Dirty Electricity from LEDs

Dirty Electricity from LEDs People interested high fidelity sound systems or low-EMF environments want to minimize electromagnetic interference (AKA: EMI, High-Voltage Transients, Electrical Noise, and Dirty Electricity) from lighting systems. Compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) – the curly pig tail variety with some mercury in them – are notoriously “dirty” and create significant EMI (Electromagnetic Interference).
Read more
3 Comments

IAQ Issues LEED Building San Francisco – Part Two

IAQ Issues LEED Building – Part Two As a healthy building inspector and industrial hygienist, I have performed several pre-occupancy IEQ tests to the LEED standard and specifically for LEED certification. I am familiar with both the testing and flush out options and IAQ issues related LEED Building certification. The flush out option is most
Read more
No Comments

IAQ Issues in a LEED Building – Part One

Air Quality Problems in the EPA’s San Francisco LEED EBOM Building IAQ Issues in a LEED Building Part ONE At the end of February 2016, NBC ran a segment investigating whether the EPA Region 9 building, at 75 Hawthorne Street in downtown San Francisco, was a Sick Building. All answers pointed to yes. In the
Read more
No Comments

House Plants Reduce VOCs and Create Healthier Environments

House Plants Can Contribute to Healthier Indoor Environments We spend about 90% of our time indoors. While inside, we are exposed to a variety of indoor air pollutants. Reducing or removing these pollutants and creating an optimal indoor environment is important to our health and well-being. House plants reduce VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and are
Read more
No Comments

Well Building Standard Certification for Occupant Health

WELL BUILDING STANDARD – How to apply it to any project There is a new green certification in town. It is called the WELL Building Standard and it targets the ways in which buildings can enhance occupant health. Indicative of the increasing emphasis on how work areas are designed (i.e., Google, Facebook, Air Bnb, LinkedIn),
Read more
No Comments

LEEDv4 IAQ Testing – New Credit Highlights for IEQ

LEEDv4 IAQ Testing Requirements Industrial hygienists across the US have been watching the USGBC as they’ve updated the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Testing Credit for Post-Construction. LEEDv4 IAQ Testing requirements have changed since LEEDv2009. Many health and healthy building advocates hoped they would lower the allowable levels of formaldehyde, but due to industry uproar that did
Read more
1 Comment

Indoor Air Pollution Near Busy Roads

Indoor Air Pollution Near Busy Roads Freeways and other busy roads are sources of elevated auto emissions and indoor air pollution. These emissions can be harmful to human health for both people on the roads and people working, walking, and living nearby. Nearly 20% of the United States population lives near a high volume road,
Read more
No Comments

Top 10 Tips to Look for Water Damage and Mold in Buildings

Top 10 Tips to Look for Water Damage and Mold in Buildings Every year the rains return, soil dampens, leaks pop up, and mold in buildings becomes much more prevalent than during dry times. This winter’s forecast “El Niño” may bring more rain and possible flooding than California has seen in a decade. Many of
Read more
No Comments

Sick Building Syndrome and Building Related Illness

Sick Building Syndrome
Sick Building Syndrome and Building Related Illness What is the Difference? Sick Building Syndrome and Building Related Illness are two distinct diagnoses. People often use the term “sick building” when referring to a property, but buildings don’t get sick – people do. I believe if there are numerous people suffering from Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) it’s okay to
Read more
2 Comments

5 Ways Property Managers Limit Risk From Environmental Claims

Property Managers Limit RiskProperty Managers Limit Risk
5 Ways Property Managers Limit Risk From Environmental Claims A property manager is often stuck between a rock and a hard place. Environmental claims are common pitfalls that cause even the best property managers to wind up on the wrong side of the bench in a courtroom. Here are several tried and proven ways property managers
Read more
No Comments