Oil: too valuable to burn.
Some would argue that now is the time to make best use of petroleum based or petroleum reliant products for things such as super-insulation for retro-fits (in new construction thicker walls are an option not requiring the high R" of foam), or for infrastructure projects such as irrigation piping, PV panels, et al. Whenever remotely possible: local, renewable/regenerative, low-impact, and low toxicity should still always be the preferred technique. After all, there's only a limited supply. Just a thought.



On Thu, Dec 11, 2008 at 10:46 AM, Michelle Smith Mullarkey <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Point taken.  I admittedly was thinking of products like Icynene vs. straw, but it seems fossil fuels really are part of our entire world.

On 12/10/2008 6:21 PM, Robert Riversong wrote:
--- On Wed, 12/10/08, Michelle Smith Mullarkey <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
 Fossil fuel is still used to manufacture and transport the majority of green building products (not natural building products such as straw bales)...
 
I'm afraid that fossil fuels are used for the production of most straw and since some of it is coming from Canada, there's also transportation costs. "Natural" building materials are not necessarily immune from the environmental costs of other materials.