Exterior Finishes

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has established standards in sustainable forest management and created a mechanism, third party certification, that ensures that they are followed. In addition to addressing its environmental impact, the FSC considers the impact of logging on local communities and indigenous peoples and supports their interests.

Conventional paint contains a multitude of harmful chemicals that off-gas into the air, negatively affecting the health of people and the planet. These paints release Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), which are a class of carbon-based chemicals that have the capacity to evaporate readily at room temperature. Fortunately, you can easily avoid generating pollution and unsafe living spaces and still have beautiful walls of any color by using low-VOC, zero-VOC, recycled, or natural paints.

A concentrated effort to reduce energy consumption in buildings and their contribution to the "heat island effect" has led to recent advances in the materials and systems for flat roofs (roofs with a slope from ¼ to 3 inches per foot), used primarily in commercial and multifamily construction. Selecting a roofing material that is highly reflective and emissive (cool roof) over one that is not, can reduce cooling loads by 20 percent or more, and help cool urban heat islands.

In recent years, residential roofs made of metal and tiles have become quite popular, both for their aesthetics and their durability. But despite their new-found popularity, these are not new roofing materials. The use of concrete tiles as roofing material dates back more than 150 years, and metal roofs have been in use for centuries. This fact sheet discusses the benefits and drawbacks of the most widely used roofing materials in the residential market (asphalt shingles, metal roofing, clay and concrete tiles).