Green Building Products

The GreenSpec® Guide to Residential Building Materials

Edited by Alex Wilson

With Mark Piepkorn

Foreword by Sarah Susanka

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 are descriptions and manufacturer contact information for more than 1,400 environmentally preferable products and materials. 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. Over 40% revised, this updated edition includes over 120 new products. 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

* Interior finish and trim

* Caulks and adhesives

* Paints and coatings

* Mechanical systems/HVAC

* Plumbing, electrical and lighting

* Appliances

* Furniture and furnishings

* Renewable energy

* Distributors and retailers

An index of products and manufacturers makes for easy navigation. There is no more comprehensive resource for both the engaged homeowner and those who design and build homes.

About the Contributor(s

Alex Wilson is president of BuildingGreen, Inc. and serves as executive editor of Environmental Building News, a monthly newsletter on environmentally responsible building design and construction, and as coeditor of the GreenSpec® product directory. He consults and lectures widely on sustainable design and serves as Secretary of the board of directors of the U.S. Green Building Council. Prior to starting his own company in 1985 (now Building-Green), he was executive director of the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association for five years; and in the late '70s, he taught workshops on passive solar design and construction in New Mexico. Alex has written about energy-efficient and environmentally responsible design and construction for more than 25 years and is author, coauthor or editor of several books and manuals, including Greening Federal Facilities (U.S. Dept. of Energy), The Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings (ACEEE, 8th edition, 2003) and the Rocky Mountain Institute's comprehensive textbook Green Development: Integrating Ecology and Real Estate (John Wiley & Sons, 1998). He has also written hundreds of articles for other publications, including Fine Homebuilding, Architectural Record, The Construction Specifier, Landscape Architecture, and Popular Science. Alex is a trustee of the Vermont Chapter of The Nature Conservancy.

Mark Piepkorn is associate editor of Environmental Building News and the lead products researcher for GreenSpec®, both publications of BuildingGreen, Inc. His knowledge of conventional and alternative construction methods, materials and building science-in applications as diverse as underground structures, vernacular timber construction, and earthen techniques, as well as the rehabilitation and remodeling of conventional structures-lends an interesting and important perspective to the understanding of the roles of manufactured products and materials in our built and conditioned environments. Active in the natural building movement, Mark has also been the editor of The Last Straw, an international newsletter about straw-bale construction and natural building.