MATERIALS : New Products Are Making It Easier to Be Green

Until recently, homeowners hoping to purchase environmentally sensitive building materials faced a frustrating search. Though the promise of newer and better technologies was long, supplies were short.

Now, thanks to a widening supply stream, tracking down improved products is getting easier. If you seek particleboard made without formaldehyde, carpeting manufactured from recycled soda bottles, a water-saving toilet or other products with an ecological advantage, you can shop by telephone or visit a local home center.

An example of an environmental product making its way to market is Trex, a lumber-like decking product made from recycled plastic bags, industrial sawdust and other wood waste. Though it has been on the market for several years, buying it has long been a needle-in-the-haystack proposition. But now this Mobil Chemical Co. product is available through an expanding network of lumberyards and may be offered at home centers this year.

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Other examples of improved materials becoming more readily available include:

Carpeting. It takes 36 plastic soda bottles to make a square yard of polyester carpet. Several manufacturers have entered the field, and their products are beginning to show up in carpet stores. Also, look for carpets carrying the environmental Green Tag, which certifies that tested material releases limited fumes.

Heating and air-conditioning equipment. New designs are making homes more comfortable without damaging the larger environment. For instance, Carrier Corp.’s new WeatherMaker 134A central air conditioner uses an ozone-friendly refrigerant. Also, major companies have come out with ground-source heat pumps, programmable thermostats and whole-house ventilation systems that mark distinct steps forward in energy savings.

Compact fluorescent lighting. Not long ago, these energy savers could only be found in specialty lighting stores. Now they can even be found at the supermarket.

Paints and finishes. Low-polluting, water-based formulas are available anywhere paint is sold.

Engineered wood products. Wood waste and small, fast-growing trees are used to make a range of siding, sheathing and general-use products. Materials containing little or no formaldehyde are available at home centers and lumberyards. Consumer complaints about the toxic effects of formaldehyde emissions from the glues in particleboard have prodded major companies to refashion their formulas. Look for labels that trumpet the switch to lesser-polluting resins.

There are many new products still inching their way into the mainstream. For more information about emerging products, contact:

Center for Resourceful Building Technology, P.O. Box 3866, Missoula, MT 59806; (406) 549-7678.

Real Goods, 966 Mazzoni St., Ukiah, CA 95482; (800) 762-7325.

Environmental Construction Outfitters, 44 Crosby St., New York, NY 10012; (800) 238-5008.