Green Building Products: The GreenSpec Guide to Residential Building Materials

Interest in sustainable, green building practices is greater than ever. Whether concerned about allergies, energy costs, old-growth forests, or durability and long-term value, homeowners and builders are looking for ways to ensure that their homes are healthy, safe, beautiful, and efficient.

In these pages you'll find descriptions and manufacturer contact information for more than 1,400 environmentally preferable products and materials from ag-fiber panels to zero-VOC paints. All phases of residential construction, from sitework to flooring to renewable energy, are covered. Products are grouped by function, and each chapter begins with a discussion of key environmental considerations, and what to look for in a green product. Categories of products include:
Sitework and landscaping
Outdoor structures
Decking
Foundations, footers and slabs
Structural systems and components
Sheathing
Exterior finish and trim
Roofing
Doors and windows
Insulation
Flooring and floor coverings
Caulks and adhesives
Paints and coatings
Mechanical systems/HVAC
Plumbing, electrical and lighting
Appliances
Furniture and furnishings
Renewable energy
Distributors and retailers A miscellaneous section also lists products for hazardous materials testing and remediation, insect control, recycling, and wood products certification. An index of products and manufacturers makes for easy navigation. There is no more comprehensive resource for both the engaged homeowner, as well as all those who design and build homes.

Editor Alex Wilson has been researching and writing on energy-efficiency and sustainable design for over 25 years, and co-editor Mark Piepkorn has extensive experience with natural and traditional building methods. Alex is President of Building-Green, an authoritative source for information on environmentally responsible design and construction, which also publishes the GreenSpec Directory of green building products for architects and designers, and the leading sustainable building newsletter, Environmental Building News.

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Excellent Resource, 2007-05-15
A must have for any green designer, builder or home owner who wants to do the right thing.


26 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

not what I expected, 2006-03-27
this is actually a list of places that sell "green" materials- like a specialized phone book. I think most of this information is on line, and that we will need to buy things within our local area- not from the other side of the county. we returned this book.


31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

Excellent Job of Research, 2005-09-07
Housing is probably the second largest consumer of non-renewable resources after the automobile. This book is on building in a way that provides everything you need in a house, but doing so with a minimal impact on the earth.

The first step is building a house that is satisfactory but not so big as has become normal in the US, and designing it for energy efficiency. Well insulated houses are easier to keep warm in the winter, cool in the summer.

After the design is completed, then comes the selection of components and materials to be used in the construction of the house. That's where this book comes in. In going through the book you can find ideas that will help you in the design, but more importantly, you will find components that fall into the general rules of 'reuse/recycle.' Here is lumber recovered from older buildings, lumber made from plastic that from recycled packaging. Here are high performance appliances, insulation made from recycled components.

This book takes the form of a listing of suppliers, broken down by category. I find that by looking at these procucts, many of which I didn't even know existed, the design of the house is changed to fit.

These people have done an excellent job of research as to what's avaialble.


29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

An excellent catalog featuring the latest 'green' residential building material choices, 2005-09-04
Alex Wilson and Mark Piepkorn edit Green Building Products: The Greenspec Guide To Residential Building Materials whether you're a builder or a homeowner, learn the truth about what items are truly 'green' and which are false promises. And get the addresses, phones, and web sites to quickly locate products ranging from cork underlayment for floors to special green paints, finishes, and mechanical and lighting systems. An excellent catalog featuring the latest 'green' residential building material choices.



18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

Excellent Reference For Your Green Library, 2005-08-23
This Book is an excellent reference for any architectural and construction library. The Book contains product information in each of the CSI 16 Divisions. The information listed is "Certifiably Green", but limited in number of manufacturers. As you may know the Green Market is rapidly expanding where new products are develop and old products are receiving the LEED Certification. As an initial guide in the new green world of residential materials, it is a must have in your Library and undoubtedly, there will be new editions out.

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