How to Build a Green Home: Best Sustainable Building Materials

Your home is more than just a place to live. It’s an expression of your personality and values. And as someone who cares about the environment, you try your best to minimize your carbon footprint and live your life as sustainably as possible.  

A custom prefab home is the opportunity of a lifetime to build the home of your dreams while minimizing your environmental footprint.  

You can picture it now: waking up in a home filled with beautiful colours, fixtures, and materials that you picked yourself, knowing they’re all as Earth-friendly as you are. That this home, your home, stands as a reflection of your commitment to the environment. 

One of the best ways to make your home Green is to use sustainable building materials. These materials are made from renewable resources and are biodegradable, meaning they will not harm the environment when disposed of properly.  

Sustainable building materials are the future of home building. Read on to find out which sustainable building materials are best for your custom home, as well as several other eco-friendly options that will help you lower your carbon footprint!

Sustainable Building Material Options


Listed below are sustainable building materials that you can incorporate into your custom home so that you live a healthier, more environmentally friendly life in the home of your dreams!

Wood Construction 

Wood construction provides many benefits to the environment, so long as the lumber is sourced from sustainable forestry sources. Sustainable forestry plants new trees to preserve the carbon dioxide-storing capacity of the forest, which in turn helps to mitigate the effects of climate change. Lumber is also lightweight, which reduces the carbon footprint of transporting it to the site. 

Formaldehyde-Free Insulation   

Formaldehyde-free insulation is a sustainable building material primarily composed of recycled glass and paper that does not contain any formaldehyde. It’s an excellent alternative to traditional fibreglass insulation, which may emit high levels of formaldehyde gas and other pollutants. 

Bamboo Floors   

Bamboo flooring is made from fibres of the bamboo plant that are compressed into boards and planks. It’s a sustainable building material that is environmentally friendly, naturally renewable, and biodegradable. It also comes in many different styles, textures, and colours, so it can be tailored to suit any home design! 

Geothermal Heating 

Geothermal heating is a sustainable and environmentally friendly form of heating that works by using the ground’s natural heat to warm homes and buildings. This type of heating is environmentally friendly because it does not produce greenhouse gases. It also does not use any fossil fuels, which means that it does not release carbon dioxide into the air.  

VOC-Free Paint   

VOC-free paints are paints that don’t contain any volatile organic compounds. They are safer for the environment and healthier for people. Today, there are a variety of VOC-free paints on the market so you don’t need to compromise on colour to keep your home sustainable! 

Enviroshake Roof Shingles   

Enviroshake roof shingles are an eco-friendly roofing material created from a wood composite material designed to mimic cedar shakes and slate shingles. The materials are durable enough to keep your home safe from the Canadian weather, but they are also lightweight and sustainable. 

Recycled Decking Materials   

The use of recycled decking materials is a sustainable way to enjoy the outdoors. You can choose composite decking made from recycled wood, plastic, or rubber, moulded to give the appearance of real wood and that will last for years!

More Ways to Build a Greener, More Sustainable Home

Going green doesn’t have to end with the building materials! Environmentally friendly elements can also be built into the systems and fixtures of your custom home, including: 

  • Insulation to R60 in the ceiling and R29.5 in the walls, and full height R20 basement insulation reduce the cost of heating your home in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. 
  • Sealed window and door openings allow for a more energy-efficient home, lowering your monthly utility bills.
  • Super low-flow shower heads and dual-flush toilets maximize the use of your water and reduce waste. 

The benefits of building a green and sustainable home don’t show through just the integrity of the home, but the overall feel of contributing to the environment each day by living sustainably. 


Being Green Isn’t Just an Upgrade
 

Building homes with sustainable materials, along with minimizing waste, are our priorities here at Royal Homes. Our factory building process is designed to economize material use and reduce waste. Contributing to the environment by building homes that use recycled and renewable materials is a small initiative that will make a change in our world, one Royal Home at a time! 

There are endless advantages to choosing sustainable building options. Including a wide variety of home design customizations (cabinets, flooring, counters, paint, and more) on top of sustainable building standards, materials, and system options. Visit our prefabricated home model page to get excited and inspired about your dream home!

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