Energy Efficient Home

Energy Efficient LEED Home
A Comfortable and Energy Efficient Home through Science – Part 1 I am a big believer in using principles of science and an understanding of the sun’s movement through the sky to enhance your comfort while also making it a more energy efficient home. I am going to devote the next few blogs to giving
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Green Business Certification

san francisco green business
Green Business Certification This blog covers a few green business certification programs making a real difference in the world. Products are Organic Certified, FSC-certified, Green-Seal Certified, Cradle-to-Cradle Certified, etc.  Then there is LEED Certification and GreenPoint Rating for buildings. But what about a sustainable business certification? I’ll discuss Bay Area and San Francisco green business programs.
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Healthy Building Materials and Appliances

RoHS Compliant Healthy Appliances
This blog expands on an earlier post about the 25 Principles of Building Biology and the Healthy Home Standard Checklist. Here we’ll dive deeper into the Indoor Air Quality Checklist, and focus on best practices for healthy appliances and building materials. This is part 3 of 3 – IAQ Checklist. Here is what Building Biologists thought were the
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EMF from LED Lights – Magnetic Fields and Recessed LED Lights

Lutron Dimmer 2
EMF from LED Lights and Recessed LED lights Is there significant amounts of EMF from LED Lights? A designer client of mine had a job she was working on, where her client, a homeowner, was concerned about the magnetic fields in her home.  She was designing a remodel, which included the kitchen, and the designer had
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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
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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
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Healthy Building Rating System

Healthy Building Rating System
Healthy Building Rating System Is there a “Healthy Building Rating System?”  I asked the same question five years ago, when Healthy Building Science was just getting off the ground. Having been a LEED and “green building” consultant for many years, I knew of several health-related credits in the major green building rating systems. The major
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Envelope Commissioning Guidelines and Standards

Envelope Commissioning Guidelines
Envelope Commissioning Guidelines and Standards include ASHRAE 202P, NIBS Guideline 3, ASTM E2813, and LEEDv4 Enhanced Commissioning credit requirements. The December 2012 issue of Environmental Building News had a great article, Verifying Performance with Building Enclosure Commissioning, that did a great job outlining the differences between traditional mechanical Commissioning (Cx) (HVAC, lighting controls, plumbing, etc) and Building
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San Francisco Bay Area Green Building Policies

San Francisco Bay Area Green Building
While we’d prefer everyone adopt green building principles because of carrots… sometimes it takes a stick! This compilation of San Francisco Bay Area Green Building Policies comes from Build It Green, creators of GreenPoint Rated, a residential green building rating system. Local Government Green Building Ordinances in California In recent years, numerous local governments in California
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LEED-Homes Overview

LEED-Homes Overview
The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has created a number of “green building ratings systems.” This LEED-Homes Overview addresses the fundamental structure of LEED-H, and outlines the different roles involved in the rating process. While the residential rating system is quite similar to other LEED systems, the players and process for LEED for Homes certification deserves
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