Blog Post

There’s a lot that goes into building a new home. And there’s a lot leftover when it’s done. What happens to all the construction debris? A large portion can be recycled, if the builder is willing to go that route. Kettler Forlines Homes gets “Clean & Green” with our construction recycling, hitting maximum levels!

Kettler Forlines Homes has been recycling construction materials on our site at The Reserve at Brightwell Crossing in Poolesville, MD, for several years. We contracted a reputable company to ensure that what’s taken away is indeed delivered for processing and recycled into usable materials. Recycling construction materials reduces waste that would otherwise pile up in landfills.

According to our latest LEEDS audit, we are diverting 87.07% of our construction waste. This is an exceptional figure, considering that drywall, which unfortunately isn’t recyclable, is factored into the remaining 12.93%.

It’s estimated that nearly 25% of the waste created in the United States comes from construction and demolition, from building homes, roads, and bridges. One-fourth! About 30% of the building materials that are delivered to a construction site may end up as waste at the end of the project.

What are construction materials recycled into?

Look at the list of what we CAN recycle and what it can be used for:

• Trees and brush become compost and mulch.
• Concrete is broken into a base for driveways and walkways.
• Asphalt paving is crushed and returned to asphalt that can be used over again for paving.
• Metals–like steel, aluminum, and copper–are melted so that they can be formed into new metal products.
• Lumber that is longer than six feet is recycled into plywood, flooring, and molding.
• Glass can be recycled into other types of glass
• Bricks and blocks can be crushed and then remade into new bricks, or chipped and used for landscaping.

“We began recycling our construction materials years ago, because we’ve had a long commitment to eco-friendly building,” explains Tom Kettler, President of Kettler Forlines Homes at Brightwell Crossing. 

What does Clean & Green mean to you?

Tom and the Kettler Forlines Homes leadership team established the Clean & Green Program to show our customers and neighbors that we respect the environment and our impact on it. This effort includes energy conservation in the homes we build as well as recycling the construction debris. We also focus on a high level of indoor air quality. As a result, our homes are ENERGY STAR-certified by the Department of Energy and Indoor airPLUS-certified by the EPA. We’ve earned the EPA’s prestigious Indoor airPLUS Leader Award twice, one of only a few builders in the country to receive this recognition.

The eco-friendly quality of Kettler Forlines Homes is also measured in our HERS index rating. The Home Energy Rating System is an industry standard for evaluating the energy efficiency of a home. A typical existing home is estimated to have a 130 HERS rating. A new construction home built to code averages a HERS score of 100. That 30-point difference translates to the new construction home being 30% more energy efficient than a resale home. Kettler Forlines Homes earns an average of 51 on the HERS Index. Our homes are deemed by a third-party inspector to be 49% MORE energy efficient than other new construction homes and 79% MORE efficient than resale homes. Consider how much energy you’re saving with a home that’s built with this much conservation and care in mind!

Going, going, almost gone!

When you’re looking for a new home in Montgomery County or the DC Metro area, Kettler Forlines Homes invites you to see the difference in what we build. We have only a few homes remaining at The Reserve at Brightwell Crossing, but we will also build on your lot with the same high quality, craftsmanship, personal service, and, of course, energy efficiency. Contact George Neill at Kettler Forlines Homes to open up your mind to bigger things!