Taperman articles

Green home building is very popular in the United States today, but many people do not know that Europeans have been building green homes for decades. We have many technologies that are just emerging in the United States that seem to be new and innovate…they are not. Green home building is usually discussed in such a way that people marvel about these new technologies, but they are really only new to us.

In Europe, for example, there is a building material called Autoclave Aerated Concentrate, or AAC, which has been used in new construction for years. According to GreenHomeBuilding,com, this substance is fire proof, highly insulating, and lightweight. This means that it can be easily transported in larger quantities, which will consume less fuel. Also, the AAC is made of very simple ingredients: water, sand, cement, lime, and aluminum powder. Eighty percent of the AAC is made up of air, which is the main ingredient. The most important benefit is the fact that its production does not produce any byproducts. This material has been used by builders in Germany for almost one hundred years, but was only introduced in the United States in 1996, and it is not yet widely accepted.

An additional green home building material that is used widely in Europe but not in the United States is the Wood Fiber Board. These boards are made from wood chip waste produced by sawmills. GreenHomeBuilding.com explains the fact that these boards do not emit toxins when manufactured. They are cheap to make, durable, and totally compostable. But, we do not use those very much here in the United States. We prefer cutting more trees, I guess.. We do not like using what we already have to make something new.

Europe is by far more advanced then we are when it comes to green home building practices. They have been doing these things for about one hundred years, so for Europeans, there is nothing new or innovative about green home building; it is a way of life. We are in the right mind set to become equal in greenness to Europe, but I just hope it is not too late.

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