Archive of posts filed under the Healthy Home category.
Get Your Air Duct In Line
When I was learning about energy efficiency, I saw many photos, slides and videos of leaky and crushed ducts. Many home performance contractors also said that it is common that ducts in homes are leaky, crushed, broken apart or constricted. I’ve heard about them. I’ve seen many evidence of them. Now it hits close to […]
Sundong Kwong Interviewed by GreenEarthEquities
In December 2012, Dave Robinson of GreenEarthEquities invited me for an interview about the Green Remodel Forum on his weekly webinar. As an industry recognized leader in home energy efficiency improvement, Dave won the 2012 Building Performance Institute’s Tony Woods Award for Excellence in Advancing the Home Performance Industry. Dave described that he embarked on […]
5 Big Reasons for Greening Your Home
In the past people often think that “green” is about recycling and more recently about saving energy. To me, “green” is a collective term for sustainability. Remodeling an existing home or building a new home is a perfect time to incorporate the different aspects of sustainability. Besides saving energy, green homes also save water, provide […]
Some Innovative Products for Homes at GreenBuild Expo
The 2012 GreenBuild International Conference and Expo, sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council, was held from November 14 to 16 in San Francisco. About 1,000 exhibitors showcased their latest green building products and technologies. This year’s Expo has one of the largest attendance. It was exciting to see so many green products on display […]
Healthy Building Ingredients – (Not) A Piece of Cake
If people cared as much about their buildings as they did their dinner – organic, gluten-free, and vegan shoppers would be demanding better buildings! There are many similarities between building a house and baking a cake. There’s a basic recipe, ingredients are purchased and sifted through, there’s a rising process, add some pretty finishes – […]
Truths and Myths of Wool Carpet
I have previously written why I like wool carpets. Here are some more thoughts on common misconceptions. MYTH: Wool carpet stains easily. TRUTH: Because of its unique molecular structure as you can see by the picture, it has burrs that keep moisture spills and stains from soaking into the fiber. This is what the synthetic […]
Are Your Clothes Really Clean After Laundry
You would expect that laundered clothes would be squeaky clean. Wait… Energy-wise people and many manufacturers often advocate using cold water to launder clothes. But this is an area where health and hygiene should dictate a more balanced look at energy savings. Clothing is carrying more germs than before for two main reasons. First, certain […]
How I Came To Love Wool Carpet
Here is a microscopic picture of a wool fiber. The burrs keep it from staining and keep it looking beautiful for 25 years. As a designer I love it for how it feels in a home. It actually creates negative ions, just like if you put a waterfall in a room. Also the colors in […]