What Makes Sundogs Solutions Green?
It can be difficult in the construction industry to be green. Lots of gas guzzling trucks on the road and construction waste can challenge efforts for even the most dedicated businesses. So, what are we doing to help us be Green?
1. Durability: First and foremost, we believe that the durability of everything we do is a key measure of being Green. What we build and how we build is done with an eye to enduring the test of time. If our clients need to repair or replace rotted or failing materials because we did not install it right, we’ve failed. This may seem like a “no-brainer” to some, but experience has shown us that many contractors try to cut corners or simply don’t know how to do it right. We build it right the first time, with the right materials, even if we have to fix someone else’s workmanship first.
2. Reduce, Reuse & Recycle: Whether we build something new or take down something old, we make every effort to reduce the materials we need by doing proper take-offs and sizing projects to optimize materials use as much as possible. After this, we either reuse or recycle most construction materials, avoiding the landfill if at all possible. With the commitment and dedication of everyone at the company, we’ve found some creative ways to divert materials from the landfill. About the only things we haven’t figured out how to recycle or repurpose is old, moldy insulation. Here is what what we do:
- Google Sketchup: By designing projects ahead of time using software to accurately lay out sizes and dimensions, we can identify issues on the computer screen before we make our first cut.
- The ReStore: A branch of Habitat for Humanity, the ReStore provides a place to donate serviceable construction products for resale. Lumber, building supplies, electrical or plumbing fixtures, countertops, cabinets, etc., if it’s still serviceable, they take it. All proceeds from the sale of these items go to Habitat for Humanity.
- Local high schools: With most of the lumber that we recover, we are able strip the nails and other metal and hazards and bring it to the local high school shop classes. They use these smaller materials to teach students the basics of drilling and cutting and measuring, training tomorrow’s workforce
- Scrap yard: We collect all types of metals from our jobs and when we have enough we send it to a metal recycling and recovery facility.
- The grocery store: We collect the used bags from insulation and other construction materials and bring these to our local grocery store where they are aggregated and sent off to be recycled.
- Our distributors: We collect used shipping pallets and send them back with every shipment.
- Recycling: all our job sites and our office have recycle bins on site to encourage our employees to recycle as much as they can. It is also a stated company policy and a condition of employment at Sundogs Solutions that every employee must recycle.
3. Energy Efficiency: Everything we do, we do with an eye to energy efficiency. We know construction and we know energy efficiency. When you put those two together, you get quality construction that never misses an opportunity to make your building more energy efficient.
4. Product selection: We select products that are appropriate for the task at hand and we try to identify products that are durable and that are produced and sourced locally as much as possible.
5. Equipment: Trucks are a necessary part of life when it comes to construction, however we can make choices in what and how we drive. We check the tire pressure of all our vehicles weekly, we use the appropriate vehicle for the task at hand and we have purchased vehicles capable of taking the most people to the job site possible, thus reducing the number of trips and vehicles on the road. We also mount our equipment in trailers and lighten the load whenever possible. There is no way around the fact that commercial trucks are polluting, but we can take steps to reduce the impact they have on our business and our planet.
All too often builders use bamboo floors and a few other token products to declare that they are green. At Sundogs Solutions, we believe in looking beyond the surface. Just as we look at a building as a complex system made up of several interrelating parts, we believe that there are opportunities to be Green throughout the entire building process. From paper reduction efforts, proper construction and product selection, to carefully managing construction waste, there are many ways to reduce the impact we have on the environment.
