Alternative Building Materialsrss

  • Green Building Can Be Sensible and Cost-Effective

    Sustainable building experts at PCBC provide tips for going green without breaking the bank.

     
  • California Builder Joins DOE Builders Challenge

    The Grupe Co. is one of 150 builders committed to collectively building 220,000 high-performance homes by 2012.

     
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    84 Lumber Expands into the FSC-Certified Wood Market

    Twenty-six locations operated by 84 Lumber Co., one of the nation’s leading lumber dealers, now are selling Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified wood. The FSC Chain of Custody Certification ensures that wood products meet the organization’s rigid standards from raw materials through processing...

     
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    'Extreme Makeover' Goes Green in New Orleans

    Deltec Homes leads a team of builders on a four-day quest to construct a storm-proof, green home and church.

     
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    Engineered Lumber's Green Attributes Provide Another Selling Point

    When Trus Joist introduced the first engineered I-joist in 1969, it wasn't to save the planet. It was to help save a building industry that depended on huge, old-growth trees that were quickly becoming scarce and more protected by regulators.

     
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    Managing Moisture: The Building Shell

    Of the many principles incorporated into green building, moisture management is key to succeeding in at least two: health (in terms of avoiding mold) and durability (in terms of avoiding premature deterioration of materials). And while the business of building homes gets more difficult and more comp...

     
  • Barriers to Entry

    Technology and Commonsense Design Are Your Dest Defenses Against Moisture

     
  • Feature: Market Matters – Consider the Alternatives (Part 2)

    As the general manager of a custom home builder in Orlando, Fla., Mike Williams is very familiar with concrete and steel as building materials. His usual routine, as it is for most Gulf Coast builders, is to construct a first level of masonry block over a concrete slab foundation and then top that w...

     
  • Market Matters: Consider the Alternatives

    Don Ferrier is your customer, even though he doesn't buy the bulk of his framing lumber from you anymore. In fact, except for what he needs for interior walls, Ferrier doesn't buy framing lumber at all. For the envelopes of the half-dozen custom homes he builds every year in the Fort Worth, Texas, a...

     
  • Mold and Moisture

    Mold growth in homes is the hot topic in the home building industry today. Headlines tout the danger of exposure to mold in our homes and at work. A member of the fungi family, mold comes in thousands of varieties and exists in every indoor and outdoor environment. It is a natural and necessary part...