indoor air quality

Since my son first developed asthma in 1994, indoor air quality has been a crusade of mine. Information has now become readily available for consumers and you can find all kinds of information and products to improve the indoor air quality in your home. I recently spent some time on the website of the American Lung Association, and they have a wealth of information on the topic of indoor air quality. These are their top ten tips for a healthy home:
1) Declare your home a smoke-free zone. Secondhand smoke can cause serious health problems, especially for children. Ask smokers to take it outside.
2) Good ventilation reduces indoor air pollution. Leave doors between rooms open most of the time for better air circulation. Open windows when possible to allow for a good supply of outdoor air. Install exhaust fans in bathrooms to remove moisture and chemicals from the house.
3) Keep humidity levels low with a dehumidifier or air conditioner, as needed. Clean both regularly so they don't become a source of pollutants themselves. Fix all leaks and drips in the home, as standing water and high humidity encourages the growth of mold and other biological pollutants.
4) To prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, have all fuel burning appliances inspected by a qualified technician once a year. Install a carbon monoxide detector near your sleeping rooms. 5) To keep dust mites and other allergens to a minimum, clean regularly. Wash bedding materials in hot water (at least 130°). Consider replacing carpet with area rugs that can be taken up and washed often.
6) Fit your gas range with a hood fan that exhausts the air outside. Use the fan or open a window when cooking to remove gas fumes.
7) Check commercial cleaning products and pesticides for toxic ingredients, and use according to manufacturers directions. Keep your home well ventilated when using these products. Consider switching to less toxic alternatives.
8) Test your home for radon. Use a radon test kit labeled "Meets EPA requirements".
9) Never leave a car or lawn mower running in an attached garage or shed. Avoid the use of unvented heaters or charcoal grills indoors.
10) Call you local Lung Association at 1-800-LUNG-USA for more information about avoiding indoor air hazards in the home

As we know, carpet, vinyl, ceramic, insulation all common building materials that give off harmful chemicals causing indoor air pollution. While we're in the process of getting rid of these things and replacing them with their eco-friendly counterparts, the indoor house plant has been tested and found to purify indoor air pollution at the rate of 15 plants per 1800 square feet. A study done by NASA and the ALCA, tested twelve types of indoor plants against trichloroethylene, (adhesives, paints, inks) benzene, (detergents, inks, plastic) and formaldehyde, ( foam insulation, pressed wood, grocery bags, waxed paper, facial tissue, paper towels).

The results were very specific from plant to chemical. www.humeseeds.com

THE RESULTS, FIVE TOP (in order) EFFECTIVE IN REMOVING TRICHLOROETHYLENE CONCENTRATIONS FROM THE AIR Gerbera daisy, Dracaena Marginata, Peace Lily Dracaeena 'JANET CRAIG' Bamboo Palm REMOVAL OF BENZENE CONCENTRATIONS: Gerbera Daisy Pot Mum Peace Lily Bamboo Palm Dracaena Warneckei English Ivy Mother-in-law's tongue REMOVAL OF FORMALDEHYDE Bamboo Palm Dracaena 'Janet Craig' Mother-In-Law's Tongue Dracaena Marginata, Peace Lily Green Spider Plant Golden Pathos

Other studies show great results from indoor plants citing their efficiency for increasing humidity levels and decreasing dust. This alone reduced fatigue and sore throats in people by 30 percent. For more purifying plant choices, check out 'How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 House Plants that Purify Your Home by B.C. Wolverton, at Amazon.com.

The following is taken from the Beam website. Look at our most recent blog about Beam's new Internet policy

"A Beam central vacuum system removes 100% of contacted dust, mites, dander, pollen and other allergens and carries them away from the living environment to a canister usually located in the garage or basement."

To maximize the effectiveness of a central vacuum system to improve indoor air quality, Beam offers the following cleaning tips:

"Traditional dusting: Ineffective and harmful.

Dusting your home the old fashioned way with rags and scented sprays is ineffective and can be harmful. That's because dust is recirculated, and chemicals are introduced into the living environment which can be extremely hazardous to allergy and asthma sufferers. Using dusting attachments on your central vacuum system allows you to "power" dust. Regular deep cleaning with a Beam system means you'll breathe easier and dust less often.

Carpet and upholstery: Can you live with it?

Some allergy and asthma sufferers cantollerate carpet, draperies, blinds and upholstery, others cannot. Whether you should remove these items from your home should be determined by your physician. Only 20% of the patients who are advised to remove their carpet actually do. If you decide removing these things is not for you, a central vacuum system will help control the dust and allergens in your home.

Refrigerators: Not cool for allergy sufferers.

A refrigerator acts like a powerful magnet attracting dust and allergens, which become trapped beneath and behind the unit. When the motor cycles on and off, the dirt becomes airborne creating a key source of irritation for allergy and asthma sufferers. Until now removing dust has been difficult because the refrigerator had to be moved. Now with the Beam Wonderwand Floor Hugger it is easy to clean beneath and behind refrigerators and other hard-to-move appliances and furniture. This narrow attachment slips beneath and behind the unit to remove trapped dust, dirt and allergens quickly and easily."

A central vacuum system is the best choice for cleaning if you have allergies, asthma, or just care about your indoor air quality. Click on the link below to find all the choices available to you.

http://www.vachelp.com

My hands have been on this keyboard for 100s of hours now, researching these last details of our house. Since most of the materials, applications and fixtures are not normally used in residential applications, I've had to swim through oceans of information to find these items with the help of my architect. Jan says that most of the residential norms are crap, so we HAVE to research every little corner and crevice for the ultimate THING. Most of the stuff we want has primarily been used in the commercial sector or green building, and as Ted says, it's because those things are built to last and simply are better (sigh!)... so here we go, I am freakin' tired, but am grateful that the Internet was invented in my lifetime.

First, insulation. Yes, we are using SIPs for most everything. But because our 2nd story cantilevers (overhangs) out above our pool, we have to use something other than our beloved SIPs. So, Ted suggested using batt on the floor of our 2nd story overhang to save money, but now I want to look at this natural fibre insulation that's safe, environmental because their made with post-industrial waste (recycled blue jeans!) and they are good quality for not too much money. The advantage is that even though they are more expensive per square foot ($0.39/sf batt insulation vs. $0.89-1.09/sf natural fibre insulation), you will save in labor costs because batt has to be stapled in and handled with care because of the itch and fiberglass irritation. This stuff can be put in by hand and don't need to be stapled in, so they are quickly installed and safe to handle as you can see with the baby below.

I found this company:
Bonded Logic at http://www.bondedlogic.com/

I couldn't resist posting this adorable photo:

Then on to ventilation ducts. We learned of a system that removes humidity from our bathrooms that can be planned with fewer punctures through our roof because they share the same vent to the outside. They are quieter & better designed so that you can control 2 or more bathrooms with the same ventilation duct....MORE HERE

My husband Jan found this interesting paper on using foliage plants to remove pollutants from air-tight energy efficient homes that will be useful to many of us homeowners. It is important for the house to not only be eco-friendly and energy efficient, but to also be healthy. Even though our foam SIP walls (EPS sandwiched between 2 OSB boards) won't offgas, the furniture you may have can "leak" formaldehyde and other pollutants. Plants are a beautiful and economical way to cleanse the air of your house.... MORE HERE

We've been told for years to buy flame-retardant pajamas for our children, and tuck them into flame-retardant beds. Indeed, the government has often mandated the use of fire retardant chemicals in manufacturing, with an eye toward preventing the flaming family Christmas tree from igniting your child's bedding.

Science News reports that the chemicals used to retard flames include Polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs), neurotoxicants that are particuarly harmful to children. Worse, the dust-borne toxins accumulate in the system and are not flushed out by the body. Even the EPA now acknowledges that there maybe a downside to fire-retardants.

What can you do at home? The Healthy Children Project lists suggestions for ways in which you can ameliorate the situation, with tips that range from avoiding buying flame-resistant children's clothing, to buying used furniture that has already off-gassed much of the harmful chemical residue.

Link via enviroblog, which should be a daily read if you have children in the house.

image sxc.hu.

Who says lighting can't be green--literally? The xDesign Environmental Clinic at New York University has developed the so-called greenlight , a solar-powered planted chandelier made from recycled and recyclable parts.

Designed to improve indoor air-quality, the greenlight features tropical indoor plants that naturally filter toxins from the room. And its low-voltage LED light system, which sits on a disc of blown recycled glass, draws power from a solar awning of Photovoltaic cells. The LEDs naturally nourish the plants.

According to San Diego-based xDesign, which stands for Experimental Design Lab, the greenlight is built to be carbon-neutral. "The photovoltaic panel sitting in a south-facing window can produce 7.5 W on an average of 3-4 hours a day in NYC," it says.

xDesign showed off the greenlight last weekend at the Wired NextFest, a two-day technology conference in Los Angeles. Representatives from xDesign said that it makes each chandelier by custom order, and the price ranges from $1,500 to $2,500. Compared to the cost of standard chandeliers, that doesn't seem like such a bad price to shine some light on your environmental consciousness.

If you're a fan of biomorphic chandeliers, have we got one for you: Green Light, as seen in this month's Design Issue of  Good Magazine, is a self-contained pendant lamp that uses an LED to feed a lovely hanging terrarium of plants that cleanse the air inside your house.

And as you can see, it would make an attractive focal point above any dining table. According to the Xdesign wiki, "Planting strategies can be specified to address particular indoor air quality issues including VOC, benzene and formaldehyde removal." The Green Light is also a prime example of a carbon-neutral system, in that it makes its own energy via its own solar panel. And, it's a work of art, made of hand-blown glass.

The Green Light is available by "perscription" from the Experimental Design Lab (xDesign) at NYU, which is "modeled after a health clinic in which community members can make one-on-one appointments to discuss 'health' as it relates to their local environment. The essential difference is that prescriptions are given for design interventions rather than prescription drugs."

When you subscribe to Good (and you should!) 100% of your subscription fee is donated to the charity of your choice.

Cross-posted from my site. Enjoy.

The 10th Annual Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA) Meeting and Expo will take place October 14-17 in Las Vegas.

I'm super excited about the fact that Bill Nye the Science Guy is our keynote speaker and will be discussing IAQ and energy conservation. If you've ever wanted to learn more about indoor air/environmental quality, I would highly recommend this conference (and I'm not just saying that because I'm presenting...)

To read more see: IAQA Meeting & Expo

Hopefully I'll see you there!

By John Bower

Many people don't like the idea of living in a tight house, even though there are a number of significant disadvantages to the alternative (loose construction). In a loose house, air moves through the cracks, but only part of the time. Most new houses today are too tight to give you the amount of fresh air you really need, but too loose to keep pollutants out effectively.

When outdoor air moves through the cracks of a house into the living space, it brings with it pollutants contained in the outdoor air. Plus, it picks up additional pollutants along the way as it passes through the cracks, such as tiny particles of insulation, odors from the resin holding the insulation together, and tiny pieces of insects that have died inside the walls. Radon is also often pulled from the soil into the living space through the cracks of a loose house.

Air moving through cracks can also result in hidden moisture condensation, and that can lead to mold growth, rot, termites, or carpenter ants. Here's what happens: All air contains moisture in the form of water vapor. If you cool a given batch of air enough, that vapor condenses into liquid water. So, if air passing through the cracks in a wall reaches a cool surface, it can condense there, hidden inside the wall cavity where you likely won't know anything is wrong until you have a serious problem. This can happen in the winter, when warm indoor air passes through the wall toward the outdoors and hits the back side of the cold sheathing or siding. It can also happen in the summer, when hot, humid, outdoor air passes through the cracks and hits the back surface of the drywall, which is cool because the inside of the house is air conditioned.

Leaky houses can also be energy hogs. In the winter, the warm air leaks out and the cold air leaks in, and your heating bills can skyrocket. In the summer, the opposite happens. Hot, humid air leaks in and cool air leaks out, but the result is the same (high energy bills.) When you analyze the issue, there are absolutely no advantages to loose construction. So, even if you're only remodeling or adding a room, it's a good idea to tighten as much as possible.

Read the rest of this article on the Healthy House Institute's website.

image stock.exchange