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Services
Home and Office Environmental Inspections
Home and Office Environmental Inspections As of January 2008, Oram has conducted over 800 evaluations both on-site as well as by telephone, fax and email to clients long distance. On-site evaluations are available for those living within Minnesota, northwestern Wisconsin and surrounding states. Telephone consultations are available for all those living outside those areas. Oram has worked long distance with clients throughout the USA and as far away as London, England. We inspect onsite for the following:
Environmental Design and Inspection Services will help you:
Many people report improvement in chronic and acute health problems after the reduction of electric and magnetic field exposure in the home, especially in the sleeping area. Sleep is more refreshing and rejuvenating and clients awaken more rested. Comments from satisfied clients include, "Just wanted to let you know I have already experienced a difference with my sleeping. I am waking up 'naturally' about an hour earlier than normal, which is terrific for me because I am used to missing the alarm and sleeping in! I also have more energy, as I am now exercising as soon as I wake up..." --p.k., Minneapolis, Minnesota To schedule an appointment with Oram, please call 952-412-0781 or email info@createhealthyhomes.com.
Building BiologyTM-Based New Building Manual For more information on the manual, click here. You can preview a working draft of the Table of Contents here.
Healthy New Building Consultations Americans are used to building homes at a relatively low cost compared to the rest of the industrialized world. Yet they pay more for heating and cooling bills plus higher health care costs. These result from unhealthy indoor air quality, outgassing of toxic building materials and exposure to electric and magnetic fields. It is wiser to build a healthier home in the first place and save money on fuel bills and health care costs over the life of your home. You enjoy a more comfortable living environment and your home maintains a higher resale value. We provide protocols for healthy new home and office design and construction based upon the standards set forth by the International Institute for Bau-biologieTM and Ecology. To get a better understanding of the prinicples promoted by our profession and to help get you started, take a few moments to view a PDF version of the slides presented at Oram's Healthy New Building lecture for an overview on the subject. Just click here. (Wait a few moments for the file to load, as it contains a good number of images.) To view a Text Only version of the same slides, click here. We can help you create a chemically-safe, non-toxic, mold-free home that provides:
Walls with thermal mass, called "thick-wall" construction, come in several forms, including":
Each of these methods has been shown to provide low thermal conductivity and high thermal resistance through thermal mass and low air infiltration. This provides the builder with documented savings in construction costs and the homeowner with documented savings in "life-cycle" costs, also known as the "total cost of ownership." This includes heating, cooling and out-of-pocket health care costs. Any of these thick wall envelope materials are known to pay for themselves in as little as three to five years, according to some manufacturers. Technical white papers have been written by various manufacturers and trade associations that thoroughly document the energy and cost savings of thick wall construction, including:
You can also click here to view a paper on "Indoor Air Quality, Healthy Buildings, and Breathing Walls," written by John F. Straube, Assistant Professor and Research Engineer, Civil Engineering Department and School of Architecture at the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, and Vipul Acharya, Vice-president of Durisol Building Systems, Ltd., Hamilton, Ontario. From the abstract, "This paper reviews the three basic design strategies for IAQ (Indoor Air Quality), and the role of breathing walls. The physics of breathing walls are discussed, and the ways in which such walls can improve IAQ are outlined." The paper ends by saying, "Supported by calculations and field data, it is concluded that IAQ can be greatly improved by using a holistic approach to building design. Breathing walls made of vapour permeable and highly hygroscopic materials, such as Durisol and strawbales, can enhance IAQ when used in conjunction with other strategies." For those homeowners and developers interested in knowing more about the use of the Durisol wall form, a table has been compiled that lists comments from four builders around the country who use Durisol in the construction of foundations and above-grade walls. This table also includes comments from Vipul Acharya, Vice-president of the company. Click here to see the table. You can also use magnesium oxide 4X8 foot sheets for sheathing, wallboard, subfloors and roof decking, imported from China (soon to be manufactured in the US and Mexico). These sheets, or boards, take the place of plywood or OSB (oriented strand board) and have been used extensively throughout Southeast Asia in commercial and residential construction. They are now available in this country. Magnesium oxide boards are fully "breathable" and possess thermal mass. They do not outgas any toxic fumes and are well-tolerated by the chemically sensitive. These boards are water-, mold-, fire- and insect-resistant. Testing data is available on the website for each company. Dragonboard and MagBoard below have applied for ICC rating for their product. An excellent review article on magnesium boards appeared in Walls and Ceilings magazine in their November 2007 issue, simply entitled, "MgO Board," by Robert Thomas. To read the article, click here. These boards are sold as:
These boards can be purchased through George Swanson, an Austin, Texas-based Building Biologist and builder (512-653-8624; www.geoswan.net; gps@flash.net). George is an official representative of Dragonboard and Strong Enviroboard. Both companies sell their boards directly to the public, but George sells them at the same price through Substance Products in Austin, Texas. The advantage is that George and his colleagues at Substance Products have experience in installation and the use of these products. If you only need brief orientation to installing and finishing the seams on the board, call Casey Miller at Substance Products (512-385-4326), and this information is provided to you when you order the board. If you need a more extensive consultation, then contact George directly (512-653-8624). He is available to do extensive finishing consulting on a separate consulting contract. For siding, we recommend natural (not acrylic-based) stucco or HardiePlank. The stuccos we use are fully breathable and are comprised of magnesium phosphate, a durable material abundantly available around the world. The air barriers we recommend are breathable to allow moisture vapor to escape. We cover this natural stucco with mineral silicate paints, such as Keim, as the final layer. Silicate paints penetrate and chemically bond to their substrate rather than just coating it, and they last for more than a century without peeling or cracking. They are immune to damage by the sun's UV light and retain their colors. Buildings in Europe coated with this material still look pristine after one coat was applied over 125 years ago. These paints are also fully breathable, in that they fully resist rainwater molecules from entering but fully allow smaller water vapor molecules to exit the wall, keeping it dry and free of mold. We then recommend natural plasters on the interior of the wall. Taken together, these materials complete the hygroscopic wall system that we recommend by allowing moisture to slowly diffuse through the wall while keeping rainwater out. Water intrusion experts who do analysis of walls in existing homes for mold infestation, make the statement that conventional walls using a vapor barrier and plastic house wrap have the disadvantage that when (not if) moisture gets into the walls, it cannot get out. These thick wall materials, on the other hand, prevent mold by allowing any moisture that gets into the wall to diffuse out without harm to the material or occupants from mold or moisture. This diffusion and drying takes place within the one to two days needed before mold begins to grow. George Swanson is also offering a full range of magnesium oxide stuccos, joint compounds, grout and mastics through Substance Products. He calls them "Magna-Blends, All Natural Mineral Based Powder Mixes." These stuccos are also sold by: Mineral silicate paints are available through:
Finally, you can contact George about his protocol to provide an affordable alternative to cement-bonded wood fiber wall forms for your envelope. George sprays a wood frame with a mixture of magnesium oxide, clay and borax, then uses magnesium oxide boards for both sheathing and wallboard. He fills the cavity with cotton insulation, which dries quickly whenever it becomes wet. An alternative is to fill the cavity with a sprayed-in mixture of magnesium oxide, clay, borax and cellulose. Either way, the result is an affordable, breathable, non-toxic wall that has some degree of thermal mass and resists mold growth. Consultation Services Available Oram has actively consulted on more than thirty new residential construction and remodeling projects in Minnesota, Iowa, and around the country. Consulations provide healthy design recommendations and construction protocols for new homes and residential development projects. Examples include Le Parisien Flats and Market Place, a five story mixed use condominium project currently under construction in Minneapolis. Oram has also co-written a set of Building BiologyTM-based healthy electrical wiring specs for Mandala Club, a 90 home residential development in Florida who's planners are dedicated to building non-toxic, healthy homes for their clients. For more information on these new building projects, click here. Consultation services are now available throughout the mid-West and nationwide by Oram Miller, BBEI of Environmental Design and Inspection Services. Oram works in conjunction with your architect, builder and sub-contractors to provide recommendations for the following:
A set of electrical wiring specifications to reduce exposure to unhealthy electro-magnetic fields (EMFs) is also provided as an integral part of the new building consultation package. To view an expanded version of a Prospectus for New Homeowners for clients building a new home that highlights the benefits of using the Building BiologyTM approach, click here. For a summary of the same prospectus, click here. A table of contents is available here. If you are an architect, builder or developer, an expanded version of a more detailed Builder's Prospectus for members of the building profession is available here. To view a summary of the developer's prospectus, click here. A table of contents can be viewed here. For a copy of the rate sheet for new building consultation services, click here. Back to top
Fees
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