The emergence of green technology and green living has truly spurred a new movement of sorts in the construction industry: upcycled buildings and architecture, or what you might call green building.
The idea has always been in practice, and the materials and methods for it have been around for quite some time now, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s much more popular and more widely supported these days.
In the past, it was a strategy primarily used by conservationists. Only those concerned with preserving natural resources and leaving a relatively small – to zero – footprint on the environment dealt with green materials and architecture. Today, do-it-yourself consumers, professional builders and contractors and even architects are adopting green building strategies.
The U.S. Green Building Council estimates that in 2015, 40 to 48 percent of new nonresidential construction will be green and upcycled, which should amount to about $120 billion to $145 billion in savings. That sure is a lot of money saved and a lot of green buildings popping up across the nation.
What’s So Great About Upcycled Construction?
Why is it so popular, you ask?
Not only do green buildings tend to be more efficient when it comes to energy and resource consumption, but they are also cheaper. For lack of a better phrase, you are building a structure out of recycled materials that have been thrown away. Don’t take that to mean they are shoddy or unworthy of being used, because that’s not the case. It just means that someone else had no use for those materials.
There is a certain stigma that exists when people consider recycled materials or goods. Recycled water, for example, is something that most people are not fond of at all. That said, water is not a building material, at least not when it comes to constructing a permanent structure. We’ll get to a list of viable green building resources in a bit; for now, we’re more concerned with the benefits of recycled materials.
Upcycled building is great for the environment because it means less waste will end up in a landfill, but that’s not the only benefit. According to the EPA, green construction offers the following enhancements:
- Enhances and protects biodiversity and ecosystems
- Improves air and water quality
- Reduces waste and pollution
- Helps conserve natural resources
- Can reduce operating costs
- Can improve occupant productivity and quality of life
- Minimizes the strain on local infrastructure
Those are just a few of the many benefits green building can offer.
What Are Recycled Materials?
To be honest, there isn’t a specific type of material that’s ideal for recycling. Reusable materals may include wood, cement, drywall, window glass, carpet, ductwork, ceramic and porcelain tile and dozens – if not hundreds – of other materials. If you’re interested in seeing everything that can be reused, take a look at this comprehensive list from the U.S. Green Building Council.
Where does it all come from? It’s not like you can just walk into someone’s house or even a condemned property and start tearing it down.
There are many companies that specialize in the sale and reuse of green building materials. You can also hire contractors that choose to work with green building materials over standard ones.
Where Are These Green Buildings?
Upcycled buildings are actually located all over the world. You may not even notice them, because there truly is nothing different in terms of aesthetics, style or function. In fact, if you came across a green building, chances are you’d probably have no idea it was made of recycled materials unless someone told you.
Just take a look at the Architectural Digest’s feature on the top 10 green buildings of 2014. Most of these structures are absolutely stunning, and you wouldn’t necessarily know they’re made of recycled materials just by looking at them.
Some of the featured buildings are located in Arizona, Oregon, New York, Maryland and California. If you live in those areas you may pass by them every day and not know it.
It’s not a practice that’s exclusive to the United States, either. There are green buildings and architecture all over the world. There’s the India Tower in Mumbai, India, the Green Tomorrow home in South Korea, the Cundall Sydney Office Fitout in Australia and many more.
How Can I Find Out More?
If you’re interested in finding out more information about working with green materials or green architecture, you can visit any of the links we’ve offered above, and you can also pay a visit to the Natural Resources Defense Council. The NRDC is an environmental action group, but it offers a lot of information about green technology, green building and even green architecture.