siding-steel / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

Wood, steel and concrete each have specific structural advantages, each with their own characteristics. The following is a life-cycle comparison conducted by the Athena Sustainable Materials Institute (ASMI) of the materials only, and does not include any considerations of how they each affect thermal performance, vapo...

Siding is important! There is no stage of home construction that you should rush through, but if there were, it shouldn't be siding. Whatever type of siding product you choose, purchase and installation is not cheap, so you don't want to do it again anytime soon. Your siding needs to protect your home from the weather,...

What is Shou sugi ban siding? © Resawn Timber Co. Shou sugi ban is an ancient Japanese carbonized wood finish created by burning the surface of wood to preserve it. The final product is also known as Yakisugi (yaki means to cook/burn and sugi is the Japanese name for cedar), but shou-sugi-ban seems to have won as the...

Siding installation The walls of your home are an environmental separator. Their job is to keep the inside in and the outside out. Exterior cladding or siding is your first line of defense against weather elements, and its job is to allow interior control layers (ie. the building envelope) to do their jobs without bei...

A technical guide to understanding the role weather barriers and rainscreens play in a wall, choosing the right products and installation tips for optimum performance. They're officially known as water-resistive barriers or WRBs, sometimes weather-resistive barriers, but in practical terms they are more commonly called...

Is painting brick a good idea? Bricks will absorb moisture from the interior of a home and they need to be able to expel that moisture; applying paint to the exterior can cause the paint and masonry to lift, peel or crack as it can become susceptible to freeze thaw cycles in cold climates. Beyond just aesthetics, moist...

1. Asphalt shingles: Asphalt shingles © Ecohome We’ll start with shingles to get it out of the way, because choosing an eco-friendly, durable roof covering starts first with dismissing any idea of installing asphalt shingles. High-embodied energy, rarely if ever recycled, they deteriorate rapidly with UV rays, emit s...

Sanding and Refinishing a hardwood floor, when is the best time to do it? It may seem weird to say, but the best time to refinish a hardwood floor is before it shows severe signs of wear and tear. Hardwood floors and hardwood laminated or engineered floors are durable and can withstand a lot of traffic, but over time, ...

Getting Tiny houses approved as habitatable dwelling units on your property Getting a Tiny House installed legally on a property is often possible, once you know how. The Tiny Home Industry Association (THIA) works with states and communities to help them realize there is a new trend towards smaller homes, and to find ...

How to find a certified Green Builder? It’s not common to find a reliable ‘green home listing’ or ‘green pages’ in specific regions, so choosing a quality general contractor with experience building efficient homes can be tricky. Here are some tips of where to look, what to look for, and what to avoid.  First, start wi...

It is well-documented that indoor air is filled with contaminants, mostly due to cooking (specifically burning) and improperly vented combustion appliances (woodstoves, gas water heaters, gas ranges, etc.). Following that would be formaldehyde, VOCs and other chemicals in building materials and furnishings. All these f...