Sustainability is not just another business buzzword or fad that’s here today and gone tomorrow. Trends in sustainability ensure that builders, property owners, business managers, engineers, urban planners, and homeowners are doing everything possible to reduce their carbon footprint and preserve the environment. Check out today’s top trends in sustainability and consider how many of these you might incorporate in your industry as well as your daily life.
Sustainable Driving and Delivery Services
When choosing a new vehicle for personal use or as a delivery van, fleet vehicle, or heavy-duty truck for construction trades, consider that vehicle’s fuel economy and smart features such as computer-controlled fuel injection and braking. Many of today’s vehicles also have onboard alerts that tell you when parts need maintenance or repairs or for when a driver is wasting fuel with their driving habits. All of these features reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions.
Drone delivery services also reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions; consider purchasing from companies that employ drones or other eco-friendly techniques for delivery. It’s also vital that you choose local raw materials whenever possible, to reduce delivery distances for construction materials, materials used in your production facility, for a home renovation, and other such applications.
Plastic Recycling
Consumers are reducing their consumption of single-use plastics such as straws and shopping bags in record numbers, while production facilities and construction managers are finding new ways to incorporate recycled plastics in their industries. Recycled plastics might even take the place of a variety of building materials, including concrete and wood.
Sustainable Building Materials and Practices
Along with recycled plastic, using sustainable building materials is a trend that is here to stay! Today’s construction managers and even homeowners are looking to include sustainable building materials in construction and renovation as much as possible; this might include insisting that concrete batches contain a certain percentage of recycled concrete or using bamboo in place of less sustainable wood species.
Construction managers and homeowners are also employing more sustainable building practices for new construction and renovation. For example, scraps of wood, broken bricks and tile, and carpet remnants are collected and recycled or otherwise reused rather than trashed, keeping them out of landfills and reducing the need for virgin materials.
Eco-Friendly Climate Control
Rather than relying on heavy-duty HVAC systems in commercial structures and residential homes, architects and even homeowners are using and relying on eco-friendly climate control systems. This includes energy-efficient and smart appliances, zone and programmable thermostats, double-glazed and triple-glazed windows, heat-blocking and insulating window films, strategically placed ceiling fans, skylights, cool roofs, and geothermal HVAC systems.
These eco-friendly climate control systems use far less power, if any at all, to insulate homes and commercial structures and create a comfortable environment. Zone and programmable thermostats and energy-efficient appliances even reduce your use of electricity for climate control! These features and options even enhance a structure’s interior insulation and reduce uncomfortable sunlight in summertime while also introducing needed sunlight in winter, creating a more comfortable interior environment while reducing your overall carbon footprint.