EMF Rules of Thumb

EMF Rules of Thumb
Curious about general best practices for minimizing EMF exposure? This post is an excerpt from the Healthy Home Standard, and it includes many great EMF rules of thumb. This is part of a series about the Healthy Home Standard, and there will be another post on additional EMF best practices. The following EMF rules of
Read more
3 Comments

LEED EMF ID Credit Application

LEED EMF Credit Denied
LEED EMF ID Credit Application The USGBC/LEED recently denied an Innovation in Design (ID) credit application for Magnetic Field (EMF) Reduction. This post includes the official LEED EMF ID Credit Application. The following text is in the traditional formal of an ID credit application and request for a Credit Interpretation Ruling (CIR). Unfortunately the USGBC
Read more
No Comments

LEED EMF Credit Denied

LEED denies EMF credit
EMF LEED Credit Citing the need for more research on human health effects, and questioning long-established Building Biology approaches to minimizing electromagnetic fields (EMF), the USGBC and denied a recent application for a EMF LEED Credit. Healthy Building Science was the LEED for Homes (LEED-H) consultant for two residential properties (CA and NH) that intended
Read more
No Comments

Fluoride, Health and Drinking Water

Tooth Decay Trend in Flouridated and Non-Flouridated Countries
Fluoride, Health, and Drinking Water The addition of fluoride to the drinking water supply began in the 1950s as a method to fight against tooth decay.  Currently, 11 countries in the world have more than 50% of their population drinking fluoridated water. These include Singapore (100%), Hong Kong (100%), Brunei (95%); Australia (80%), Malaysia (75%),
Read more
No Comments

Exposure Limits in US – Alphabet Soup

Exposure Limits in US
Exposure Limits in US – Alphabet Soup Exposure Limits in US should be super simple. “Do not exceed #.” But it’s a government regulatory issue… so how simple could it be? Here is a summary of the primary exposure limits used by our government and industrial hygienists in the United States. Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs) – OSHA
Read more
No Comments

What is “Lead-Free”?

Environmental Testing
What does “100% Lead Free” really mean? What it lead-free? The EPA’s lead rule sets an action level of 15 parts per billion (ppb) and they estimate that more than 40 million U.S. residents use water “that can contain lead in excess of 15 ppb. If tests show that the level of lead drinking water
Read more
1 Comment

Toxic Building Materials in Residential Construction

toxic building materials
Toxic Building Materials in Residential Construction A reporter from Angie’s List Magazine just asked for my opinion on toxic building materials in residential construction… and while writing my response I realized there was some valuable information to share. Hopefully Angie’s List Magazine will decide to run the piece. Here is my response to some great
Read more
No Comments

Safer Foam Insulation – Reducing Dangerous Flame Retardants

safer foam insulation
Safer Foam Insulation Flame Retardants Doing More Harm than Good? Safer foam insulation is on its way to becoming a reality in the US construction industry. Momentum for eliminating unnecessary flame retardants from buildings is growing exponentially. The fire safety benefit isn’t adding up to the known hazards associated with halogenated flame retardants. Leading the
Read more
No Comments

Healthy Building Science Green Festival

Healthy Building Science Green Festival
Healthy Building Science Green Festival – San Francisco The Healthy Building Science Green Festival  booth two weekends ago was a total hit! After the Green Festival we all took a big breathe and dove right into festivities and events for GreenBuild 2012… now we await the air quality results. It’s been an amazing 10 days. The
Read more
No Comments

Sick Building Materials Smell Bad – What if it’s too late and the building stinks?

Sick building
Sick Building Materials Smell Bad- What if it’s too late and the building stinks? At least once a week we get the following call… “We were so careful to only allow healthy materials in our project. But we just moved in and it stinks! We’re worried the building materials smell bad. Can you come test
Read more
No Comments