The Fun Times Guide > Home Building/Remodeling > green building materials

7 Reasons To Install Radiant Barrier Roof Sheathing

Radiant barrier roof sheathing is a great product that is installed just like regular roof sheathing. photo by Randy @ The Fun Times Guide to Homebuilding

Radiant barrier roof sheathing is a great product that will reduce your power bill. There are just a few manufacturers that make this unusual type of roof sheathing that has a shiny, perforated aluminum foil/craft paper laminated to one side of it. For simplicity's sake, I'm focusing my attention on Georgia-Pacific's Thermostat® radiant barrier product, not to mention that all Georgia-Pacific wood product samples are available to me. I happen to manage the facility that sends out all of … [Read more...]

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Are Radiant Barriers Right For Your Home?

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Radiant barriers have been around for decades but they are starting to gain momentum. This is in large part due to advances in design and the sales potential to existing homeowners that are upside-down on their mortgages. I touched on the subject of radiant barriers in a recent post regarding home energy audits, but I wanted to dig a little deeper. Radiant barriers inhibit heat transfer by thermal radiation.  The concept works and is widely used throughout the homebuilding industry among … [Read more...]

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Atlanta Home Show Cool Homebuilding Products

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One of my biggest reasons for attending home shows is to see interesting, cool homebuilding products and services, with the occasional celebrity to meet to keep things interesting. The 2011 Fall Atlanta Home Show didn't disappoint, although, I had hoped that there would be more products to wow me. A product garners a "wow" and/or a "cool" rating by meeting one, or more, of the following criteria: A better-built "mouse trap" for an old problem A new invention/patent that truly … [Read more...]

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A French Drain System Made Easy

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If you're about to install a French drain system on your property, you might want to consider a product manufactured by NDS called EZflow. It's also called EZ-Drain. I took notice of it during a visit to Home Depot recently and it piqued my interest. A French drain system allows water to flow away from residential foundations, buildings and sports complex surfaces in an unobtrusive manner via underground means. A French drain system traditionally consists of a trench, gravel and … [Read more...]

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Synthetic Slate Roof Shingles Helps Protect Mammoth Cave

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We visited Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky recently and had a great time. It's a beautiful park with many outdoor activities besides having the world's largest cave system to explore. We visited the park in June of 2011 and they had just completed putting the finishing touches on the new main visitor's central building. They also have a couple of shelters where you meet the park rangers to go on your cave tour. Construction workers were putting the roof tiles on one of the shelters … [Read more...]

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Take A Virtual Tour Of The 2011 Net-Zero Concept Home

Are you interested in learning all you can about building a net-zero home? Are about to embark on a home building project of your own and you've come to realize that it would be a very wise move to reduce your carbon footprint by building a home that is an energy miser.There is a very cool, virtual tool available to you that can give you a jump start in your quest to build your next home.Builder magazine, KB Home and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia combined forces to put together a net-zero home … [Read more...]

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Will Net Zero Homes Be The New American Home?

The home building industry is designing and building net zero homes in increasing numbers for customers throughout the nation. No...it is not widespread...yet, but I read about net zero homes being built more and more. That is great news because energy costs will only continue to rise.Did you know that buildings account for 40 percent of energy use in the U.S. and a similar percentage of carbon dioxide emissions? That's more than the transportation or industrial sectors. It's true. (source: … [Read more...]

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Smith & Fong’s Sideways: An Engineered Hardwood Flooring With A Different Look

Smith & Fong produce some great flooring products. The different types of engineered wood flooring they produce are great for a few different reasons:Unusual materials are used in some of their flooring products, such as sugar palm and coconut palm.Their flooring is beautiful to look at.Most of their flooring contributes to LEED credits in one way or another.Sustainability is in their thought process.They pay special attention to grain patterns, configuring them into new looks for … [Read more...]

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Eco-Friendly PaperStone Countertops Are Hard To Beat

PaperStone countertops are one of the few eco-friendly, sustainable paper countertops on the market today. It is similar to Richlite, ShektaStone and EcoTop in many ways.What sets PaperStone apart from competing paper countertops is the type of phenolic resin used during the manufacturing process. First and foremost, their resin is non-petroleum based. They have their own laboratory and manufacturing plant to produce a cashew nut shell liquid-based (CNSL) resin.Believe it or not, CNSL has … [Read more...]

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Are Paper Countertops A Good, Green Choice?

The answer is a solid YES!Finding an eco-friendly countertop that also looks great is much easier to do than you might think. There are a few different types of "eco-friendly" countertop materials on the market:Terrazo (crushed stone and glass that is set in a cement or epoxy substrate and then buffed until smooth)Recycled Glass TileRe-purposed Stainless SteelRecycled Plastic (made from a variety of materials such as yogurt containers; amongst others)Wood (if sourced locally from a … [Read more...]

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