How Green Is Your
House?
National Geographic News
The home should serve as a shelter
and an escape from the cares of the world, not a settling place for
pesticides and toxic metals. But everything from carpeting to the
paint on the walls may emit dangerous chemicals.
The air indoors can be five times as polluted as the air outside,
according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Paradoxically, the cleaners we use to maintain spruce, germ-free
interiors give off smog-like vapors that can induce asthma attacks,
spark headaches, and in some cases are linked to cancer. You may cut
down on such toxins by buying and using products that are free of
harmful chemicals whenever possible. Common household materials such
as baking soda and vinegar can be used for cleaning instead.
The average home actually contributes more to global warming than
the average car. This is because much of the energy we use in our
homes comes from power plants that run on fossil fuels. There are
many ways to cut energy use, including replacing incandescent light
bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs; buying energy-efficient home
appliances; caulking and weather-stripping homes; and installing
solar panels for heating and cooling. Recycling paper, glass, and
plastic cuts down on harmful waste.
Prefabricating Green:
Building Environmentally Friendly Houses Off Site
by Allyson Wendt, ENN
In August 2007, a home appeared in Walpole, New Hampshire, over the
course of eight days. Sponsored by Habitat for Humanity, the house
was designed by design-build company Bensonwood, also of Walpole,
and constructed by volunteer labor. This house was different from
most Habitat houses, however, which are typically built on site
using conventional wood-framing methods.
For the Walpole home, Habitat chose to build a prefabricated home
with precision-cut timbers and panels constructed at the Bensonwood
factory by volunteers; the panels were later assembled on site, also
with volunteer labor. The resulting house produced less waste
material than a site-built house, thanks to cutting equipment
programmed to maximize the use of each piece of wood. It was also
built faster than a site-built house, including the time spent
assembling panels at the factory, and it featured a well-insulated
building envelope with strong attention to construction details. The
house included Bensonwood’s unique measures designed to
“disentangle” the electrical, plumbing, and mechanical systems from
the structure, making them easier to install and modify. Not all
prefabricated homes incorporate as many advanced features as the one
in Walpole, but Bensonwood is not alone in exploring ways to bring
environmental sensitivity and smart design to prefabricated housing...
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Hydropower
Going With the Flow
National Geographic News
Hydropower is electricity generated using the energy of moving
water. Rain or melted snow, usually originating in hills and
mountains, create streams and rivers that eventually run to the
ocean. The energy of that moving water can be substantial, as anyone
who has been whitewater rafting knows.
This energy has been exploited for centuries. Farmers since the
ancient Greeks have used water wheels to grind wheat into flour.
Placed in a river, a water wheel picks up flowing water in buckets
located around the wheel. The kinetic energy of the flowing river
turns the wheel and is converted into mechanical energy that runs
the mill.
In the late 19th century, hydropower became a source for generating
electricity. The first hydroelectric power plant was built at
Niagara Falls in 1879. In 1881, street lamps in the city of Niagara
Falls were powered by hydropower. In 1882 the world’s first
hydroelectric power plant began operating in the United States in
Appleton, Wisconsin...
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here
for the rest of the story.
"Green" Fabrics For
High Fashion
Reuters
MILAN - A
new forum that wants to put high fashion together with sustainable
fabrics launched alongside Milan's womenswear shows last week,
aiming to marry materials made of wood, plants and even milk with
innovative design.
C.L.A.S.S. -- Creativity, Lifestyle and Sustainable Synergy -- is
the brainchild of Giusy Bettoni and Sandy McLennan, who had both had
careers in the textile industry and saw a gap where designers could
not easily find "green" fabrics.
"You would talk about sustainability and people were enthusiastic,
and nothing was happening," said Bettoni...
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here
for the rest of the story.
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