How sustainable is stone?

The use of stone and marble is seen to add to the eco-credentials and raise the sustainability factor of buildings. Most guidelines and norms in architecture view stone as a natural building material.

This is mainly because stone comes straight from nature, is mostly unadulterated and can go back to the environment the same way, if the building is taken down. It's not lost and can be reused.

Okay, so stone is sustainable. But is the use of stone sustainable? Those two mean different things to us.

We've used stone in our central living area and the foundation. And some of the stone we've used has come from buildings that were taken down.

This image was taken on a clear January day in 2021, when work began on our central hall.

As the experienced masons put stones together to build our first wall, we could not help but wonder about the process of acquiring stone, mining and transportation and the impact that this has on the environment. Most of us have heard stories of hills disappearing due to unregulated mining.

We've been trying to offset the carbon spent in getting the building material at the site with increased plantations around the farm, the use of harvested rainwater and a few other such practices.

As we do that, we also hope that perhaps these stones will approve of their new home.