health

Part 2 of our 15-part Q&A series on all aspects of green building from the publishers of HealthyHouseInstitute.com. Click here for the introductory post and furthur details.

Question: Are there any particular products that stand out as being serious indoor polluters?

Answer: Offenders include manufactured wood products, which give off a lot of formaldehyde, such as particle board and furniture-grade plywood. These materials are almost universally used in paneling and cabinetry.

Combustion appliances can be bothersome—if they aren’t totally sealed. This includes wood stoves, fireplaces, gas ranges, and many gas and oil hot water heaters and furnaces. They’re potentially dangerous because they can inadvertently introduce noxious gases such as carbon monoxide into the air you breathe. Eliminating these items will help to create a house that is considerably healthier than most homes. However, it may not be healthy enough for people who are more sensitive than average, or for people who want the best possible indoor air quality.

Question: Do you have a particular set of guidelines you follow?

=========================================================== GreenerBuildings News: January 31, 2008 =========================================================== Welcome to the latest edition of GreenerBuildings News. We are committed to bringing you the latest information and resources on the full spectrum of environmental issues related to buildings and facilities. Log on to http://www.GreenerBuildings.com for more up-to-date news, tools, case studies, and other resources related to greener building practices. A full-color, graphic version of this newsletter is available online at: http://www.greenerbuildings.com/enewsletter

=-=-=-=-=-=-= JUST RELEASED: STATE OF GREEN BUSINESS 2008 =-=-=-=-=-=-=

In this landmark report, Joel Makower and the editors of GreenBiz.com answer the question: How are U.S. businesses doing in their quest to be more environmentally responsible? It introduces the GreenBiz Index, 20 indicators of progress, tracking the resource use, emissions, and business practices of U.S. companies: carbon, materials, energy, and toxics intensity, clean-tech investments, e-waste recovery, paper use, employee commuting, and more. Download it for free at: http://www.stateofgreenbusiness.com

=-=-=-=-=-=-= THE LATEST NEWS & FEATURES =-=-=-=-=-=-=

Water Management Strategies to Boost the Triple Bottom Line By Tom Ash Smart water management can be a simple improvement to facilities, but one that can help real estate portfolio owners achieve LEED certification, protect and improve property value by eliminating water-related property destruction and liabilities, save costs and improve the environment.

The Importance of Measuring Building Energy Use By Brandi McManus With companies rapidly seeking out every possible way to improve their environmental performance, many are finding that tracking down inefficiencies in building energy use is a quick and easy way to make a noticeable difference.

Clorox and Sierra Club Announce Branding Partnership
The Clorox Company has formed a partnership with the Sierra Club as part of the company's launch of Green Works, a new line of natural cleaning products made from plant-based ingredients.

Three Trends Push Green Building From Niche to Mainstream: Report A new report pins attributes the growth of green building to government initiatives, demand for green residential housing and better sustainable building materials.

CIA Campus Embraces Green Building The CIA is working on its newest, greenest campus, with a vegetated roof, energy- and water-saving measures, and special parking for carpoolers.

Developers and enforcers of the widely used LEED standard for green building, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has established a new set of standards specifically for schools.

The LEED for Schools Rating System recognizes the unique nature of the design and construction of K-12 schools. Based on LEED for New Construction, it addresses issues such as classroom acoustics, master planning, mold prevention, and environmental site assessment.

By addressing the uniqueness of school spaces and children's health issues, LEED for schools provides a unique, comprehensive tool for schools that wish to build green, with measurable results. LEED for Schools is the recognized third-party standard for high-performance schools that are healthy for students, comfortable for teachers, and cost-effective.

As of September 20th, 380 schools all over the country have registered to be certified under this new LEED system. Ranging from certified to gold level, 57 schools have already become official. The many benefits of green schools; including those for students, teachers and the planet; are touted all over the Build Green Schools website.

Ready to take action in your local community? Find out if there is a local Green Schools Advocate chapter already established in your region. Next, learn all you can about green building for schools with USGBC's Green Schools 101 online program (including a video, project profiles and money saving details). Finally, connect with others around the country who are working to make a difference as well; share tips, experiences, successes and pitfalls.

The average person spends 80% of their lives indoors. Public awareness about the health effects of poor Indoor Air Quality has increased demand for building products that do not pollute the air in our home or office.

Conventional paints, finishes, flooring, adhesives, cleaning products and carpeting are known to contain Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), formaldehyde, polybrominated Diphenyl ethers (PBDE), phthalates and many other hazardous chemicals that can result in health problems like allergies and asthma, especially in children.

Using Low- or No-VOC materials, reclaimed or sustainably-harvested wood products, wood alternatives such as bamboo and palm wood, natural flooring, carpets, rugs, and decor can make your house greener.

Building with tested and proved green materials also provides an alternative to products that degrade the environment we want to leave for our children and grandchildren. In buying green building materials, you can cast your economic vote for a better world, personalize your home or office, and make the air you breathe cleaner.

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.

A chemical used in the manufacture of food packaging, bisphenol A, has recently been shown to cause all sorts of ill effects in infants:

...everyone who drinks from hard plastic bottles or eats canned food has minute amounts of this hormone-like chemical in their bodies.

Now, a federal advisory panel is warning that the chemical could be causing neurological and behavior effects in unborn babies and young children.

Bisphenol A is a high production volume chemical used in the production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins.

Polycarbonate plastics are used in food and drink packaging; resins are used as lacquers to coat metal products such as food cans, bottle tops, and water supply pipes.

When I was in India, the roadside chai shops used to serve beverages in disposable clay cups that looked a bit like tiny flowerpots. I can't vouch for the safety of the clay, which may for all I know have been full of pesticides and what have you, but it seemed an elegant solution to the very real need for disposable drinking vessels. And as usual, the healthier solution is also the more aesthetically pleasing one...

Thanks to our friends at Enviroblog for pointing us to the release on Friday of a shocking World Health Organization report that indicates that "One in five children in the poorest parts of the world will not live longer than their fifth birthday, mainly because of environment-related diseases."

Children in Pasadena and Peoria may have healthier diets and better healthcare, but are far from immune to environmental illnessses. The report also states that, "Over 30% of the global burden of disease in children can be attributed to environmental factors."

Adults who beat back blackberry vines with RoundUp and ants with Raid, to no apparent ill effect, can be dismissive of what they percieve as "alarmist" outcries against pesticides and pollutants in our living spaces. But children's bodies process chemicals very differently. What's more, "Emerging evidence suggests that an increased risk of certain diseases in adults such as cancer and heart disease can result in part from exposures to certain environmental chemicals during childhood."

Taking into account the fact that indoor air quality is usually worse than the air on your local freeway, being proactive about greening the air in your home may be the most important thing you can do for your child. To find everything about indoor air quality on Building Green, click here. As an introduction, we highly recomment this post by Champion Indoors', and if it scares you as much as it should, then by all means, follow their recommendation to visit Beyond Pesticides, where you can learn even more, and even get involved.

image Mark Bernat

We hope that someday soon all mainstream building practices will be green, and we won’t have to use the word “green” to describe these best practices. In the meantime, to help spread the word and build awareness among real estate shoppers, homeowners, developers, and, well, everyone else who lives in a house, Building Green TV has partnered with real estate advisors RCLCO (Robert Charles Lesser & Co.) to bring you ongoing research on green homebuilding trends.

There is good news. Including signs that green building is well on the way to going mainstream. RCLCO reports in a recent survey of home builders that 40%-50% of homes built in 2010 are expected to employ green construction methods.

But there’s still a long way to go. Commercial construction is leading the green building movement. 50% of new construction is residential, yet residential construction comprises only 5% of all green building today.

The environment presents a challenging market position for home buyers, who are largely unaware of the impact homes have on global warming. The EPA estimates that buildings contribute as much as 40% of our environmental impact. By contrast, 73% of homeowners thought their homes had either “no impact” or an “acceptable impact” on the environment.

Only 3% of home buyers check off “environmental methods and materials” as a purchasing priority, though 10% list energy savings, and environmental interests are not incompatible with the most popular motivators like change in family status, retirement, and moving up to capitalize on appreciation.

RCLCO and Building Green will be bringing you a lot more hard information like this over the coming weeks, so check back often for updates.

Cross-posted from my site. Enjoy!

This first article is about chemical exposures in prenatal and early post-natal life. Within my industry people use chemicals on a consistent basis which has always made me cringe. I have always held the belief that it is not wise to remove one source of an indoor contaminant (like mold for instance,) and replace it with a potentially worse contaminant of which we have no understanding of the long-term consequences or ramifications. While there is a time and a place for the use of such products, to do so on a regular basis without thinking about these possible long-term consequences is asinine.

"Scientists Say The Critical Period Determines Whether Kids Will Get Sick Later in Life"

Read the article here: http://tinyurl.com/27neee

The 2nd article is a good one to make you think... It was written by Don Fitz and is titled: "The Twisted Logic of Eco-Sprawl When Building Green Ain't So Green"

Read the article here: http://tinyurl.com/2zgo3b

I hope you all had a happy and safe 4th of July! Happy reading!

The Home Depot Foundation has announced a ten-year, $100 million nationwide effort to support the development of 100,000 affordable, healthy homes, and the planting and preservation of more than 3 million community trees. Through the Affordable Homes Built Responsibly program, HDF will provide funding and oversight, but the work on the ground will be administered by local nonprofits with local knowledge--who will also be in charge of deciding who gets to move into these new healthy homes.

"For The Home Depot Foundation, this isn't a fad, but it's the way we think all affordable housing should be built," Kelly Caffarelli, executive director of the HDF, told Building Green TV today. "We are making this 10-year investment to demonstrate our long-term commitment to creating healthy and sustainable communities."