Comments on: GREEN BUILDING 101: Indoor Environmental Quality

By: sheebabushra

sheebabushra — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 07:25:38 +0000

Really Good one and very informatic.

By: Mold Buster

Mold Buster — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:56:53 +0000

airqualitytest.ca is what I use to test the quality of the air inside my home. really easy. great site.

By: Randolph198

Randolph198 — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:10:14 +0000

Want to see what the inside of your air ducts look like before cleaning? It’ll blow your mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYFO-JuH148

By: Green Building 101: Indoor Environmental Quality

Green Building 101: Indoor Environmental Quality — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:47:01 +0000

[...] Indoor Environmental Quality at Inhabitat [...]

By: Inhabitat » HOK’s LEED Gold-certified Straw Bale Building

Inhabitat » HOK’s LEED Gold-certified Straw Bale Building — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 08:30:26 +0000

[...] the transit facility is a showcase for indoor environmental quality with wheat straw board casework and millwork. Recycled, renewable, low-toxic and locally sourced [...]

By: Greg Marsh, Forensic Chemist

Greg Marsh, Forensic Chemist — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 20:29:28 +0000

Interested Parties,

What is your experience with comprehensive monitoring for the ID and quantification of chemical, biological, radiological and physical insults as a routine technique to assure good health in homes, schools and workplaces? This would ID toxic sources from totalitarian societies that sell us $ billions, before illness occurres.

By: Inhabitat » CALIFORNIA TO REDUCE FORMALDEHYDE LEVELS

Inhabitat » CALIFORNIA TO REDUCE FORMALDEHYDE LEVELS — Tue, 15 May 2007 04:33:12 +0000

[...] previously covered in Inhabitat’s Green Building 101 guide (see Indoor Environmental Quality and Materials and Resources II), formaldehyde is generally used in the binding of wood products [...]

By: clare

clare — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 21:37:20 +0000

“How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 House Plants that Purify Your Home or Office (Paperback)”
by B. C. Wolverton lists plants and the quantities of pollutants they remove. Some plants like Boston Fern are great for removing formaldehydes, other plants, like Sansevieria – snake plant / mother in law’s tongue – give off more oxygen at night making them great for a bedroom – they are also almost impossible to kill!

By: Inhabitat » Blog Archive » LETS TALK ABOUT INSULATION BABY

Inhabitat » Blog Archive » LETS TALK ABOUT INSULATION BABY — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 13:48:50 +0000

[...] Since we’ve recently discussed energy consumption and indoor air quality on Inhabitat, we figured now would be a great time to talk about insulation. Don’t run away! We realize that insulation is not a sexy subject matter. Nevertheless, insulation is crucial to your energy consumption, comfort, health, and ultimate happiness – so don’t flee just yet… [...]

By: Eli Steffen

Eli Steffen — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 03:56:35 +0000

You mentioned several times about the scientific factuality of the personal impacts of indoor environmental quality. Are these studies online? Could you link to some of them? Thanks.

By: Sterling

Sterling — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 20:16:18 +0000

Andrew- we used Safecoat on a house in Houston to seal away VOC’s; the molecular structure of their primer is super tight and, according to their literature, prevents off-gassing from paints underneath.

By: Lynn

Lynn — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 19:17:32 +0000

“Studies show that employees are actually far more productive in an office space that permits awareness of outside conditions. Isn’t it nice to be able to look out on a tree or garden — or better yet to step out for a few minutes for mid-day stress reduction?”

This is incredibly true. I used to work for a publishing company, the office of which is located in the basement of a mall, and the fumes from the food court would linger inside our office for hours. Everyone would joke about how we have no idea what’s happening outside anymore, and not having any windows at all especially depressed me.

By: PrairieMod

PrairieMod — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 00:29:08 +0000

These are all fantastic! As I began pondering the 4 aspects mentioned above, I wondered what costs are associated with implementing them? Especially after the critical article in the LA Times today on Steve Glenn and Ray Kappe's Living Homes architecture: Criticism of "Green" Prefabs I think these are defintely wise things to invest in, but it would be interesting to get an idea on funds required. Is the Green Building 101 forum a proper place to address this?

By: Andreas Paulsen

Andreas Paulsen — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 20:53:35 +0000

Skylights. There should be more and inovative, but that means we have to design-in skylights and change some ideas in house design
Personal Space. Design houses that no internal doors, but can still create personal space.
Breath. Why not a “layered” house. Geodesic Dome w/a living plant cover, and inner-house-space and a third personal space. A living house. Heating and cooling costs would change. So would your thinking.

Andreas

By: PJ Nery

PJ Nery — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 18:37:06 +0000

Another great article in the series.
The skylight illustration caught my eye. Perhaps it can work in San Francisco, but in many parts of the country isn’t this a very un-eco thing? Skylights, particularly horizontal ones, contribute most of their heat and light in the Summer adding to the cooling load, while in the Winter they present an excellent means of losing heat to the atmosphere.

To Andrew above and his question about improving existing home air quality, Spider plants are supposed to be quite good. See http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/HE356. Or for a mechanical sollution see EcoQuest at http://www.ecoquestintl.com. Their Fresh Air, based on the excellent RFG (www.rgf.com) technology which helped combat SARs, removes all kinds of pollutants very effectively.

By: andrew

andrew — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 17:22:13 +0000

In regards to #3 in particular, how can we improve the air quality of an existing home? Are there any proven, sustainable strategies for removing VOCs and other pollutants (besides simple ventilation), such as EPA air purifiers or possibly adding special indoor plants?