“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.

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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?”

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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.”

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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.”

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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.”

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• 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.

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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.

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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:

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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:

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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.

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Let’s be honest, construction companies and home builders are facing terrible times.  New building construction has ground to a halt and the subprime mortgage fiasco resulted in plummeting home values, leaving many builders with homes that were worth less than the cost of construction.   The longer the recession - some say through 2010, some say longer - the more companies will have to lay off employees or go under altogether.  There’s not much of a silver lining to this dark cloud, but one good thing looks to come out of it.  The green building market, which had been slowly increasing its share of the overall construction market prior to the market slowdown, is poised to provide a much needed spark in the construction market through a new public works program proposed by Barack Obama that will include a focus on energy efficiency in buildings.  With a national movement toward green building practices, there is a very real possibility that once the current recession is over, the majority of new commercial buildings and houses will be much more energy efficient, sustainable, and healthier than current building standards.

An Opportunity for Change

For those with long term vision, a market slowdown can be good for an industry.  It is an opportunity for a reevaluation of business practices.  When things are going well, there’s no incentive to change, even if those changes can mean greater energy efficiency and more of a focus on sustainability and health.  But a slowdown gives companies not only the time to research new innovations but the financial incentive to seek new revenue streams.  Consumer behavior is trending green, with 73% saying they would pay more for products that are better for the environment and 89% saying they’d pay more for products that will reduce heating and cooling costs, according to a survey done by the Opinion Research Corporation.

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If cabinet manufacturers built simply to qualify for LEED credits, they could use recycled materials or no formaldehyde in their final product, but cause enormous environmental destruction in their manufacturing process.  Rather than simply gauging the final product’s green-ness, the KCMA-ESP takes every step in a cabinet’s life into account.  How was the wood harvested?  How much energy was wasted in its production?   Were the wood shavings, sawdust, or scrap reused for fuel or some other purpose?  Does the final product contain any volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like urea-formaldehyde?

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While sustainability and energy efficiency often dominate the green building conversation, the issue that can have the most immediate impact on your family’s health is indoor air quality.  Green building programs seek to limit your family’s exposure to Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOCs, that exist in some building materials and furniture.  Continued exposure to these VOCs has caused health problems ranging from headaches and nausea to cancer.  Green building programs like the US Green Building Council’s LEED for Homes and LEED for New Construction encourage builders to eliminate these emissions whenever possible.

If building green comes at a slightly higher cost it is because many of these harmful chemicals are so widespread that finding products without them can be a challenge.  In fact, it is the presence of these chemicals in some products that makes them cheaper, as in wood products containing urea-formaldehyde.

Those looking to improve the indoor air quality of their current house can make several changes that will significantly reduce VOCs.

Some sources of harmful emissions in the home:

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Topics in the guide range from legal and illegal logging and responsible forestry to the presence of formaldehyde and other volatile organic compounds in the wood and adhesives.  Eco Timber tackles every step in the process from subfloors to floor pads to the panels themselves.  Looking for a specific hardness of wood?  They’ve got a scale.  Do you already have a hardwood floor and want advice on green care and maintenance?  Eco Timber has a section on maintenance, surface scratching, and refinishing.

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Follow Philly’s Postgreen as they attempt to build a modern green home for $100,000.

Just over a year ago, Philadelphia developer Postgreen undertook an ambitious project, to build a modern green home for $100,000.  Not only are they seeking to shatter the myth that green homes are unaffordable, but they are documenting every step on their site, 100KHouse.com.  Located in the New Kensington area of Philadelphia, the house will be a roughly 1,000 square foot two bedroom one and a half bath modern style home - and will not be a prefab; rather it is being built from the ground up according to LEED for Homes guidelines using such affordable energy saving materials as SIPs (structurally insulated panels.)

Documenting the progress of the 100K House are Postgreen President Chad Ludeman and PR Director Nic Darling.  Both are convinced that affordable green building is not only possible, but necessary to bring about true environmental change.  Their blog posts are not limited to the progress of the 100K House; they write about a range of interesting green topics.

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Of course President Obama will inherit enormous problems, both at home and abroad, and no one expects him to place green building anywhere near the top of his priorities.  But a look at the green culture of Chicago and the philosophies of those on the short list to cabinet posts will reveal a potential national shift toward environmental building practices.

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In the study, researchers from the University of Washington, Indiana University-Purdue University and Indiana University School of Medicine followed more than 3800 children aged 3 to 16 over a two year period. Using satellite imagery, the researchers found that of the predominantly African-American and poor children studied, those who lived near greater concentrations of green space had a greater chance of lower body mass index (BMI.) Children whose activities were limited to streets and sidewalks faced greater risk of childhood obesity than those who had access to open spaces such as yards, parks, or vacant lots.

This study finds that what is good for adults may not be good for children. A previous study done by the same researchers found that higher urban concentrations led to less driving and more walking by adults, and a corresponding drop in BMI.

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Recently, we talked about the impressive return on investment for those who choose to install a photovoltaic system next year due to the Senate rescue package in The Future of Home Solar Power.  Starting next year, the United States Government will pay for 30% of your cost to go solar.  One of Friedman’s suggestions is a national renewable energy standard for utility companies, forcing them to produce 20 percent of their power through clean energy sources, including such non-CO2 producing sources as wind, solar, nuclear, and biomass.  He mentions a proposal by Andy Karsner, the former assistant secretary of energy, to increase tax credits for investing in clean energy.  But perhaps there is a way for homeowners or companies to recoup their investment in home solar and set a national energy standard for utility companies at the same time.  I propose the following addition to the renewable energy standard: increase the percentage of clean energy that utility companies must use but allow the utility companies to buy some of that power from homeowners and companies.

That’s right, let’s allow the utility companies to buy clean power from us.

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