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March 16, 2010  |  Login
Putting Standard Materials to the Life Cycle Test
By Eric Corey Freed
 

Buildings consume a whopping 40% of the world’s materials. The construction of a typical 2,000-square-foot home uses approximately:

  • 1,397 tons of concrete
  • 13,127 board feet of framing lumber
  • 6,212 square feet of plywood sheathing
  • 2,325 square feet of exterior siding material
  • 3,100 square feet of roofing material
  • 3,061 square feet of insulation
  • 6,144 square feet of drywall
  • 2,085 square feet of flooring material (carpet, tile, or wood)

With all the materials that go into a single home, the impact on the environment is immense. In the following sections, I put some of the more traditional and common construction products to the life-cycle test.

 
 

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