13-7 BUILDING MATERIAL SELECTION

BUILDING MATERIAL SELECTION

Revision Date:	8/01
Process Code:	Navy/Marines: N/A; Air Force: FA04; Army: OTG
Usage:	Navy: Medium; Marines: Medium; Army: Medium; Air Force: Medium
Compliance Impact:	High
Alternative for:	Using resource-intensive or polluting materials, landfilling construction wastes.
Applicable EPCRA Targeted Constituents: Various

Overview:

The selection of building materials greatly impacts the sustainability of a project. By choosing building materials wisely, considering the complete life cycle of the materials, a designer and/or builder can reduce the impact of the project on the environment. Careful material selection can minimize the depletion of resources, including raw materials, such as wood and metals, as well as energy and water used in the manufacturing process.

Careful consideration of building materials also can allow for efficient reuse or recycling of materials and building components if a building or facility is to be deconstructed or demolished. Finally, building materials choices may alleviate environmental impacts created by the manufacturing process, as well as indoor air quality in the final structure.

Analyzing the environmental impacts of building materials can be a difficult process. A life cycle analysis, which accounts for the impacts of resource extraction through manufacturing, use, and disposal, involves extensive data collection and analysis. Some of this analysis has already been conducted and results are available through various lists and databases of environmentally preferable building products.

Generally, the following considerations are key to efforts to promote sustainable design through building material selection. No single material will exhibit all of these characteristics, but planners can strive to choose materials that incorporate as many as possible. Whenever possible, material should:

Not affect indoor air quality adversely;
Incorporate recycled content (post-consumer and post-industrial);
Be made using natural and/or renewable resources;
Be durable, and have low maintenance requirements;
Have low "embodied energy" (the energy required to produce and transport materials);
Not contain CFCs, HCFCs or other ozone depleting substances;
Not contain highly toxic compounds;
Employ "Sustainable Harvesting" practices, for wood products;
Be procured from local resources and manufacturers;
Be reused easily (either whole or through disassembly);
Be recycled readily (preferably in a closed-loop recycling system); or
Be biodegradable.

Source: Navy WBDG "Green Products" Resource Page

These basic considerations can guide building materials selection. Additional considerations are plastics, metals, asphalt, concrete, wood, plasterboard, geotextiles, and many other building materials. Numerous guides and checklists are available that provide more details.

Among the guides available to help identify environmentally preferable building materials are the following:

Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability (BEES)
U.S. National Institute for Standards and Technology
www.epa.gov/opptintr/epp/bees.htm

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) Tools
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
www.epa.gov/opptntr/epp/resources.html

EPA "Lists of Manufacturers and Suppliers" of Recycled Content Products
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
www.epa.gov/cpg/products

GreenSpec Product Directory and Guideline Specifications Binder
Environmental Building Needs
www.buildinggreen.com/orders/gs_info.html

Guide to Resource Efficient Building Elements (6th Edition, 1997)
Center for Resourceful Building Technology
http://www.crbt.org/

The Harris Directory of Pollution Prevention Products for Home, Office and Garden
http://www.harrisdirectory.com/

LEED Green Building Rating System 2.0
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Green Building Rating System Criteria
U.S. Green Building Council, April 2000
www.usgbc.org/programs/leed.htm

Recycling Plus Program Manual
Clean Washington Center
www.pnl.gov/esp/greenguide/cscport.pdf

REDI Guide to Building Materials
http://oikos.com/products/

Sustainable Building Technical Manual
Public Technology, Inc., and
The U.S. Green Building Council
www.sustainable.doe.gov/pdf/sbt.pdf

Guiding Principles of Sustainable Design, and
The Sustainable Design and Construction Database
National Park Service, 1996
www.nps.gov/dsc/dsgncnstr/gpsd/

Sustainable Sources
http://www.greenbuilder.com/

Compliance Benefit:

Thoughtful selection of building materials will help facilities meet the requirements under Executive Order 13101, requiring executive agencies (e.g., DOD) to incorporate waste prevention and recycling in their daily operations, and to consider the following factors in developing plans, drawings, work statements, specifications, or other product descriptions: elimination of virgin material requirements; use of recovered materials; reuse of product; life-cycle cost; recyclability; use of environmentally preferable products; waste prevention (including toxicity reduction or elimination and ultimate disposal, as appropriate.

Selecting appropriate building materials also helps facilities comply with Executive Order 13123 "Greening the Government Through Energy Efficiency Management" which was issued in 1999 and states that all Federal Agencies are to take specific actions to improve energy management to save taxpayers' money and reduce emissions that contribute to air pollution and global climate change.

Implementing sustainable development strategies, such as careful building materials selection, also will help facilities meet requirements under the Department of the Army Technical Letter No. 1110-3-491, "Sustainable Design for Military Facilities", released on May 1, 2001. This letter provides basic criteria for incorporating sustainable design concepts in the design and construction of Military facilities.

The compliance benefits listed here are only meant to be used as a general guideline and are meant to be strictly interpreted. Actual compliance benefits will very depending on the factors involved, e.g. the amount of workload involved.

Materials Compatibility:

No materials compatibility issues were identified.

Safety and Health:

No major safety or health issued are associated with selecting environmentally preferable building materials were identified. Consult your local industrial health specialist, your local health and safety personnel, and the appropriate MSDS prior to implementing this technology.

Benefits:

Saves landfill space.
Conserves resources.
Can reduce construction and materials costs;
Can reduce disposal costs if a structure is demolished or deconstructed;
Can reduce material replacement costs;
Can reduce maintenance costs;
Enhances indoor air quality.

Disadvantages:

Determining a product's environmental preferability can be a complex process for which no tools exist;
Environmentally preferable materials may be more expensive or difficult to locate.

Economic Analysis:

The costs incurred will vary depending upon the materials being used, the quantities used, and products being replaced. Economic data are specific to each application, and comparisons among other systems would not be applicable. The principle costs that need to be considered are:

Capital cost of alternative products compared to traditional products.
Quantities necessary to perform similarly to traditional products.
Any changes in labor or other supplies necessary to work with the alternative products.
Any additional personal protective equipment (PPE) which might be necessary when using traditional products.
Any special handling or storage considerations for the products in question.
Costs avoided by reusing or recycling building materials if structure is dismantled.

When looking at recycled-content markets, the following material categories have been identified and studied to determine their relative cost compared to comparable virgin products.

Recycled-Content Products and Materials Typically Costing Less Than Virgin Products	Recycled-Content Products and Materials Typically Costing Approximately the Same as Virgin Products	Recycled-Content Products and Materials Typically Costing More Than Virgin Products
Compost Sub-base Materials, such as Crushed Concrete, Crushed Brick, Foundry Sand, Mixed Glass Cullet, Recycled Asphalt Recycled Tire Retaining Walls Asphalt with Glass Fly Ash Concrete Cast in Place Concrete Specialties Structural Steel Fiber Boards Wood/Plastic Composite Lumber Underlayment Board Plastic Lockers Refurbished Carpet Tiles	Compost Parking Blocks Drainage Tile Concrete and Brick Pavers Construction Fencing Road Barricades Benches and Tables Hydroseed Insulating Concrete Forms Reinforcing Steel Reinforcing Steel Supports Anchor Bolts Expansion Joint Filler Cast in Place Concrete Specialties Wood Fiber Concrete Forms Structural Steel Steel Studs, Roofing, Siding, and Panels Steel Bolts and Rods Re-bar Glue Laminated Beams Wood/Plastic Composite Lumber Particle Board Underlayment Board Plastic Lumber Plastic Fencing Counter Tops Insulation - Cellulose, "West Spray: Cellulose, Fiberglass, Rigid, Cotton, Acoustic Asphalt Shingles Windows and Doors Recycled Paint Carpet and Underlayment Vinyl Tile Gypsum Board Acoustic Ceiling Tile Ceiling Grid Ceramic Tile Rubber Tile Bathroom Partitions Glass Block Cabinets	Benches and Tables Insulating Concrete Forms Wood Fiber Concrete Forms Recycled Timber Glue Laminated Beams Recycled Wood Flooring and Paneling "West Spray" Cell Insulation Cotton Insulation Wood Windows Solid Wood Doors Carpet Vinyl Tile Extra Strong Gypsum Board Bathroom Partitions

Source: JBA Architects

NSN/MSDS:

Product	NSN	Unit Size	Cost	MSDS*
Recycled plastic lumber, non-wood, dimensional, hollow	5675-01-421-8054 5675-01-421-7270	2" x 4" x 12' 2" x 6" x 12'	$19.47 $87.93
Recycled plastic lumber, non-wood, dimensional, solid	5675-01-421-0872 5675-01-421-0950	2" x 4" x 12' 2" x 6" x 12'	$50.82 $43.91

NOTE: Each type of lumber is available in numerous dimensions.

*There are multiple MSDSs for most NSNs.
The MSDS (if shown above) is only meant to serve as an example

Points of Contact:

Air Force:
Mr. Jeff Merz
HQ ACC/CECE
129 Andrews Street, Suite 102
Langley AFB, VA 23665
Phone: (757) 764-3614
FAX: (757) 764-5339
Email:jeffrey.merz@landley.af.mil

Mr. Larry Dryden
HQ ACC/CECE
129 Andrews Street, Suite 102
Langley AFB, VA 23665
Phone: (757) 764-3614
FAX: (757) 764-5339
Email:larry.dryden@landley.af.mil

Ms. Karen Kevela
Environmental Quality Directorate
Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence
3207 North Road
Brooks AFB, TX 78235-5363
Phone: (210) 536-4191
DSN: 240-4191
FAX: (210) 536-4254
Email: karen.kivela@brooks.af.mil

Civilian:
Mr. John Barrie
John Barrie Associates Architects
1050 Pinetree Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
Phone: (734) 668-4811
FAX: (734) 668-4033
Email: jsbarrie@hotmail.com

Vendors:

For information about these potential vendors, please refer to the resources at the beginning of this data sheet.

Sources:

Environmental Building News - Building Green, Inc., 122 Bridge Street, Suite 30, Brattleboro, VT 05301
Whole Building Design Guide, www.wbdg.org
Residential Construction Waste Management: A Builder's Field Guide, National Association of Home Builders Research Center, 400 Prince George's Boulevard, Upper Marlboro, MD 20774.
U.S. Air Force Environmentally Responsible Facilities Guide, June 1998, www.afcee.brooks.af.mil/green/facilitiesguide/facguide.asp
Ms. Karen Kivela, Environmental Quality Directorate, Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence, January 2000.

[Back]