The Vintage Contessa

Green building: With more eco-friendly products, builders & designers, it'snever been easier

Window film can reduce the cost of running your air-conditioning.
PR Web
A variety of architectural glass, wall system, art and cabinet glass ecoconscience products to consider are produced by Lambert made exclusively forBendheim.
A low-flow toilet reduces water usage.
Low-flow faucet by Grohe.
Grohe

When you think green building and design, you may imagine solar panels or water recycling and have an ill-conceived notion that the process is too expensive or complicated. However, there are many ways to simplify your choices in the process of building, remodeling or designing your new or existing home while minimizing the environmental impact.

When choosing “green” products, you give your family a healthier place to live and create a more energy efficient home with increased performance, which in turn saves you money. By starting to focus attention on indoor air quality, water and energy efficiency, and environmentally sound materials, you will make an impact on your life and the world in which we live.

By starting to focus attention on indoor air quality, water and energy efficiency, and environmentally sound materials, you will make an impact on your life and the world in which we live.

With a basic understanding of the benefits of green building accompanied with subtle changes geared towards eco-sensitive material selections, you will give back to the environment and in turn lessen the carbon footprint and overall impact on the world.

First question

In considering green building and design, you should first ask what is most important to you and your family. Is it indoor air quality, energy efficiency, materials and resources or water efficiency?

People in the United States spend 90 percent of their time indoors. Air pollutants are two to five times higher inside than outside. In fact, pollutants have increased at such an alarming rate that there has been a 160 percent increase in the rate of asthma in children over the last decade.

Any given space’s indoor air is a “complex mixture of visible and invisible contaminants,” according to GreenGuard Environmental Institute (GEI), a non-profit organization that works to reduce indoor air pollution. Strangely, most air purifiers do not work properly; they only clean 100- 200 sf and produce ozone in the process. These airborne pollutants include chemicals, dust, biological contaminants and anything that can populate the air.

Consider looking on the labels for VOC (volatile organic compounds) emissions. VOCs interact with one another and create new hazardous compounds as well as causing eye, nose, throat and skin irritations.

Look for a third party verifier

When selecting products, it is important to find out if it has been tested. Look for a third party verifier. GreenGuard Product Certification, is the premier verifier for indoor air quality.

“Indoor air quality is one of the major issues facing the sustainability community, and GreenGuard is at the forefront of protecting indoor environments,” S. Richard Fedrizzi, CEO & Founding Chairman, U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), said in a statement.

An indoor air quality test may by conducted in your home by a specialist to identify problem areas. Bluegill Energy is among a number of businesses that provides environment testing, collecting and processing scientific data to determine the root cause of the issue and then make recommendations for the proper remediation necessary to correct or restore the affected area to a safe level.

Window film eliminates costly and damaging ultraviolet rays by 99 percent, the equivalent to an SPF 285+ lotion on your glass.

Adding a Sunbelt window film on your existing glass will lower solar heat gain and reduce the cost of running your air conditioning. Window film also eliminates costly and damaging ultraviolet rays by 99 percent, the equivalent to an SPF 285+ lotion on your glass.

Frustrating glare will be reduced and the strength and safety of your glass increases dramatically. It is safe on any glass and is a simple step to improve energy efficiency in your home.

Water efficiency is certainly most welcome in areas with long or short term drought conditions; however, there is a place for water efficiency in every community. The mean per capita of indoor daily water use in today’s home is slightly over 64 gallons. Implementing water conservation measures can reduce usage to fewer than 45 gallons. Fixtures and Fittings is among a number of businesses that offers unique options including low flow toilets and water efficient fixtures for sinks, tubs and showers.

When choosing sustainable materials with recycled content, you should also consider the manufacturers commitment to sustainability. Examine the products composition, look at the VOC levels. Consider if the cleaning products are safe to use. Look at the costs. Is the product recyclable?

Find these and other checklist at Regreen by ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) and USGBC (United States Green Building Council).

A variety of architectural glass, wall system, art and cabinet glass eco conscience products to consider are produced by Lambert made exclusively for Bendheim. A deep commitment to the environment is evident in their manufacturing, utilizing a large percentage, approximately 40 percent, of post-consumer glass recycled from the municipal waste stream. Dauphin Sales Inc. offers these products in Texas.

The second step is finding a building, remodeling or design professional that will help plan your home, avoiding expensive mistakes. His or her assistance in obtaining permits and giving direction on finding federal tax rebates and solar subsidies (which are varying by state) will be immeasurable.

The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional) Accredited Professional directory is a good place to find design and construction professionals who are familiar with LEED and green building in general.

According to the USGBC, “Since green building is an emerging field, the challenge is often in finding building professionals who are experienced and enthusiastic about building green. The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional) Accredited Professional directory is a good place to find design and construction professionals who are familiar with LEED and green building in general. The LEED for Homes Provider in your area may have some good recommendations.

"Another great resource on this front is to look for local builders with experience building LEED-certified homes. These professionals have experience building green homes to a high standard and can help to guide you through the process. " You can also consult the U.S. Green Building Council - Central Texas Balcones Chapter.

The second rating system designed specifically for homes was produced by the National Association of Home Builders implementing the National Green Building Standard, approved by ANSI (American National Standards Institute) in January of 2009. Builders and members of the trade who focus on their green continuing education can earn a Certified Green Professional (CGP) designation from the NAHB. They recognize builders, remodelers and other industry professionals who incorporate green building principles into homes— without driving up the cost of construction.

The next important professional to consider on your team is an ASID licensed professional. Look for an experienced interior designer who offers beautiful, healthy and environmentally sound solutions to design problems and challenges.

It’s been said that changes in behavior happen through education. So try it. Look online. Read books and magazines. Learn a little day by day. Take a step in the right direction and do what you can to be eco-friendly. Any size step forward will help contribute to the greater good of the environment. You can make a difference.

Donae Cangelosi Chramosta, the owner of The Vintage Contessa, writes about travel, design and fashion. As president of Cangelosi natural stone contractors, she is committed to green building and teaches classes on the subject for the GreenGuard Institute.

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to spawn or not to spawn?

Killer aquariums: One Texas-based scientist's effort to breed tropical fish andsave dying coral reefs

After a diving trip in the Caribbean 20 years ago, Joan Holt became interested in raising tropical fish in her lab — especially after learning that nearly 100 percent of the colorful fish in our aquariums are collected from the wild and that a huge majority of them die from the process.

Holt has spent the larger portion of her career at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas studying the rearing of commercial fish species (like red drum), and her work has been put to practical use in state and commercial hatcheries and aquaculture operations.

Stocking aquariums is a $1 billion industry, moving an estimated 30 million reef fish around the world each year, but removing that many fish from the ocean can have a negative effect on the health of reef environments. Certain species of fish, for example, eat algae and, if their numbers become too low, overgrowth of algae can suffocate corals.

The methods used to collect these fish can be harmful as well: Cyanide, used as an anesthesia to make fish easier to catch, can bleach the coral and kill or harm other species, especially those that can’t swim away. Cyanide is also one reason almost 80 percent of collected fish die soon after capture. Many of the rest die within a year in captivity, despite the fact that many species live for decades on the reef. In addition to cyanide, fish sometimes die from being brought up from depth too quickly, loss of protective scale coating due to handling, poor water quality and being deprived of food for days during transport.

Holt hoped she could help solve these problems by figuring out how to raise tropical fish in captivity.

Raising Nemo

It proved a huge challenge. First, she had to figure out a harmless way to collect a small amount of tropical fish to begin her research. Trial and error led to a rather low-tech method: two divers (one with a hand net or large plastic bag) and another to carefully herd fish toward the bag. Next, she had to convince those wild fish to reproduce in the lab. Based on efforts with commercial species, Holt knew fish will spawn if lab conditions match those in the natural world, so she studied temperature and day length at locations such as the Florida Keys and Jamaica and replicated those conditions for her studies. Eventually, she successfully spawned 18 ornamental species.

The next step, growing baby fish (larvae) into adults, had been tricky enough with commercial species, and it turned out to be even more challenging with tropical ones. Some tropical species spawn in the open ocean, and their larvae hatch in a relatively undeveloped state, not yet able to eat on their own; others attach eggs to a solid surface, one or both parents care for them (think of Nemo’s dad, Marlin), and larvae hatch ready to start eating. The former were much easier to raise in the lab, but Holt focused on the more complex ocean-spawners — i.e., the most popular kind of aquarium fish.

In general, tropical fish larvae put picky eaters of any species to shame, so figuring out what to feed them was no easy task and the mystery remains somewhat unsolved. Work on refining the fishes' preferred menu continues at the MSI, with the ultimate goal to identify food that can be grown in the lab or easily collected.

Meanwhile, another major challenge in breeding tropical fish was creating the right water conditions for the captive fish and figuring out how to feed them, without turning the water into a terrible mess. The lab eventually hit upon a tank design that accomplished both. Ultimately, Holt was able to get seven of her original 18 spawned species to grow into adult fish that produced their own offspring: lined and pygmy seahorses, comet fish, jack knife fish, cubbyu, and fire and peppermint shrimp. These species can conceivably now be commercially produced.

Fishy Business

Aside from producing these fish in commercially viable numbers, the next step, in Holt’s mind, is developing some way to tell buyers what they’re getting: fish raised sustainably in a lab or fish collected from the wild with potentially harmful practices. To help distinguish the eco-friendly method from the rest, she envisions a certification process, or paper trail, similar to that used in organic farming.

Many hobbyists, she believes, would support sustainable captive breeding — at least in part because those captive-bred specimens will likely have better survival rates than wild-caught ones, many of which survive only a few days or weeks in home aquariums.

Holt is working with other scientists on a marine ornamental aquaculture book. She hopes more people will come to see captive-raised ornamentals as an important conservation tool that helps protect tropical reefs and their occupants in the wild.

So, what will you keep in your aquarium?

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to spawn or not to spawn?

Killer aquariums: One Texas-based scientist's effort to breed tropical fish andsave dying coral reefs