Author: andyux

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Green Building – Basics

Agriboard - Boerne

There are many “shades of green” – you have to decide what your priorities are, everyone is different.

Use Non-Toxic Building Materials: You can find healthier products for you and your family. Products that are healthier for us are also better for the environment. You can find these products online and specialty shops, search “non-toxic building materials”.

Did you know you can buy insulation made from leftover blue-jean material (Denim)?

Denim Insulation
Denim Insulation

or buy prefabricated walls made of compressed wheat straw?

Agriboard - Boerne
Agriboard Residence and School – Boerne, TX
Agriboard Residence - Spicewood, TX
Agriboard Residence – Spicewood, TX

Continue reading “Green Building – Basics”

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Austin Emerging Projects

The quarterly Downtown Austin Emerging Projects map and database show both public and private-sector projects in and near downtown Austin that are currently under construction or in the planning phase.

Glimpses of Projects


Low resolution version of Downtown Emerging Projects Poster
24″ x 36″ PDF ‘poster’ of Emerging Projects in the lower part of downtown.

Updated July 16, 2008.

Graphics and descriptions of selected downtown projects.

Residential / Mixed Use

Retail

Office

Hotels

Parks

Art, Culture and Entertainment

Streetscape Improvements

Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities

Other Facilities

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Creation of a new material capable of eliminating pollutants by the hydrocarbon industry

This article is published at www.eurekalert.org on 26-Feb-2008

A research team of the University of Granada has managed to produce the most useful material to date to eliminate pollutants such as benzene, toluene and xylene, organic solvents widely used in the hydrocarbon industry and generated by road traffic in cities. The world-wide problem of the exposure to aromatic hydrocarbons has mainly focused its attention on benzene, which is considered to be harmful to health, even in low concentrations.

This material is a monolithic carbon aerogel with the advantage of not only being able to retain these pollutants: it can also be easily regenerated and can therefore be used in several cycles. This research has been carried out by David Fairén Jiménez, from the Department of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Granada, and directed by lecturers Carlos Moreno Castilla and Francisco Carrasco Marín. The aim of this study was to prepare and describe a series of new materials – monolithic carbon aerogels – as adsorbers of benzene, tolene and xylene (BTX).

The study of the elimination of volatile organic compounds from anthropogenic sources – road traffic in cities, solvents, industry, etc. – such as BTX, is very important as these substances are highly pollutant. In order to eliminate these pollutants, “it is necessary to use materials with a high concentration of micropores, which is where the absorption of pollutants takes place, but these pores must be the correct size and properly arranged. Thus, we achieve a high level of efficiency when eliminating and retrieving BTX after the saturation of the material”, said David Fairén.

Furthermore, the design of the adsorbent bed must allow a sufficient contact for the elimination of compounds and at the same time avoid a decrease in pressure. Finally, the material used must withstand the mechanical forces of vibration and movement. David Fairén states that “the monolithic carbon aerogels, which are the materials we worked with, satisfy all these requirements”.

Twice the information
This research provides a methodology for the study of porous samples by comparing definition techniques of the more used surfaces, such as gas adsorption, with other difficult techniques, such as small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). On the one hand, these techniques provide information on the characteristics of these materials and about the physical conditions of pollutants within the pores. On the other hand, they have obtained materials with better properties than other results published in the bibliography regarding the elimination of pollutants such as benzene, toluene and xylene. This is because they have a high capacity to retain pollutant compounds and they can be easily regenerated and used in several cycles. The design of these samples, as they can be synthesized in the required way, makes them suitable to be applied in streams with a high gas flow without a decrease in the pressure of the adsorbent bed.

Reference
David Fairén Jiménez. Department of Inorganic Chemistry of the University of Granada.
Mobile: 0044 7504765078.
E-mail: fairen<@>ugr.es

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A better location in Texas?

green builder nevada photo

Question

Kathleen wrote:
I saw your e-mail address on the MCS-Global website.
Just in case you could help us, I’ll ask….
Do you know of areas in Texas where chemically sensitive people have done better with their health? I see your specialty is the actual housing, which we may need at some point. But right now we’re trying to locate an area that would be more “healthy” for my husband who has MCS.
Thanks,
Kathy

Answer

Well the only thing we know for sure in Houston has one of the worst air qualities in the world, so not there. I think in general the rest has to be look at by location – depending on sensitivities.

Most important is to look and see where the trade winds come from, and what is upwind from there. In general, prevailing winds in TX are NW during the winter and SSE for the rest.

Now to find out what industries are upwind from you
http://scorecard.org/
This website is a great resource in general to find out more about things we dont think generally affect us, like a concrete plant. Consider also allergens – molds, cedar, pollens and such. I had an mcs client that smoked but got send for spin if he took a whiff of pine.

Have you worked out a comprehensive plan for your husband? Using natural products at home and organic diets has a tremendous impact, and i have seen many recover, including myself.

Im sure you know you can think more clearly than him, he is lucky to have an understanding and helping partner!

A few documents of interest

Chemical Sensitivites documents
Chemical Sensitivities for beginners
Chemical Sensitivities-resources

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Safe Mobile Home?

green builder nevada photo

Question

In http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/buildhealthy, Gretchen wrote:

Hello, We have an acoustical ceiling in a mobile home…it appears to made from a paper product. We need to use a stain blocker, then paint the ceiling. We know of Bin by Zinser for stainblocking. The ceiling is now painted with ‘flat’ paint.

Also, we are going to paint the closets with a formeldehyde blocking product. We have used Bin in the past. My husband is very sensitive to it, so is there another product you’d recommend?

We are also redoing the floors. Some areas of the subfloor(fiberboard) will need patching. We have plywood, which seems o.k. for us.

Also, the shelves in the closets are made from a fiberboard material which seems to be coated. Should we replace the shelves with Fir which does not outgas?

We will need to use caulk, wood filler, and other products to repair, maintain and upgrade this home. (It is a 1975 Viking mobile home).

Of course, it is not insulated well…is there a product we could affix to the paneling, like a wall paper? Some people replace the paneling with drywall, but I don’t know if we could do that and live in here at the same time.

People recommend that we replace this old home with a new one(toxic!), but we are in a situation in which our HOA is not friendly, so we feel that we have no choice but to fix this up and eventually sell it and then move to our ‘non-toxic’ home.

Thanks for any information.

Answer

Mobile homes are inherently toxic, that’s is a goal of mine, to build modular with good materials. Will keep you posted. But an older one is certainly better than a new one.

For any kind of sealants look at AFM products; they also have caulks.
afm safecoat products
For products also look at www.natl-life.com

The alternative is to remove anything that is offensive, not cover it up.
If you can find a local green building supplier, you can always try small samples of these products, remember everyone is different so there are no absolute solutions.

A product that seems to work for everyone – is alumna foil. Its not pretty, you cant paint it, but it seals and it doesn’t off-gas.
Here is a good list of these materials – i used to sell green building materials so this is from my old website
environmental depot

Again, if any of these interest you, talk to the people at www.natl-life.com or another green building supplier.

A few documents of interest

Chemical Sensitivites documents
Chemical Sensitivities for beginners
Chemical Sensitivities-resources