Floorings Affect on Indoor Air Quality

[Future Environment Designs] Floorings Affect on Indoor Air Quality Angelo Garcia III <angelo3@futureenv.com> Oct 27 08:22PM -0700 ^

[http://www.rodale.com/green-remodeling-0?cm_mmc=DailyNewsNL-_-2010_10_27-_-Top5-_-NA]
Mold growing on wood tacking under carpeting. When Future Environment
Designs performs an indoor air quality assessment we typically look at
what's on the floor to see if that is hindering or contributing to the
air quality problems. Carpeting is a problem because the average person
cannot clean it properly and if it gets wet you have to make sure you
dry it completely to ensure mold (fungi) won't grow on it or in it. We
have seen mold grow even on the wood used for the tacking down the
carpet as seen in the photo. My preference is non-porous materials on
the floor. Researchers are now concerned about certain non-porous
floors containing vinyl. As the above linked article at
Rodale.com "Caution: Floor May Be Toxic" discusses vinyl (PVC) and why
it should be avoided. The article says that researchers found that "PVC
building materials, namely, vinyl flooring and coated wallpaper, were
seven times more likely to contain hazardous additives when compared to
nonplastic flooring options." Vinyl flooring was also found to contain
asbestos, cadmium, lead, and flame retardants. "These substances are
linked to asthma, fertility problems, learning disability,
hormone-related diseases, and cancer." It seems we will have to change
our typical recommendation of vinyl floor tiles to linoleum, cork,
bamboo and/or hardwood floors. These floors are also approved for
points under the Leadership Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
system. The next time you are having problems with your flooring or
considering remodeling look at linoleum, cork, bamboo and hardwood as
better alternatives to vinyl floors or carpeting.

Related articles
Study Finds Flooring & Wallpaper Contain Hazardous Additives
(healthychild.org) Is Your Floor Making You Sick? (blisstree.com) Has
Indoor Air Quality Been Getting Better or Worse? (planetsave.com)
Kitchens & Baths: Clean & Easy Flooring (floortalk.wfca.org) Recycled
Flooring Recognized by Industry Leading Publication & Highlights the
Rise of Green Building in America (prnewswire.com) Tests Uncover Hidden
Chemicals in Wallpaper, Flooring (greenbiz.com) Study of Home
Improvement Products Finds Lead, Phthalates, Cadmium, Organotins, Other
Harmful Ingredients (yubanet.com) Best Way to Improve Indoor Air
Quality (planetsave.com)

Green Technology - Classified Ad

Green Technology - Classified Ad

Human waste for fuel in British stoves

October 5, 2010 envhealth@usaid 1 comment

RAW sewage flushed from homes in a British town is being converted into gas and piped back to the area in a first for the UK.
Households in Didcot, Oxfordshire, central England, will welcome back some of their sewage in the form of biomethane to fuel their boilers and stoves.
The £2.5 million ($4.14 million) project, with hundreds more planned for sewage farms across the country, will reduce emissions by making use of gas that is normally burnt off and wasted.
The sewage and waste water arriving at the Didcot works for treatment is separated into sludge and liquid with bacteria breaking down the biodegradable material to create gas.
The process takes around 20 days and partners British Gas and Thames Water say that customers will not notice any difference.
Kathryn Rushton, a mother of two who lives 800m from the sewage works, welcomed the scheme.
“My 14-year-old daughter wrinkled her nose up a bit when I told her, but she soon understood that it’s just like water recycling, with the water we use eventually ending up back in our taps,” she said.
“I worry about the future for my children, who may not enjoy the same freedom just to switch things on. It makes sense to make ourselves more energy-secure in this way.”
The Didcot plant will supply enough gas for 200 homes and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 350 tons a year, the equivalent of taking 130 cars off the road.
The UK National Grid estimates that by 2020 at least 15 per cent of the domestic gas market could be supplied by renewable gas from various sources, including sewage, cattle manure and food waste.
Chris Huhne, Britain’s Energy and Climate Change Secretary, said, “For the first time ever in the UK, people can cook and heat their homes with gas generated from sewage. This is an historic day. It is just the start of a new era of renewable energy.”
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/human-waste-to-power-british-homes/story-e6frf7jx-1225934552797

IAQ Data

Concerns about indoor air quality (IAQ) increased when energy conservation measures instituted in office buildings during the 1970s, minimized the introduction of outside air and contributed to the buildup of indoor air contaminants. IAQ generally refers to the quality of the air in an office environment. Other terms related to IAQ include indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and "sick building syndrome" (SBS). Complaints about IAQ range from simple complaints, such as the air smelling odd, to more complex, where the air quality causes illness and lost work time. It may not be easy to identify a single reason for IAQ complaints because of the number and variety of possible sources, causes, and varying individual sensitivities. The following questions link to information relevant to indoor air quality in the workplace.
	What standards apply? OSHA | National Consensus
	How are IAQ hazards recognized?
	How is IAQ evaluated and controlled? Evaluation | Control
	What additional information is available? Related Safety and Health Topics Pages | Other Resources

Vollara Product Demonstration - Fair Grove, MO

Vollara Product Demonstration - Fair Grove, MO