Is Your Home Making You Sick?
Most of us spend much of our time indoors. The air that we breathe in our homes, in schools, and in offices can put us at risk for health problems. Indoor air pollution can be the result of many factors among them, off-gassing from furniture, carpet and paint; toxic cleaning solutions, mold, pet dander, dust and second hand smoke to name a few. Usually the most effective way to improve indoor air is to eliminate and reduce the source by taking some simple steps like: Increasing the amount of fresh air indoors – open windows and...
read moreDesigning for Easy Maintenance
Even the EPA suggests keeping your home clutter free in their indoor air quality information. Clutter collects dust and creates areas in the home for breeding unwanted microbes and germs that impact our health and well-being. One way to eliminate clutter is to rid yourself of items you don’t use and commit to not replacing them when they are gone. Another consideration is to reduce consumption and rethink what you throw away and how often. Other options include: Designing out waste buy creating systems of organization that...
read moreChanging Consumption
“It’s no longer enough to change our light bulbs. We need to change our culture.” So says Erik Assadourian, senior researcher at the Worldwatch Institute and project director of a provocative and timely new book called 2010 State of the World: Transforming Cultures from Consumerism to Sustainability. Its argument is simple: The most important driver of the world’s ecological crises, including climate change, is not venal oil or coal companies or indifferent politicians but western consumer culture — that is,...
read moreGreen Buildings: Profitable and Healthy
Environmentally-friendly construction practices have gotten a lot of hype over the past few years but do they really pay off as an investment? A new study found that tenants in green buildings experience increased productivity and fewer sick days. The research also found that green buildings have lower vacancy rates and higher rents than non-green counterparts. The study, conducted by the University of San Diego and commercial real estate broker CB Richard Ellis Group, found that tenants in green buildings such as the Behnisch...
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