Earth Friendly Building Materials in Arizona Homes

In continuing with the theme of our last blog post, we thought we would highlight a couple of options being used by Arizona builders for the construction of environmentally friendly homes.

One building material being used in some homes is a new kind of block made from a material called autoclaved aerated concrete ("AAC"). AAC is a precast, manufactured building block made from all-natural raw materials that is highly adaptable to different architectural needs. Although it has been used in Europe for many years, it is just now gaining traction in America. The blocks will not decompose and emit no harmful gases if burned. They also make a home nearly soundproof.

One Phoenix builder, Edwards Design Group, has opened its own AAC masonry group and uses the material in many homes they build.

To learn more about AAC, read this excellent article from pathnet.org.

Some builders are also building homes with lower energy costs by slightly reducing the size of the windows or placing a light tent on the windows. A talented builder will know how to seamlessly incorporate the windows into a home so they don't look unusual. An architect in Phoenix recently built the ultimate environmentally friendly home, using every state-of-the art technique available, including these types of windows. You can read more about it here.

To take a tour of "green" homes in and around the Phoenix area, call us today!

Scottsdale, Arizona: the Green City

In 2005, Scottsdale, Arizona became the first city in the U.S. to adopt a Gold policy from the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). The LEED is a voluntary, consensus-based national standards program for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings that is sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The Scottsdale resolution which adopted the LEED Gold program requires that any new occupied city buildings be designed to achieve certification. Also, future building renovations and new non-occupied buildings should include as many LEED principles as possible.

Prior to the passing of the Gold policy resolution, way back in 1998, Scottsdale established the first Green Building Program in Arizona, which was a residential building program designed to encourage environmentally friendly building.

Last week, the Granite Reef Senior Center in Scottsdale became the city's first new building to be awarded LEED Gold certification. Also, last year, more than a third of all new single family building permits were for "green" homes.

So why should any of this matter to you? We just wanted to point out the environmentally aware culture of Scottsdale. This is a town that is on the cutting edge in terms of proscribing building measures that will insure the least negative impact to our environment and that reduce energy consumption. If you are an environment/energy-conscious person, there is no other city in the United States with more positive, "greener" residences that Scottsdale.

Choice Group Realty can help you find your perfect "green" home. Call us today!