Building a Green Garden Office

Not too sure how many people living in the various urban neighborhoods and surburbs of Chicago actually have the option of building a green garden office, i.e. would’ve-been-shed, but it still seems dream-worthy [and blog-worthy]. Let’s think of it as inspiration for us lessluckies and useful information for those actually building, renovating that bungalow, or inheriting plots of empty land. Treehugger reviews tips from Lynn Fotheringham (British garden office builder InsideOutBuildings) in Shedworking. Lynn offers 7 suggestions, many of which revolve around buying locally.

1. PVC windows may save energy but the manufacturing of UPVC utilizes immense amounts of energy. Instead try buying from a local joinery and check for the wood coming from renewable forests.

2. Wood cladding and flooring is often assumed to be eco-friendly and simplistic, but many cladding and flooring products are pressure treated and imported, both processes which unnecessarily exalt energy. Again Lynn suggests buying locally, from well-managed [local] forests, untreated wood.

3. Using lots of insulation is always better, with a minimum of 4inches preferably. Sheepswool or Rockwool from firms with good environmental policy in their factories are always good options but it is always important to check the manufacturing process before choosing your insulation material. Also, Lloyd Alter from Treehugger reviews in more depth here .

4. Green and living roofs are obviously eco-friendly but at least 24 inches of soil is needed to have a practical level of insulation for intensive living roofs. Such insulation is reduced when the soil is dry, and in the warmer seasons irrigation and weeding is necessary. Many different layers of plastic for waterproofing and containing the soil are also needed. As explained by Johncoupe in a comment of the article there is another type of living roofs called extensive green roof, where only about 4 inches are necessary where “plants such as sedum, semper-vivum and other succulent, drought resistant plants. These types of plants are used to harsh dry and exposed habitats and so thrive in a thin layer of growing medium. There is no problem with irrigation as the plants are drought resistant and the habitat is too harsh for common weeds to establish. The roof members do need to be a bit stronger than normal to cope with the extra load and an extra root barrier and filter membrane are required. The roof does not provide the same insulation as the sheeps wool or rockwool but does go some way to reducing cooling requirements in summer and heating in winter even if it is only by adding a bit of thermal mass. The wildlife benefits are that you would have a new habitat in the garden and sedum in particular is very effective at attracting butterflies and bees. The roof garden in effect replaces the area taken up by the shed. On a large scale green roofs also have the benefit of reducing urban runoff and the load imposed by sudden thunder storms on the drainage systems, but that really applies to developments a lot larger than the average shed! See more at www.livingroofs.org
I would recommend the extensive green roof to shed builders.” Thanks John!

5. Wind Turbines- unless you are already living in a rural area with strong winds, wind turbines are relatively pointless and would be wasteful (and costly). Try sticking with low energy light bulbs that don’t lave equipment on standby and help insulate your home.

6. Recyclable materials are great but if they are going to fall apart on you in a few years they are also, like solo wind turbines, pointless. Build for life, not short-term, but it is always worthwhile to reuse and repurpose other things that might be used IN your well-built structure.

7. For paints and wood stains try to avoid Solvents and white spirit, turpentine, terpenes, ethereal oils, and acrylics. Good ingredients are water, binders, non-toxic pigments, mineral fillers, and waxes.

Keep Reading and Check out these Articles:

1. Green Building Glossary
2. Home Insulation
3. Roofing Contractor
4. Green Building
5. Home Weatherization