Glass Mulch – a Popular Landscaping Choice

Perhaps you’ve heard of the newest alternative to traditional gravel and bark mulch – glass. That’s right, recycled glass is now a popular landscaping choice with numerous benefits.

Glass mulch looks like colorful gravel and comes in a variety of colors. The mulch is made from recycled glass debris which is tumbled to remove sharp edges, making it safe for children and animals, and beautiful for planters, gardens, and around trees.

Design options are endless, as the glass mulch can be coordinated to match your home’s architectural style and colors or create an outdoor living space with a specific theme (for instance, blue glass mulch is very popular for simulating water).

In addition to using recycled material, glass much carries other environmental benefits: it lessens the impact on landfills, conserves water and withstands heavy drainage without washing out, requires very little maintenance, and does not need to be replaced every year like traditional mulch does.

Some popular applications in residential architecture? Landscaping, terrazzo flooring, counter top applications, water features, fire pits, and hundreds more!

Landscaping photos by EnviroGLAS

Lake Sunape Area Open House

Our next event will be held at a spectacular custom home near Lake Sunapee, NH. If you are looking for land in the Sunapee / New London area, or already have property and are planning to build a new home, this event is for you!

Open House at a Lake Sunapee Custom Home

~ Talk with the Green Building Experts ~

Green Architect Jeremy Bonin, Bonin Architects

Green Builder Everett Pollard, Northcape Design Build

Lake Sunapee Realtor Dan O'Halloran, Colby Real Estate

Here's your opportunity to get your questions answered about building a new home or addition or remodeling your existing home. Q&A based on audience discussion! Ask about Comprehensive Shoreland Protection Act guidelines (CSPA), budgeting and costs, green home design, working with an architect, custom home costs, green building materials, and more!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Registration is required. Directions will be given to registrants only.

To register call Bonin Architects & Associates, New London, NH
603-504-6009

Relaxing atmosphere - Refreshments

Structural Insulated Panels

If you are interested in building an energy efficient home, insulation is your top consideration and probably the most important component of the home. The design of the home, and in particular the kind and amount of insulation specified, can have a dramatic effect on the energy efficiency of a home by reducing or eliminating the need for heating and cooling.

For this reason, our architectural firm prefers to design homes with Structural Insulated Panels (SIP panels). SIPs, sometimes known as stress skin panels, are made of an insulating foam core with OSB (oriented strand board) bonded to either side. There are two popular types of foam cores – EPS (expanded polystyrene - photo, right), XPS (extruded polystyrene) -- ranging in R-Values from 13 to 40 (R-value refers to a materials ability to resist transferring heat), far above what conventional wall construction with fiberglass or cellulose insulation can deliver.

SIP panels address the efficiency of the home and can be used in any climate. The structural insulated panel enclosure system creates an energy efficient building envelope, keeping your home warm in the dead of winter and cool in the hot summer months. (SIPs were even supplied for the International Science Station at the South Pole, where summer temperatures average minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit!)

A SIP building envelope provides high levels of insulation and is extremely airtight, meaning the amount of energy used to heat and cool a home can be cut by up to 50 percent (visit the Structural Insulated Panel Association website at http://www.sips.org/).
Do you have questions about using SIP panels in your project? Let us know!
For information on the importance of ventilation in a SIP panel home, check out these blogs:
Structural Insulated Panel blogs found on the Post and Beam & Timber Frame Blog.