Project: Testing Sustainable Building Materials and Practices during Gulf Coast Reconstruction
project overview
Sponsors: USEPA National Center for Environmental Research and the Healthy Building Network
Period of Performance: February 2007 - January 2010
In collaboration with architects, national green building experts, and the modular housing manufacturers, the University of Tennessee's Center for Clean Products and the Healthy Building Network will develop a list of environmentally preferred building materials and products for the building of modular and prefabricated housing. Materials will be evaluated using a set of environmental and health-based criteria to be developed by a small group of materials and building experts. Criteria will stress a precautionary type of approach. The materials list will then be used by at least one manufacturer to develop, manufacture, and build on-site one or more demonstration homes. Data will be collected on the types and quantities of materials used in the traditional and green modular housing units, as well as all manufacturing and installation processes. An environmental assessment will be conducted comparing the life-cycle environmental footprint of the traditional house with that of the newly designed and constructed house made of sustainable and more environmentally benign building materials. Projected environmental benefits associated with the full-scale production of the green building will be estimated.
Projected Outcomes
Development of a methodology for evaluating the environmental and human health profile of building materials over the product life-cycle
Creation of a list of environmentally preferable building materials for modular home construction
Construction of a limited number of modular housing units in the Gulf Coast region using preferential materials as demonstration homes
Assessment of the accumulated benefits to society and ecosystems from the construction of modular housing using preferential materials
Publication of the methodology and list of materials through EPA and other venues.
Project Partners
- Unity Homes
- Clayton Homes
- Geometric Building Systems
- Cascadia Green Building Council
- USEPA National Center for Environmental Research - see the project description here