The Benefits of Using Sustainable Building Materials

It’s official: architectural design is going green. They’re not the only industry to do so.

Sustainability has become more than just a buzzword – it’s a way of doing business that pays off. The construction and building materials industries can especially see the benefits.

Not convinced? Here are a few key benefits of sustainable building materials.

Energy and Resource Efficiency

First and foremost, sustainable building materials are a way to increase energy and resource efficiency. As a construction company, you’re well aware of the sheer volume of resources that goes into constructing a single building. And if you’re not building sustainably, a lot of those resources are wasted.

Sustainable building and eco-friendly materials are ways that you can conserve and re-use resources. There are a lot of approaches you can take here.

For example, you can look at how the building materials are sourced. Local materials are more sustainable (and cost-effective) because they have far lower transportation costs. You can also get more mileage out of your waste materials. Instead of literally throwing away the money you spent on those materials, you can use those materials again on another project.

Cost Efficiency

Sustainability often has a bad reputation for being expensive, but when it comes to building materials, it’s actually more cost-effective. Let’s say you order a certain amount of materials. And let’s say you don’t actually use all of them in a project. Which costs less: throwing out those materials and buying new ones for a new project, or using those materials in a new project?

You’re also using fewer resources if you construct a building sustainably. Water and energy can be conserved through sustainable building practices, reducing the overall cost of the project and boosting your profits.

Waste Reduction

For construction, waste management is a significant benefit. This applies in a few directions. First, you can reduce waste from job sites by reusing materials on new projects. That reduces your overall cost of waste disposal and reduces the cost of starting a new project.

Second, it reduces your costs while you’re working because you can take the time to be more aware of how you’re performing construction. Lower water and energy usage in the building process means less waste in the long haul. As the old adage goes, waste not, want not.

Building to Last a Lifetime

On a deeper level, building materials, like wood, concrete, steel, cement, and even non-building materials like product display sample boards, are focused on an idea that complements construction as an industry: building something that’s meant to last a lifetime.

Sustainability is all about meeting the needs of today without compromising the needs of others in the future. One of the most important concepts here is to reduce the amount of waste and make products last instead of buying new ones, thus reducing the number of resources each person uses.

So if you build a sustainable building, longevity is actually one of your biggest concerns. And that longevity has a positive impact for your customers, who get a better building as a result of sustainable materials and sustainable building practices.

Beyond Sustainable Building Materials

We know that sustainable building materials are just one part of the challenge facing construction companies across the country. It’s not enough to use recycled materials – you have to be smarter about how you manage your processes to create a more effective way of doing business.

That’s where we can help. We provide sustainability solutions for industry leaders just like you. You can turn data into actionable results that make your business stronger than ever. Want to find out how we can help your business thrive? Get in touch to start the conversation.