“Green” Construction
With today’s emphasis on our environment, a lot of focus has been placed on environmentally friendly building methods and products. Plaster and stucco provide more insulation than drywall, saving fuel and money on heating and cooling costs. Also, since all of our plaster systems provide a two-hour fire rating,
you get the added benefit of piece of mind.
Plaster and stucco also act as heat sinks, which means that they absorb and retain heat, releasing it over time. The cottage, shown above, absorbs heat energy both from the exterior stucco and the interior plaster. The big, plastered windows allow for lots of sunlight to enter the house and warm the walls.
And since plaster and stucco are derived from earth based materials, it’s hard to find more “eco-friendly” building materials.
Don’t believe it?
Almost all of the individual components of plaster can be found in garden centers as soil additives! For example, gypsum promotes flowering in cacti...
Now THAT’S green!
When most people think of plaster, they think of it as white. But this does not have to be the case, as plaster can be tinted almost any color imaginable, and many beautiful effects can be done with tinted plaster walls and ceilings, such as a mottled effect.
Tinted plaster is free of the fumes that come from painting. This is an important thing to consider when allergies or sensitivity to fumes are an issue.
Plaster tints are made of many things, and their ingredients range from synthetic pigmentation, to completely natural eco-friendly pigment from the earth!
Also worth mentioning is that removed historic stucco can be ground to a powder and incorporated into the new mix. This process conserves the historic nature of a job, and reusing the old material saves resources. For a good example, check out our work on
