Maintaining a high level of indoor air quality starts before you even enter a home -- the first point in
Healthy Child Healthy World's 5 steps for a healthy and safe home is to avoid pesticides. Chemicals used in insecticides and fertilizers can be carried into the home on your shoes. Leaving your shoes at the door is a must in the home tour, to reduce the chance of toxins entering the space.
The healthiness of this home started from the ground up, literally -- the concrete foundation includes recycled fly ash (from the combustion of coal). Features like the tankless hot water system (which does not require the use of natural gas) will certainly score points toward the
LEED certification that the builder plans to apply for.
Maintaining a high level of indoor air quality starts before you even enter a home — the first point in Healthy Child Healthy World‘s 5 steps for a healthy and safe home is to avoid pesticides. Chemicals used in insecticides and fertilizers can be carried into the home on your shoes. Leaving your shoes at the door is a must in the home tour, to reduce the chance of toxins entering the space.
The healthiness of this home started from the ground up, literally — the concrete foundation includes recycled fly ash (from the combustion of coal). Features like the tankless hot water system (which does not require the use of natural gas) will certainly score points toward the LEED certification that the builder plans to apply for.
The Healthy Home 2010 kitchen is equipped with Energy Star and Water Sense certified fixtures and appliances, including a Miele induction range and separate steam oven, which are great alternatives to the use of gas-powered and microwave cooking methods. All of the locally made Holiday Kitchen cabinets use low-VOC paints or stains, and have no added urea-formaldehyde. The countertops throughout the house are Cambria quartz, which are GreenGuard certified. No green kitchen is complete without vermicomposting, so on the day of our visit the Urban Worm Girl, was on-site to teach others how to easily set up their own worm bins using the organic waste from healthy cooking.
Nice house, bu since when is autism scientifically “linked to” toxic chemicals and household products? These words mean something, you know.
Hi Digaman! The Healthy Child Healthy World website has a lot of information about toxins and conditions in children, so you may find some more information there.
Digaman – The causes of autism are still largely unknown, but a growing body of research is showing potential links between toxic chemicals like those used in flame retardants and pesticides and autism spectrum disorders. Preliminary evidence is painting a picture of a subset of the population that is genetically susceptible to specific toxic exposures during critical windows of vulnerability. Dr. Phil Landrigan, one of Healthy Child’s scientific advisors, is one of the field’s leading researchers. You can learn more by reading this recent article on his work: http://www.examiner.com/dc-in-national/landrigan-calls-for-more-research-into-pesticides-toxic-chemicals-environmental-causes-of-autism
Best,
Janelle Sorensen, Chief Communications Officer
Healthy Child Healthy World
If this house is considered green, I’m seriously disturbed. All the feel good, expensive upgrades can’t overshadow the resources used and excesses in this monstrosity. Sorry
We applaud your efforts to promote healthy homes! A couple of questions – why is a fly ash foundation considered healthy? What do we know about it’s potential negative health effects over time? Also, if it is produced from the combustion of coal, isn’t that a health concern for the community surrounding the coal plant? For the reclaimed wood, was it tested for lead-based paint? Wood from homes built before 1978 – especially, trim, windows, and doors, likely were coated with lead-based paint. There has been some criticism of the LEED program for allowing homes that have excessive square footage to meet their labeling requirements. A key energy efficiency strategy is to reduce the size of the space you need to heat and cool. We have been working on this issue in the affordable housing sector. For more information visit:
http://www.nchh.org/Training/Green-and-Healthy-Housing.aspx