By Joel Bittle •
April 13, 2009
In preparation for next week’s Earth Day, the Missouri Botanical Garden is sponsoring Eco Expo, a two-day event in the Saint Louis Science Center. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will kick off the events on Tuesday, April 14 with a presentation of “Our Environmental Destiny.” Tickets can be purchased here. The expo itself is free to the public and spans Saturday and Sunday, April 18 & 19. Featured in the Eco Expo will be a model green home and a working green kitchen that will feature organic cooking demonstrations. From the press release:
“The Eco Expo was created to inspire our community to better care for the environment -through education, entertainment and access to businesses who are committed to achieving sustainability. This is a fantastic opportunity for all ages to learn about simple changes that can make great impact.
By Joel Bittle •
March 25, 2009
As if Florida’s housing market hasn’t had enough bad news lately, it now seems that some homes built with imported Chinese drywall have experienced problems ranging from rotten egg odor to appliance failure, and in some cases health problems. The culprit, according to homeowners involved in class action lawsuits in Florida, Louisiana, and Alabama, is high levels of sulfur within the drywall. The corrosive gas has destroyed copper wiring, causing air conditioners and other appliances to fail. Some homeowners claim the drywall has caused health problems, including headaches, sore throats, insomnia, and swollen joints.
During the boom years of 2005 and 2006, when frenzied new home construction combined with post-hurricane reconstruction, home builders found some material, including drywall, in short supply, and looked to cheap imports to fill the need. The gypsum used in the drywall, plaintiffs claim, originated in a Chinese mine with toxic levels of sulfur, though the companies that sell the drywall deny this claim. It is estimated that the number of homes with Chinese dry wall could be as high as 50,000, with Florida accounting for as many as 30,000. Time Magazine asks “Is Drywall the Next Chinese Import Scandal?”
By Joel Bittle •
March 18, 2009
The First Lady went green on St. Patrick’s Day, and not just with her choice of footwear or her order to dye the White House fountain green. Joining the members of YouthBuild, a non-profit organization that teaches low-income youths construction skills while they work toward their GED or high school diploma, Michelle Obama helped build an affordable, energy efficient home for a Texas mother whose mobile home was damaged last year by Hurricane Dolly. YouthBuild is celebrating their 30th anniversary by inviting current students and graduates of the program to show off green building techniques of all types on the National Mall.
Mrs. Obama took the opportunity to speak on the importance of both community service and building green:
“The work you’ve done here is quite impressive, and the evolution of your work to include green building, something that we’re talking more and more about as a nation, energy-saving practices, and environmental awareness, it demonstrates how YouthBuild has endured as a leading non-profit organization, keeping up with the times, making sure that the training and education that you get is current.”
By Joel Bittle •
March 9, 2009
One of my favorite web comics is xkcd’s “Duty Calls,” where the stick figure can’t tear himself away from the computer because “Someone is WRONG on the internet.” Unfortunately, too often discussions on environmental topics devolve into “You’re wrong” - “No, you’re wrong” and we lose sight of what we are trying to accomplish, namely, moving towards a healthier, sustainable, more energy efficient lifestyle. If you’re the kind of person who has to be right all the time, you’re not going to convince anyone else of anything - you’ll just be arguing minute points like there’s a debate coach keeping score, and at the end someone’s going to hand you a little trophy. In this type of debate, the goal is to get the other side to see the advantages of going green, even if it’s in a small way. Keeping the conversation going is more important than proving the other side wrong. Here are a few strategies to achieve that goal.
Avoid “Green” - The term is overused and since it means different things to different people, many are confused by it. To me, “Green” means healthy, sustainable, and energy efficient. To someone else, it might conjure images of hippies in communes. Companies use “Green” to sell products that have no business being near that word. So if you’re trying to convince someone to conserve energy and water, use “energy conservation” or tie it into “energy independence.” If you are arguing health aspects, use “chemical free,” “carcinogen free,” “hypoallergenic,” or just plain “healthy.”
By Joel Bittle •
January 30, 2009
Send Vice President Biden and the other members of the Middle Class Task Force your ideas about creating green jobs and making buildings more energy efficient.
President Barack Obama announced today the formation of a Task Force to strengthen the American middle class. As Vice President Joe Biden, a member of the group, describes the task force on the White House website, “This task force will be an important vehicle to assess new and existing policies across the board and determine if they are helping or hurting the middle class. It is our charge to get the middle class - the backbone of this country - up and running again.”
First on the agenda for the task force is the creation of green jobs and the ways home energy efficiency can both save homeowners’ money and create green jobs that cannot be outsourced. From the White House: “If we create jobs that aim to reduce your energy costs - like your electric bill and your home heating bill - that means you have more disposable income for other things. Creating more green jobs has multiple benefits. It helps the economy as a whole; it helps our environment; and it will save you money.”
By Joel Bittle •
January 23, 2009
In an effort to stabilize the housing market, Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson introduced S. 253, which seeks to expand the homebuyer tax credit passed by Congress last year. Instead of offering a tax credit only for first time home buyers that must be repaid over a 15-year period, the expanded proposal includes tax credits for all purchasers that do not need to be repaid unless the home is sold within three years. Included in the proposal are the following:
Extending the eligibility period for the credit to December 31, 2009.
Increasing the credit amount to 10 percent of the home price capped at 3.5 percent of FHA loan limits.
“Monetizing” the credit so it is available at time of closing
Allowing the credit to be used in conjunction with mortgages financed by state or local bonds.
By Joel Bittle •
January 16, 2009
While autism rates have been climbing at a frightening rate, its root causes have remained elusive. Researchers at the University of California, Davis M.I.N.D. institute have concluded that the focus of autism research should shift away from genetics or accounting practices and toward the increase of toxic chemicals and infectious microbes in the environment, especially in the home. Since 1990, autism rates in California have increased 600 to 700 percent. The study, published in Epidemiology, suggests that environmental toxins like metals, pesticides, and infectious agents could play a large part in the increase.
The dramatic increase in autism rates in California has been attributed to several factors, including increases in families bringing autistic children into California and changes in how autistic children are diagnosed. To address the first issue, the study only looked at California natives. The second issue, accounting practices, played a small part in the increase, but no more than 20% of the overall increase.
By Joel Bittle •
January 8, 2009
How carelessness on the job site leads to overflowing landfills, with tips on how to reduce construction waste
If you feel like you are doing your part for the environment by taking your box of recycling to the curb, consider how much went to waste in the construction of your house. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) study, an estimated 8,000 lbs of waste is created from the construction of a 2,000 square foot home. The majority of the 8,000 is wood, cardboard, and drywall. Almost all of that waste ends up in landfills. More than one green builder I’ve met first looked into green building after growing increasingly disgusted at the tons of debris carried away on a construction site. Much of the debris was either unnecessary material or material that could be salvaged or recycled. The problem can be solved by streamlining the material coming into the construction site and better managing how the waste is separated and where it ends up.
A focus on waste reduction comes with three major benefits:
By Joel Bittle •
January 1, 2009
2008 was the year that saw elements of green building become mainstream and increased interest in green technologies. But for those of us who are not building a new house or who don’t keep up with all the new technologies, there are many simple, inexpensive (or free) ways to green your life that you can do right now. The result will be a more energy efficient, healthier, and more sustainable environment for you and your children. Do yourself and you family a favor, take one or more of the following resolutions to go green:
By Joel Bittle •
December 27, 2008
Fast becoming staples of the green building industry are pre-assembled structural insulated panels, or SIPs, which replace conventional framing and offer greater energy efficiency, reduced lumber usage, and quicker construction. SIPs are polystyrene foam sandwiched between oriented strand boards that provide structural framing, insulation, and exterior sheathing in one piece. They can be used as floors, walls, and roofs and provide much greater energy efficiency than insulation in stud walls with an R-value improvement of 15% to 40%. The oriented strand boards are made from wood of fast growing trees and emit very low levels of urea-formaldehyde. The polystyrene foam can also consist of recycled content.
