The Healthy Home: A Virtual Walk-Through

West Coast Green Residential Green Building Conference & Expo
Sept. 25–27, San Jose, CA
The Healthy Home: A Virtual Walk-Through

Join a conversation between Mary Cordaro, environmental consultant and certified Bau-Biologist, and author Jennifer Roberts, as they take you on a virtual walk-through of Cordaro’s own healthy home. Using video clips, they will show her ongoing “lab,” a 1950s Southern Californian house that she has been renovating over the past 18 years using principles that integrate Bau-Biologie and building science. In the process, they will highlight fundamental strategies for identifying and remediating common home-health problems.

After the talk, Jennifer will be signing copies of her three books, Good Green Homes, Good Green Kitchens and Redux. Find out more on the Events page.

Radon from Granite Countertops?

The New York Times today published an article, “What’s Lurking in Your Countertop?,” about the possibility of radon emissions from granite countertops.

Here’s what I wrote about the issue in Good Green Kitchens:

Radon and Stone

Radon is a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas derived from the natural decay of uranium in soil, rocks, and water. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States.

Radon is virtually always present at very low levels in outside air; it’s really only considered a health problem if it accumulates at high levels inside buildings. Although it is more prevalent in some regions than others, the U.S. EPA recommends that all homes below the third floor be tested for radon.

Can granite counters or other natural-stone materials used inside buildings emit enough radon to cause concern?

National Geographic’s The Green Guide

I served on the advisory board for National Geographic’s recently published book, Green Guide: The Complete Reference for Consuming Wisely. It’s filled with practical advice about greener living, from healthy eating to green remodeling to eco-friendly travel. Check it out on Amazon.com.

Multifamily Green Building Guidelines

Multifamily Green Building Guidelines

If you design, build, develop or own multifamily residential buildings in California, check out the 2008 edition of the Multifamily Green Building Guidelines. Just released by StopWaste.Org, the Guidelines provide comprehensive technical information about how to build and retrofit multifamily green buildings. The Guidelines were originally released in 2004; this new edition has been thoroughly updated to reflect advances in green building practices and products.

I served as the editor of this 242-page book, the nation’s most comprehensive source of information about multifamily green buildings. You can download an electronic copy for free at www.StopWaste.org  or you can buy a hard copy at www.BuildItGreen.org.

Green Rehab Guide available

If you own or manage multifamily residential buildings, you’ll benefit from the new resource guide, Green Rehabilitation of Multifamily Rental Properties. It’s available to download for free from Bay Area Local Initiative Support Corp. (LISC), or you can buy a hard copy for $20.

I served as the editor of this Green Rehab guide. It’s filled with cost-effective tips and strategies for making multifamily rental buildings more energy efficient and healthy.

GreenPoint Rated Condos by Lorax Development

Here’s a link to an article I wrote for ArchNewsNow about a GreenPoint Rated condo project built by Lorax Development in San Francisco. GreenPoint Rated is a seal of approval that grades new and existing homes based on their performance in five categories, including energy efficiency.

Good Riddance to Formaldehyde

California’s Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted regulations in April 2007 that will reduce formaldehyde emissions from particleboard, hardwood plywood and medium density fiberboard (MDF) sold in California. Formaldehyde is routinely used as a binder in these products and many other building materials and furnishings. 

Recommended: Healthy Building Network

This watchdog group for environmental health and justice takes on industry and government over PVC, formaldehyde and other common but potentially toxic building materials. Find out what’s wrong with these materials and how you can make safer choices at healthybuilding.net.

 

Recommended: Path to Freedom

Path to Freedom video brochure. In this 18-minute web video, meet Jules Dervaes and his three children, eco-pioneers who have turned their Pasadena, California, home into an integral urban homestead. Highlights include alternative energy systems, chickens, ducks and miniature goats, and an edible landscape that produces three tons of organic food each year on one-tenth of an acre. pathtofreedom.com

Biomimicry and Green Building

How would nature build a house?

Earlier this year I had the good fortune to take part in a daylong biomimicry workshop offered by the American Institute of Architects’ Committee on the Environment and led by Dayna Baumeister of the Biomimicry Guild.

Biomimicry is a new methodology based on Janine Benyus’s highly acclaimed book, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. This emerging science involves studying nature’s most successful designs and mimicking them to solve a wide range of human challenges.

Studying how plant leaves photosynthesize may lead to insights into how to build smaller, more efficient solar cells. Analyzing the spirals that nature builds—think seashells, rams’ horns and undulating kelp—has already helped one company develop super-efficient fan blades and propellers.