Additionally, you can also install aerated faucets for sinks and showers to provide a more satisfying wash with less water.

• Conduct an energy audit by doing an inspection of your house and looking for any areas that might be letting in too much solar heat in the daytime. By installing awnings and bamboo blinds, you save on air-conditioning bills and reduce indoor heat. See if there is a non-profit organisation in your area, like CETDEM (www.cetdem.org.my), providing green building services that will conduct an energy audit for you for a small fee, or offer advice for free.

Alternatively, look up green tips on the websites of environmental NGOs to find out how to reduce your home energy usage. The MNS website carries tips on how to reduce indoor heat: http://www.mns.my/artsig.php?aid=230

• Look at the product labels. The Green Seal (www.greenseal.org) logo means products have low levels of volatile organic compounds. The Forest Stewardship Council helps promote responsible forestry standards, therefore, look for their label on lumber products.