The Green Home - All Comments

re: Chinese Drywall Causing Literal Homeowner Headaches

Rick Davis — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 03:18:52 GMT

Look at the levels of formaldehyde found. Without working a/c the formaldehyde concentrations were 79 to 400+ ppb. The range in the FEMA trailers was 10 to 592 ppb. The formaldehyde alone is enough to cause the health effects reported. The State of California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessments reduced the 8-hour exposure level to just 7 ppb. Studies show decreased lung function at 30 ppb and increased asthma at 60 ppb. Most adults are negatively effected at 100 ppb. The report references accuate concentrations. Most people are in their home at least 10 hours a day and young children, stay at home parents and those that work from home can be there 24x7. These studies should be using chronic exposure levels. Homes have gone from 14 ppb in the 1990's to 29 ppb in 2003 to 100+ ppb in 2009. Why? Because we have sealed homes up so tightly to conserve energy they no longer breathe and chemicals build up. It can take 7+ hours to exchange the air one time in a modern home. We don't learn from our past mistakes because we did the same thing to commercial building during the first energy crisis. Commercial buildings are now required to exchange the air every hour. Homes actually have more pollution sourcse and should have at least as much fresh air ventilation as commerical buildings. It is no wonder many state that residential air is 5 to 10 times more polluted than outside air. Wake-up the data is in the report.

re: White Roofs and Albedo

Dave Brill — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 22:05:32 GMT

Hey Jann - WAKE UP! More hysteria about fake science. How ridiculous is this article. First off, the Polar Ice Caps are not melting... just because someone shows a chunk falling into the ocean doesn't mean they are melting away... it is a natural occurance. Oh, and the polar bears are actually thriving, get the facts. Noah Wiley is a doofus. Global Warming is junk science, and not consensus. If those on the hysteria side were honest, they would acknowledge that CO2 is good for the environment, and the earth actuallly heals itself when there is too much, ie: Mount Pinatuba Eruption - hello! This volcano put massive amount of C02 into the atmosphere - multiple times the amount the history of automobiles and industrialization has ever produced. What happened? The earth healed itself, and did not turn into a fire ball. Irony: Some of the new hybrid cars have a graphic on the dashboard of leaves growing when you take your foot off the gas peddle. In reality, trees and plants grow more when there is more C02. WAKE UP! and quit feeding into the power elite and their red herring issues designed to transfer wealth.

re: Gold Rush Green

Moshe Cohen PhD — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 00:31:26 GMT

FHA has a "green housing" program with very good terms. We provide expert appraisals on such

re: Old Fashioned TVs are Still Greenest

Jann Swanson — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:01:07 GMT

You are no doubt right about the power consumption of really large CRT sets and that is probably the reason they are not widely available if at all. The reference to the 30 inch CRT came from the California Energy Commission, however according to Power innovations, the largest CRT made is 27 inches. The California .23 watt per inch figure, however, makes it pretty clear that the CRT is still the most efficient display.

re: Old Fashioned TVs are Still Greenest

John Last — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:27:26 GMT

This is somewhat skewed... 30 inch CRT is 4:3 ratio (more square) and has a height of 18 inches, width 24 inches for a total of 432 sq inches. 42 inch Plasma/LCD is 16:9 (more rectangular) and has a height of 21 inches and width 37 inches for a total 777 sq inches. When you see the LCD uses about double the power but has 80% more screen real estate it's not nearly as bad as it originally looks. I would also wonder if CRTs don't get more power hungry the bigger they get... I had a 36 inch CRT that gave off mamoth heat, that's gotta chew power.

re: Straw Houses Return - Wolves are Optional

jeff ruppert — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 05:38:55 GMT

Thanks for covering bale construction. There are a few corrections, however. At the straw bale registry one can also find insured an financed bale homes upon request. Also, most building departments are familiar with bale construction due to the selfless work of many in the industry. Many articles have been published in the code journals about not just bale construction but earth construction as well. We have a forum for discussing these issues: http://www.buildearth.org and http://tls.buildearth.org. The Last Straw at http://thelaststraw.org is dedicated to bale and natural building. Follow these links for a real education on bale construction and its accompanying technologies.

re: Dragon Board - too Good to be True?

BOON TUAN — Tue, 26 May 2009 09:30:02 GMT

Dear Michelle, We are a local distributor of Dragonboard walls located in Singapore. We have ex-stock and able to supply to cater to your requirements. Its is locally used as a 2 hour fire-rated drywall as well as an Acoustic Wall. For Technical Support and Enquiries, you may send your email to boontuan@optimumgb.com or drop me a call at +65 97999128. Cheers and I hope to hear from you soon.

re: Excess Packaging Wastes Energy and Money

Icy Thunder — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:32:34 GMT

awesomeeeeeee!!

re: Dragon Board - too Good to be True?

Charissa Strong — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:32:16 GMT

Michelle, We would love to here from you. Please visit our website www.dragonboard.com. At our website you will find valuable information, answers to frequently asked questions and product literature to learn more about DRAGONBOARD. Please also feel free to call us with any questions. Sales & Distributions Inquiries: (800) 214-4551 Technical Support & Service: (866) 447-3232 DRAGONBOARD is a U.S. patented, UL approved fire resistant, water resistant, high impact construction panel that is well suited for both interior and exterior sheathing applications. With its mold resistant, fire resistant and high impact properties, DRAGONBOARD should be used whenever there is a high value placed on a building’s contents and equipment or when health and safety concerns exist.

re: Dragon Board - too Good to be True?

Michelle Niland — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:14:40 GMT

Who sells it?

re: Solar Panels Now Available for Rent

Bud Nyan — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 21:24:13 GMT

I would correct the statement in para3 about tax credits - to 30% of costs (to be determined if its material+labor or just materials). Also up in air is if the 30% is post rebates that maybe applicable from the utility OR state

re: For the Serious (Rainwater) Collector

Raoul Duke — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:20:16 GMT

Be sure to search around, as the 600 Gallon Cistern Tank you were referring to is available from other vendors for less. Fellow consumers should be aware (as I learned during my construction) that these large cisterns (well, large tanks in general) need to be delivered by truck. Different vendors have wildly different freight quotes, even for the exact same tanks. Brad Lancaster is seemingly the leader of the water conservation pack and has published some really helpful books. There are some pretty thorough resource sites dedicated to domestic rainwater harvesting. www.RainTankDepot.com is one. Good luck!

re: More Ideas for the Green Giver

Dan Tobal — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:15:07 GMT

Website for the draft guards is not functional. Can you check the link?

re: Holiday Footprints

brian mccollough — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:21:05 GMT

Has Wikipedia now become a reputable source of information? Rather than state, "According to Wikipedia," wouldn't it be more accurate to state, "According to an unknown source who took the time to add information Wikipedia?"

re: Motion Sensing Light Switches

Cheryl Samartano — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:41:09 GMT

Here's some additional information on Leviton occupancy sensors. They come in both single pole and 3-way models in white, ivory and almond colors. They are sold at Home Depot , Do It Best, Ace Hardware, Orchard Supply, etc. Leviton also sells a model (IPP15) which has true 3-way occupancy sensing for odd shaped rooms to "see" around corners. These are available in white, ivory, almond, light almond and black and are also sold at Home Depot and many retailers around the country. In addition Leviton occupancy sensors are availabel on Amazon.com for $15.53 and my local Home Depot (in NY) sells them for $14.97 and up (depending on the model).