Is your house a healthy home?

[Guest guest]

8/31/2007

Is your house a healthy home?

http://www.denverpost.com/lifestyles/ci_6770365

By Elana Ashanti Jefferson

Denver Post Staff Writer

West Coast Green, the nation s largest residential green building conference,

will showcase this zero-energy, green-built modular home in San Francisco s

Civic Center Plaza during the three-day conference September 20-22, 2007.

(healthyhouseinstitute.com)

A good home is where the heart is, but a bad home can make people sick.

And environmental illness doesn't stop at the front door, according to Denver

interior designer Black of the Fleming-Black Group. She says offices and

cars are also compact ecological systems in which man-made, petroleum-based

products " out-gas " toxins into closed spaces where people ingest them.

Some might find this outlook hypersensitive or even unrealistic. But Black says

personal experience launched her study of eco-friendly remodeling and

decorating, which is not always " green " because the focus is more squarely on

healthy indoor environments.

The designer and former IBM executive spent years working in musty old buildings

filled with lead-based paint while living in a house with nylon in the carpeting

and formaldehyde in the paneling. These surroundings induced severe respiratory

problems, insomnia and difficulty concentrating until Black was ultimately

diagnosed by a clinical ecologist as having " environmental illness. "

The designer's resolutions: Replace anything man-made with natural products,

insist on fresh air ventilation, and exercise regularly to release as many

toxins as possible. She recently shared these and other eco-friendly

redecorating ideas with a small gathering of Colorado design professionals. What

follows are 10 of Black's tools for promoting a healthy home, plus a reading

list for anyone interested in finding out more about how personal spaces can

people sick.

Use natural cleansers and detergents.

Consider a microbial mattress cover/sealer.

Fresh air ventilation is a must in any closed space, including cars.

Opt for hardwood and natural-fiber area rugs over carpeting, which can hold

mites and mold.

Hang freshly dry-cleaned clothes outside to air out as the plastic bags lock

dry-cleaning chemicals into clothing. Anyone especially sensitive to

dry-cleaning chemicals should seek out a cleaner that doesn't use the popular

cleaning solvent perchloroethylene, also known as perc or PCE.

Learn as much as possible about a product's manufacturing process before buying

it. Black says many exotic veneers are less than ideal in Colorado's climate,

and peeling can expose toxins in the glue or finish.

Drapes in southern and western windows are more likely to out-gas because of

their increased exposure to the sun. Black will use blended fabrics in her

decorating, but she is " very careful about where I put them. "

OTT-LITE bulbs (ott-lite.com) are designed to emulate natural outdoor light

indoors. Black recommends them for anyone who suffers from seasonal affective

disorder, which the Mayo Clinic defines as a depressive disorder during winter

months that may induce lethargy, fatigue, unusual food cravings, headaches,

sleep problems and irritability.

Color affects mood. Color therapy dictates that yellow promotes happiness, green

supports good health, blue encourages creative thinking, and red underscores

self-love and self-respect. Black once incorporated all of these shades into the

room of a young boy with serious environmental illness.

Remove televisions from bedrooms. Environmental illness thinkers believe the

TV's electromagnetic fields can negatively impact personal health and marital

relations.

Black's suggested reading list

" The Healthy House: How to buy one, How to build one, How to cure a sick one, "

by Bower (1997, The Healthy House Institute)

" The Natural House Book, " by Pearson (1989, Fireside)

" Design for Human Ecosystems: Landscape, Land Use, and Natural Resources, " by

Tillman Lyle (1985, Wiley & Sons Inc.)

Room editor Elana Ashanti Jefferson can be reached at 303-954-1957 or

ejefferson@....