In California, we are required to keep a tally on all of our job-site waste. Dump receipts are supposed to be less than 3.4-lbs/ft² of your building. This is really hard to enforce. What we do is make it clear and easy for everyone on the job to recycle or dispose of their waste by providing upfront marked containers. As the house nears completion in the picture above, using the small trailer as the collection container for trash lets me see everything headed to the dump and pull out items that should be in the reuse or recycle streams.

In the GoodHaus we incorporated a fair amount of reclaimed engineered wood. Particularly TJI’s and PSL’s that were salvaged and/or left over from other jobs. It is good to note that a green builder can seek out deals on returned or unused materials that may be stocked in your supplier’s bone yard. It takes time to cull through and you must be organized enough to see what you may need, but the discount and feel-good factor makes it worth it.

Also, personally I even reuse my work clothes as much as possible and know that I am saving water, power, and soap and it satisfies me to get three days out of a set of clothes. They get dusty in the first minute of work anyway and can be blown off with compressed air or a battery-powered blow. And, no fabric softener for a green builder!

More from the California FHB House:

• Locally Sourced Shiplap Cedar Siding
• Framing the First Floor Over the Pan Deck
• Steel Beams and a Metal Pan Deck

Fine Homebuilding Recommended Products

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8067 All-Weather Flashing Tape

Available in 2- to 12-in. widths, this is a good general-purpose flashing tape that sticks well to most things. It features a two-piece release paper, water-shedding layers, and good UV resistance.

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Affordable IR Camera

This camera is super useful for tracking down air leaks in buildings. The one-hand pistol grip arrangement frees your other hand for steadying yourself while maneuvering tricky job sites.

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Handy Heat Gun

This heat gun is great for drying joint compound, primer and paint when patching drywall and plaster walls. Plus it can soften adhesive, get a very cold small engine to start, and shrink heat-shrink tubing.

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