Building a Home for Peace of Mind & Security
Monday, 07 October 2013
When most people build or remodel their homes, they pay close attention to indoor air quality, comfort and aesthetics. The task of building to survive natural disasters like earthquakes (as the San Francisco Bay region is prone to) is left to building codes and local code enforcement. And the task of ensuring the home maintains livable
- Published in Green Building Consulting
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Smog and Particulates
Tuesday, 01 October 2013
Smog and Particulates How Fine Particulates Affect Exterior and Interior Air Quality No matter how well our “Green and Healthy” homes are designed and built, our interior air quality can only be as good as our exterior air quality (our “source air”), unless we add active air filtration into our building design. But how do
- Published in Environmental Testing, Healthy Building Inspections & Testing
How to Clean Up Mold?
Tuesday, 10 September 2013
Most of this blog on how to clean up mold is from the “Help Yourself to a Healthy Home” guide from HUD. We generally suggest hiring an established remediation company with professionals certified by the IICRC… but many cannot afford to pay for that service or don’t feel it’s necessary. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for
- Published in Environmental Testing, Healthy Building Inspections & Testing
Blown-in-Cellulose Insulation
Wednesday, 21 August 2013
Blown-in-Cellulose Insulation Test Results On a recent project, we recommended a homeowner try Blown-in-Cellulose insulation as a healthy alternative to other insulation choices. Blown-in-cellulose is known in the healthy materials world as a pretty safe insulation choice. But just to be sure the product was safe, we sent a wet sample to a lab for
Mold in the Home – What to do?
Tuesday, 13 August 2013
Mold in the Home – What to do? What to do about mold in the home, how to avoid it, how to clean it up, is mold testing a good idea? etc. This blog focuses on residential mold tips. Many of these best practices are drawn from the following government-sponsored resources on healthy homes: Help
- Published in Environmental Testing, Healthy Building Inspections & Testing
Sick Building
Thursday, 04 July 2013
What is a Sick Building? There is often confusion over the definition of a sick building syndrome. We hear questions like, “Is my building sick?,” and, “How do I know if my building is sick?” Therein lies much of the confusion. Buildings don’t get sick, people do! Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) Determining if occupants suffer
- Published in Environmental Testing, Healthy Building Inspections & Testing
CO2 in Air – Why is my Air Stale and Stuffy?
Wednesday, 05 June 2013
CO2 in the Air – Why is My Air Stale and Stuffy? Carbon Dioxide and Its Relation to Your Interior Air Quality. CO2 in the Air. Why is my air “Stale?” Many of my clients often complain of either specific symptoms, general malaise, or “just not feeling right” when in a building they spend a
- Published in Healthy Building Inspections & Testing
Asthma and Buildings
Friday, 10 May 2013
Asthma and Buildings – California and US Trends in Asthma Buildings are too often neglected in the asthma equation. Asthma is sometimes defined as a symptom of poor indoor air quality, and other times defined as a Building Related Illness. This blog references the recently released report, “Asthma in California: A Surveillance Report,” compiled by
HVAC and Filtration Best Practices for Healthy Home
Wednesday, 20 March 2013
HVAC and Filtration Best Practices for Healthy Home 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 Heating, Cooling and Ventilating a healthy building. “HVAC and Filtration Best Practices for Healthy