That New Car Smell Could Be Killing You Thanks to VOCs

Posted February 27, 2012 By Lucas Hamilton and has no comments yet.
 

Lucas Hamilton

Lucas Hamilton is Manager, Building Science Applications for CertainTeed Corporation

If you follow organizations and companies dedicated to sustainable solutions such U.S. Green Building Council,  Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) or even this Blog you have probably seen an increased discussion about VOCs or Volatile Organic Compounds.  But I am not sure that people, in general, are aware of how pervasive VOC’s are in our lives.

 By definition a Volatile Organic Compound is an organic material with a growing point less than 250° Fahrenheit. For most of us this means that these organic compounds tend to exist as gases.  They are in many products that we buy and they also can occur naturally.  They have a wide range of adverse health effects including eye and respiratory tract irritation, headaches, dizziness, visual disorders, and memory impairment in other words, they are not good for you!  Organizations such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Health Canada have clearly spelled out the effects of long-term exposure to elevated concentrations of VOCs.

Most people recognize the presence of VOCs by their smell.  They have a distinctively unnatural smell.  I always tell people if it smells bad it is bad.  We all have a genetic memory in our bodies that identify bad smells.

As I have mentioned in a previous blog about tightening the building envelop, VOCs are all around us. They are found in cleaning products we use, carpeting, paint, lacquers, printing products – there is an exhaustive list. 

When VOCs are part of interior air you only have three methods of reducing them: capture them, kill them off, or ventilate them away. In terms of capture ordinary particle filters do not work. Filters made of activated charcoal are good at capture but these filters don’t work at the high air speeds which occur within our HVAC systems. Emerging technologies, such as AirRenew® which we’ve spoken of before, provide a new means of sequestration which HVAC filters do not. To “kill them off” requires ultraviolet light (UV). Formaldehyde, for example, has a 14 day half life in the presence of UV but we don’t have much UV inside our buildings. This leaves ventilation as a functional option. Providing fresh air ventilation rates in accordance with ASHRAE 62.1 for commercial buildings and 62.2 for residential buildings is a good place to start.

Trust your olfactory system – if it doesn’t smell right you may have a build-up of volatile organic compounds!

About Lucas Hamilton

Lucas Hamilton is Manager, Building Science Applications for CertainTeed

Vegetative Roofs Could Save On Water Bills

Posted February 22, 2012 By Lucas Hamilton and has 1 comment.

Lucas Hamilton

Lucas Hamilton is Manager, Building Science Applications for CertainTeed Corporation

Often, when I am conducting seminars on sustainable solutions for buildings, the question comes up regarding the benefits of a vegetative roofing system.  One of the major benefits starting to take place provides a boost to a company or building owners’ bottom line – reduced water bills!

Some major municipalities such as Portland, Oregon are beginning to reward building owners with reduced water bills when systems are put in place in or on the building to reduce the storm water run-off.  The reason for this is many municipalities have a co-mingled system where storm water and sewer discharge are carried through the storms drains to the treatment plant together. Very often, in a significant rain event, the capacity of the system is overwhelmed. As a result, the overflow of raw effluent runs into estuaries and the municipality can incur fines because the storm drains were overloaded.

LiveRoof

What I have seen is that companies who take measures to control the rainwater run-off on their sites are starting to be rewarded for their efforts.  One practice which is gaining in popularity is the utilization a vegetative or live roof and municipalities are rewarding companies for installing vegetative roofs by reducing water rates.  That can be a significant savings for a large, multi-tenant building.

When you think about it, this is a very interesting angle that municipalities are taking to promote the use of green roofs.  It is a win-win in that it controls utility costs for the building owner which offsets the cost of the installation of the vegetative roof.  It is a positive for the community because it helps to maintain and prolong the life of the utility systems by not overloading them. It also can provide a nice environment for occupants if they have access to the roof.

About Lucas Hamilton

Lucas Hamilton is Manager, Building Science Applications for CertainTeed

Categories:
 green/sustainable, Roofing

The NAHB International Builders’ Show (IBS) 2012 Reflects the State of the Building Industry

Posted February 17, 2012 By Lucas Hamilton and has no comments yet.

Lucas Hamilton

Lucas Hamilton is Manager, Building Science Applications for CertainTeed Corporation

IBS 2012 is history!  Like all trade shows each attendee comes away with their own interpretation of how it was based on their reason for being there.  From the manufacturer perspective it was clear that attendees who came to our booth were looking for specific products or information.  They were not just window shopping. 

Anyone coming to a show like this in this economic climate was not just there killing time and spending money – they were engaged! And the folks I spoke to had very specific questions and were very interested in learning all that they could while there.

One interesting thing that I saw in the Show Village was –what I would call – an urban infill home.  It was a modular home that was narrow and would fit into a narrow lot.  This was a unique style for a modular treatment.  One of the interesting features in the design was a screened-in porch/deck that included screen under the decking to keep mosquitoes out.  Great idea especially in warm, moist climates!

There were many celebrities there such as Mike Holmes, Bob Vila, Vanilla Ice and Bronson Pinchot promoting their DIY Network shows. Radio talk shows taping for their audiences back home were out in force.

I had a chance to catch up with my friends from This Old House – Norm Abrams and Tommy Silva.  I just have to say that Norm knows more about wood than anyone I have ever met.  We had a great conversation about the difference between western red cedar and eastern white cedar and how you want to use them.  Great stuff!

We also talked about the lack of paints with low volatile organic compounds (VOCs) especially in colors.  It led to an interesting discussion about our VOC scavenging gypsum product.

There seemed to be a large number of Brazilians and South Americans at the show this year.  It is not surprising since the economy in Brazil is very strong and building seems to be on the rise.  It has clearly become an international show.

Clearly we have seen changes at IBS but we remain hopeful for a return to the glory days!

About Lucas Hamilton

Lucas Hamilton is Manager, Building Science Applications for CertainTeed

When You Build it Tight You Have to Ventilate Right

Posted February 14, 2012 By Lucas Hamilton and has 1 comment.

Lucas Hamilton

Lucas Hamilton is Manager, Building Science Applications for CertainTeed Corporation

If changes are made to an existing home in terms of tightening the building envelope and you see changes other than your utility bills going down, pay attention to the details because they may be a warning sign that you have not properly ventilated the home.

Lack of adequate ventilation in a home can result in serious problems.  The more obvious one that appears in obvious places is elevated humidity. If you are sweating the inside of new insulated glass windows in the winter when you didn’t before then your interior humidity has gone too high.  Another warning sign is dirt stripes appearing on the walls in front of the studs.  Musty odors, sweating or condensation, or unusual patterns on your walls could be indications of a ventilation problem.

However, moisture is not the only concern.  You also need to be concerned about gas concentrations in the air because of the dangers associated with them and the build up of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are emitted from many products that exist around the home but if you tighten up a home and don’t provide adequate fresh air, they are now being trapped within the home.  Many volatile organic compounds breakdown with exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light outside the home – formaldehyde for example has a half-life of about 14 days – but inside the home UV light is diminished and so has little affect on the concentration of the VOCs. VOCs could be coming off of products which you would never suspect.  For example, some citric acid cleaners that smell like orange can have amazingly high VOC concentrations. Remember, what has changed in the equation is the amount of fresh air that had been there before that helped evacuate these things from the home. The standard furnace filters we employ do not filter out gasses – they filter particles.

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (AHRAE) has very specific guidelines on how much fresh air is needed for a healthy environment.  ASHRAE 62.1 references the calculations for commercial buildings and ASHRAE 62.2 is for residential buildings. It is critical to review these guidelines in order to properly ventilate the building envelope especially if you are making changes. When homes are tightened for energy efficiency you must make sure that adequate fresh air ventilation is taken into consideration.  There are many ways to do this that are compliant with the ASHRAE recommendations. And remember, if you find signs of moisture it’s like the canary keeling over in the coal mine.  Heed the warning!

About Lucas Hamilton

Lucas Hamilton is Manager, Building Science Applications for CertainTeed

The NAHB International Builders’ Show – A Constant in a Changing Landscape

Posted February 7, 2012 By Mike Loughery and has no comments yet.

Mike Loughery

Mike Loughery is Director, Corporate Marketing Communications for CertainTeed Corporation

Here we are once again, heading to the International Builders’ Show in Orlando, Florida.  In the days of the housing boom, you could get a feel for the attendance and enthusiasm by how packed the plane was and the fact that it was filled with builders and contractors.

The past few years have been tough though.  Attendance, which once peaked in the low one-hundred thousands, was a mere shadow of itself a year ago with about 47,000 walking through the turnstiles. 

What will this year hold?  Well, I’m sitting on the plane.  It’s packed and a good number of the folks seem to be in the building trades (albeit for the few families headed you know where!).  Enthusiasm?  Well, not sure yet on that one.  But I know that tomorrow I will enter the hall, see all the displays, and hear the buzz of business taking place.  There is nothing as gratifying as spending four days talking with the trades about the latest products and innovations in the marketplace. 

The temptation for some might be to shrink away and not exhibit.  However, we all have businesses to run and CertainTeed representatives find talking to an engaged audience, whether it’s 50,000 or 100,000 an excellent opportunity to showcase some of the industry’s most innovative new products.  Products that improve indoor environmental quality, energy efficiency, comfort and aesthetics will be showcased as well as our team of building scientists will be available at booth W4051 to answer your most challenging questions.

Feel like swinging a hammer or learning from our experts?  We have product installation demos going on outside in P3, showcasing blowing and spray foam insulation, decking, siding and solar roofing. 

Can’t make it to the show this year?  Well, you can still be part of the action through a special webpage dedicated to the IBS show which will have a live Twitter feed that you can follow.  You may want to bookmark www.certainteed.com/ibs  so you can refer to it over the next few days.

If you’re in Orlando this week, stop by and say hi.  Let us know how things are going for you in your market.

About Mike Loughery

Mike Loughery is Director, Corporate Marketing Communications for CertainTeed Corporation

YouthBuild Akron, Ohio Goes for LEED with CertainTeed

Posted February 4, 2012 By Lucas Hamilton and has 1 comment.
 

Lucas Hamilton

Lucas Hamilton is Manager, Building Science Applications for CertainTeed Corporation

CertainTeed and our parent company Saint-Gobain have a three-year partnership with YouthBuild USA providing expertise and products for projects they are undertaking in various cities around the U.S.  Last week, I conducted some training programs for the YouthBuild organization in Akron, Ohio on the building envelope and how to select products to help them meet their LEED goals. YouthBuild helps train young adults in green building techniques and construction practices on hands-on projects in their community.

This project is a renovation of an existing home and based on the information from their design charrette, they may reach LEED Platinum which would be awesome not only for a low income housing project but as far as I can tell it is the first LEED H Platinum project in Akron.  The best part is that the house next to this home was previously rehabbed by YouthBuild and is nearly identical in layout so they should be able to do some comparisons of the energy savings.  Of course, results won’t be as “cut and dry” as we might like because you can’t control the behaviors of the occupants.  However, we should be able to get some relative comparisons as the homes are of identical size with identical orientations.

Based on the products and systems Akron YouthBuild are planning to use, they are hoping to renovate to a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) score of 65. This means that the home consumes 35 percent less energy than what is building code standard of 100.  This is a very aggressive score. HERS is a program of the Residential Energy Services Network and a registered HERS rater is working with them on this project.

While not all the products/systems have been selected, during our visit we made some suggestions especially for insulation, gypsum and roofing based on their goals and the building assembly to help with the EPP (Environmentally Preferable Products).  We were also able to add points because of the proximity of CertainTeed plants to the project location.

It is great to see these projects educating builders of the future in green and sustainable techniques. I also believe it sends the right message to the community in that a sustainable habitat is possible for everyone.

About Lucas Hamilton

Lucas Hamilton is Manager, Building Science Applications for CertainTeed


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