Solid wood doors can cost several hundred to several thousand dollars. Salvaged doors can be as cheap at $10! Some salvage yards even sell the doors with matching jambs and casings. In addition, you can customize a salvaged door in order to fit your design.

So next time you’re looking for solid wood doors check out your local salvage yard. You might be pleasantly surprised at what you find and you’ll certainly be doing your part for green construction.

Today there are many building materials available in recycled form:

Metal Products – Steel and aluminum building elements are highly recyclable. Between 50% to 70% of the energy and pollution caused by steel production can be avoided by recycling steel. Remelting aluminum avoids up to 85 percent of the energy and pollution of aluminum manufacturing.

Heavy Timbers – Many heavy timbers are recycled from old buildings and cut into flooring, siding and other unique wood products.

Plastics – Recycling plastics is a complicated process. However, more and more building products are using recycled plastic as a major component of the product. Decking, railings, composite trim are all examples of building products using recycled plastics.

Glass – Remelting glass offers few energy and pollution savings. However, recently recycled glass is being used in concrete counter tops and other concrete and asphalt products.

Masonry products and ceramics – Recycling concrete, clay, asphalt and other similar materials is an excellent way of keeping it out of landfills. Masonry products are often crushed and then reused for granular fill in roads and sidewalks. Concrete and asphalt are crushed up and used in pavement bases.

Ok so you’re probably asking what really makes cellulose a green building product. Typical cellulose used for home insulation is made from 75% to 85% recycled paper fibers (typically from recycled newsprint). The other 15% is typically a fire retardant material such as boric acid. By comparison most fiberglass insulation only has about 20% to 30% recycled material content.

The other big reason why cellulose is such a green product is the environmental impact that fiberglass and spray foam pose. Both fiberglass and spray foam products are petrochemical based. Spray foams are typically installed using some type of HFC (HydroFluoroCarbon) or HCFC (Haloalkane) blowing agents which are hundreds of times worse than carbon dioxide for the environment. It takes 20 to 40 times as much energy to make fiberglass insulation as it does to make cellulose insulation.

Cellulose insulation earns credits in two categories of the US Green Building Council LEED certification. The two categories are : the energy and atmosphere energy performance category and the materials and resources recycled content category. So it’s clear to me that choosing cellulose as your primary insulation material can help you keep your project green and your home more comfortable in the winter and summer.