When designing and building new homes, offices, schools or other buildings, more and more consideration is given to the impact on our planet. Choosing sustainable building materials are an essential part of this. But which building materials are sustainable? In this blog, we name some examples.
Wood is a natural and sustainable building material because trees can be harvested after 20 to 120 years. With fossil resources such as petroleum and ore, this can take centuries.
In addition, wood is sustainable because each board stores CO2, thus contributing to the reduction of CO2 in the atmosphere. Wood from sustainably managed forests, contains the FSC or PEFC label. Within construction, wood is often used for the construction of a building, but also for cladding a facade, for example.
Bamboo is an inexhaustible resource and, like wood, has an FSC label. It grows up to one metre a day! Because bamboo grows quickly and in many places, it requires little polluting transport. Most often, bamboo is used as a sustainable building material as flooring, but nowadays it is also used as cladding. A floor or façade made of pressed bamboo planks is very strong and absorbs CO2. The amount of CO2 stored can reach 1,696 tonnes of CO2 per m³ of bamboo.
Another example of sustainable building materials is recycled materials such as metal or wood. This refers to wood from demolished homes or buildings, for example. The wood has been used before, but is now reworked so that no new trees have to be felled. There is also recycled metal such as steel, aluminium, copper or iron. This does not require mining new metal. Recycled metal can be used, for example, to make a floor joist or the exterior façade. CLT wood panels as a construction material are made from recycled wood, among others.
Want to choose a sustainable building material for cladding the roof? A green roof is a sustainable vegetation or sedum roof where low-maintenance succulents and mosses usually grow. The green roof insulates well and also helps against water flooding.
Want to think about the environment and the impact on the earth when building? Then choose sustainable building materials. Think for example of using wood instead of steel, aluminium or iron. Or use recycled materials, for example. Achieve an authentic rural look with sustainable materials? Then go for our unique black stained wood. Sustainable wood from managed forests and fired in our own oven. Curious about the possibilities?
We have put together two Zwarthout | Shou Sugi Ban sample boxes: one for interior design applications and one for façade cladding.
That way, you can experience the attention, care and love we pour into each piece of wood yourself. And, of course, the beauty and exclusive looks the various textures have to offer.
