Buying a New Home? Get a Healthy Home Check

building a healthy home
Buying a New Home? There are so many details to pay attention to when you and your family are looking for a new home.  Is the neighborhood safe?  Are there good schools?  Is the house big enough? Have you ever thought to ask “Is this home (and neighborhood) going to be a healthy environment for
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Where Is Asbestos In The Home?

asbestos in the home
Where is Asbestos in the home?  Asbestos, a naturally occurring silicate mineral, was once called the “miracle” fiber, because of its fire-resistant, thermal insulating, non-conductive, flexible, strong, and wear resistant properties. The ancient Greeks and Romans both used asbestos for tablecloths, napkins, towels, and linings for suits of armor. It is rumored that early Roman Emperors
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Company Culture

company culture
Company Culture = We’ve all got one, right? Does every business have a company culture? Even a person without a personality has a personality, right?  As an entrepreneur I’ve never really thought about the “culture” of our company. Client satisfaction, service options, managing liability, marketing strategy, and profit margins are the de-facto language of business.
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Eichler Remodel

Eichler MC-674 Street View
Eichler Remodel – Healthy & Efficient Home Why write about an Eichler remodel? Because my family is lucky enough to call this our first home, and remodeling has almost completely absorbed me for the past 3 months! This isn’t just a remodel, it’s a green Eichler remodel. What is an Eichler? Joseph Eichler was a
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Mercury Spills in our Homes – How to Clean Up

Mercury Mines & Estuaries
Mercury Spills in Our Homes Accidental Release and Clean-up of Small Quantities of ( less than 3 grams) Mercury is a unique metal and has some rather amazing properties. It’s the only metal that is a liquid at room temperature. It was originally described as “silver water” in ancient Greece. Because it is both a
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Chemical Hazards and the TSCA

TSCA Chemical Hazards
How safe are the man-made chemicals that surround us?   Chemical Hazards are a concern for everyone. The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) was passed in 1976 and is the country’s main chemical safety law. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for enforcing TSCA, but significant weaknesses in TSCA have left the EPA unable
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Selecting a Sustainable Architect

BECx_Silicon Valley
An Insider’s Point of View Being an architect myself and having worked as an architectural project manager until 2012, I have an insider’s view into the profession. In the 18 years of practicing architecture, I worked across many different sectors including residential, commercial and higher education, getting a really good feel for how different sectors
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Lead: An Introduction

Lead Testing for Dust
Lead is a natural elemental metal that has many uses and has been used through antiquity. Though it has many uses it is extremely toxic to humans and as such, has been regulated by government agencies throughout the world. Awareness is growing, but people are still exposed to lead. Lead: an introduction to help you
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LEED Midrise Certification

LEED Midrise Certification
Last year, I petitioned the USGBC Technical Committee on Homes and received the green signal to pursue LEED certification for a 32 story apartment tower in San Francisco’s Transbay neighborhood. Midrise V 2010 allows certification for residential buildings of 4 to 12+ stories with exceptions made for taller buildings on a case-by-case basis. Residential projects
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Understanding LEED IAQ Testing Requirements

MODERN COMMERCIAL OFFICE
Understanding LEED IAQ Testing Requirements LEED 2009 and LEEDv4 both have credits that require building flush-outs or building air quality testing prior to occupancy. The credit requires that after construction ends, the GC must install new filtration media and flush-out the building by supplying a total air volume of 14,000 cubic feet of outdoor air per square
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