Our healthy homes are designed with care to include natural materials, sustainably sourced from the local community
FEATURES OF LOVE SCHACK ARCHITECTURE - HEALTHY HOMES: It is a fact that conventional building methods include materials that can make you sick. We spend 90% of our lives indoors*, exposed to indoor chemicals. In school and in practice, we are taught to rely on standardized, processed materials and products, without questioning their environmental or health impacts.
Source: US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)
THE MOST HEALTHY HOme YOU CAN BUILD
The Industrial and Technological Revolutions have brought great improvements to our lives, but they come with costs that we can't usually see. Building Codes and Product Standards have helped to eliminate the main life-threatening hazards but they promote a minimal, bottom-line standard that fails to look for opportunities or possibilities. We've become so reliant upon the standards that we have forgotten how to use our intuition or craft skills that were prevalent before the last 100 years. It's amazing that so much knowledge could be lost so quickly in a time of infinite information at our fingertips. The good news is that it's not entirely lost and is, in fact, making a rebound! Wood, clay, sand, and straw are very viable building materials that are available locally in most communities, as are contractors who know how to work with them.
Everyone has heard of sick building syndrome and VOC's. Clay and lime plasters and paints, for instance, are a perfectly viable alternative to low VOC paint and come with other great anti-microbial benefits. In fact, they have Zero-VOCs and actually pull toxins out of your air.
(Check out our plaster tutorial video http://loveschackarchitecture.com/blog/2018/2/19/x09mde3k10k3ty82cwcgluwn8cj2ne)
Whether you are interested in a purely natural straw bale or a conventionally framed healthy building, we are experts in incorporating natural structural components, insulation, and finishes. We have worked with the best natural builders and scientists in the west, regarding best building practices. We have a team of engineering consultants that are familiar with these materials and methods. As part of the natural building community, we are connected to builders and plasterers throughout the country. We will always be your advocate and guide you to decisions that help you maintain your goals, financial or otherwise.
A list of contractors or subcontractors and/or material suppliers :
Artesano Plaster : https://www.instagram.com/artesano.plaster/?hl=en
New Age Artisans : http://www.newageartisans.com/
Clayworks, Natural Clay Plaster Wall Finishes : http://clay-works.com/
Satori Japanese Wall Finishes : https://satoriwalls.com/
American Clay : http://www.americanclay.com/
LimeStrong : http://www.limestrongfinish.com/
Earthen Endeavors Natural Building: http://earthenendeavors.com/