Healthy HVAC Equals Healthy Indoor Air Quality

By Shelly Morrison 

Isn't your work productivity affected by temperature, lighting, air quality or any other environmental conditions? The answer is, it is. Not only it has a real impact on your indoor activities, but it also affects your health optimally. HVAC systems provide ventilation and maintain pressure relationships between spaces of both domestic and commercial environments promoting safe and sound health of an individual. Regarding this, your heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) equals balance your home or office atmosphere by filtering the warm or cold air as needed. 

Failing to check HVAC systems regularly can be costly.

There are many all-in-all air conditioning companies which you should call their professionals for your HVAC repair in San Antonio. They will do a survey initially to inspect if any dust, pollen, dirt or debris circulating your surroundings and also check the building to find any leaks, mold spore is affecting the system. Other than these, especially asthma patients or people who have allergy problems can face severe health disorders if the vehicular environment comfort is not ensured. You must keep in check your HVAC technology annually or twice a year to make sure about indoor air quality. 

When In A Year You Should Check Your HVAC?

Before your city hits the cold weather which approaches the San Antonio, Texas in the fall usually, call local HVAC contractors based in San Antonio who are trusted for heating, cooling and air conditioning services and can regulate your environment through working on following factors:

Factors That Contribute to Healthy HVAC System Performance

• Temperature control, 

• Oxygen replenishment, 

• Removal of moisture, 

• Locating odors, smoke, heat, dust, 

• Finding airborne bacteria, carbon dioxide, and other gases.

To guarantee HVAC efficiency, there are multiple maintenance factors which contribute to healthy HVAC performance but in this time, master only these three factors and make your system runs properly.

1. System Size

System size plays an essential role in healthy HVAC performance. First, consider your home size and ask yourself if your system is too large or small for your home. In the case of too large, the system will waste its excessive power in starting up which can result in short cycling. Secondly, if the system is too short, it can also screw up your home or office HVAC conditions by not handling the load. The air conditioner or heater will take massive time to reach the thermostat's threshold. Both of the cases will end up wasting energy if the right size system is not installed. 

Contact HVAC professionals who can tell if you got poor system sizes and further diagnose whether or not your system fits the load requirement of your home.

2. Preventive Maintenance

Keep up regularly with preventive maintenance schedule to ensure if HVAC performance is doing well or whether it has the likelihood of failing. It is carried out when the equipment is working so that the professionals can then and there detect the downtime and improve on performance worthwhile. That's why you should have a preventive maintenance schedule similarly like a part of your health routine. Just like your body needs a regular health checkup by the doctor, your HVAC system also needs to get check its performance few times a year. Natural airing (ventilation) includes both the exchange of air to the outside as well as circulation of air within the building. It is one of the most important factors for maintaining acceptable indoor air quality in buildings as well in homes. 

Regular maintenance checkup involves testing the system's components and efficiency and fixing any problems encountered during the testing.

3. Indoor Air Quality

Air Quality Monitor

When a system is not cycled off, it leads to poor indoor air quality which makes your HVAC unit to perform even worse making it less energy efficient and consuming more power. Monitor your indoor air quality on a regular basis as it's the best way to promote healthy lifestyle for your family also making your HVAC system more efficient. 

You can also work it out a little by cleaning your indoor air handling units and outdoor compressors and removing the blockage. Check ducts for leaks, clean filters and more. This is a basic you can do to cause your system no-damage. If you fail at these checks, get mentally prepared for costly repairs.

There's another thing you can do which involves cleaning out the inside of your furnace. It will also help you with reducing your electric bills. If you're short of time and a workaholic, feel free to call experts who inspect the heat exchanger to verify there is no carbon monoxide leaking into your home or workplace.

At the end of the day, we advise you to tackle primary factors on your own and for the complex situations, you can call professionals for help to maintain your HVAC performance in a healthy way giving you more comfortable home and office with indoor quality environment.

For more details feel free to contact us:    https://www.beyerboys.com/residential/

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Healthy-HVAC-Equals-Healthy-Indoor-Air-Quality&id=10098276] Healthy HVAC Equals Healthy Indoor Air Quality

Energy Department Launches Better Buildings Workforce Guidelines Project

Via energy.gov.

The Energy Department today announced the Better Buildings Workforce Guidelines project to improve the quality and consistency of commercial building workforce training and certification programs for five key energy-related jobs: Energy Auditor, Commissioning Professional, Building/Stationary Engineer, Facility Manager, and Energy Manager. These voluntary workforce guidelines will support the Better Buildings Initiative goal of making commercial buildings 20 percent more energy efficient over the next 10 years, while helping businesses and communities save money by saving energy and creating new clean energy jobs across the country.

Improving the energy and operational performance of commercial buildings requires highly-skilled and qualified workers, particularly as building technologies become more advanced. The Better Buildings Workforce Guidelines will support the development of high-quality training and certification programs built upon a clear set of industry-developed guidelines—to the benefit of workers, employers, building owners, and policymakers.

The Energy Department has enlisted the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) to convene industry subject matter experts to develop the Better Buildings Workforce Guidelines. NIBS will establish a Commercial Workforce Credentialing Council (CWCC) comprised of private and public sector industry stakeholders to support this effort moving forward.

The guidelines will include an industry-validated Job Task Analysis (JTA) for each occupation, certification schemes (blueprints), and learning objectives. The Energy Department and the General Services Administration will recognize assessment-based certificate and competency-based certification programs that successfully implement the guidelines and achieve third-party accreditation.


To learn more about the Better Buildings Workforce Guidelines project, please visit buildings.energy.gov/workforce. Sign up here for the project webinar scheduled for October 17th.

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Reclaimed Items Make My House A Special Place

By Jeff Toye via Greenspiration Home

Door Handle (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)

Some time back I caught a Greenspiration Home blog about the reclaimed mantle that Trish Holder used in the original Greenspiration Home. The article struck a cord with me because Trish said this mantle, which her husband worked hours to restore, has since become one of her favorite interior features in her home. I totally identified with that feeling, so when she asked to hear from others who had successfully incorporated reclaimed elements into their home, I proudly raised my hand.

I have been a remodeling contractor in Northern New Jersey for three decades. Not only do I use reclaimed building materials in my own home, I also encourage my clients to use reclaimed items whenever feasible. There’s nothing like the touch of character that a reclaimed piece brings to a new or even an old home.

My own home is far from new. In fact, it was built in the late 1700’s, so the materials that I select for it (from flooring to door knobs) are also historic. I even have a garden shed that is made from 99% reclaimed items.

But let me give you the full tour….

A walk from my driveway to my front door reveals the following: Shutters made from reclaimed cedar decking, front entry porch with reclaimed heart pine flooring (still needs finishing), a porch ceiling made of yellow pine bead board, a suspended swing made from cedar trim scraps, and finally a reclaimed 7’ tall front entry door.

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Once inside you’ll find wide plank pumpkin pine flooring that is mostly original to the home but patched with reclaimed material where needed. An American chestnut handrail, balustrade and newel post salvaged from an 1800’s era farmhouse leads the way to the second floor. A small downstairs hallway is flanked with wainscot paneling, reclaimed from a 1920’s era craftsman style home.  And all over the home you will find an eclectic collection of glass doorknobs salvaged from homes built in the late 1800’s... READ MORE
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A Green Rest Area

By Lina Younes via EPA's Greenversations blog.

Urban Garden.

This past weekend I was walking around Allen Pond Park in the City of Bowie enjoying the beautiful autumnal day. During my walk, I was admiring the migratory birds that had stopped along their yearly trek to warmer surroundings. There were many in the pond, flying, bathing, eating and the like. Luckily, around the Bowie area we have plenty of trees, waterways, and settings that are welcoming to birds and nature’s creatures.

While a visit to a park is a great way to connect with nature in an urban area, you can actually create an environment in your own garden that can be equally inviting to birds and pollinators all year round.  You can achieve this objective through greenscaping techniques that integrate pest management practices and planting native shrubs and trees that will be inviting for birds and wildlife through the seasons.

Certain evergreen shrubs and trees will produce small fruits during the fall at a time when migratory birds in the Northern Hemisphere are starting their journey south. While other flowering plants and trees will produce needed food for birds, pollinators and other wildlife during the spring and summer months... READ MORE
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Energy Saving Holiday Cooking Trivia

Via Energy.gov.

Cooking is an important part of the holiday season. Food brings people together in ways many material gifts cannot. But with winter temperatures creeping in, electricity savings are something to keep in mind, especially during your energy sucking holiday parties with friends and family. Test your energy savings savvy with our Energy Saver kitchen trivia questions!

Q1. What is the most efficient appliance in your kitchen?

Slow Cooker Applesauce (Photo credit: lynn.gardner)

The answer:  It’s your microwave, believe it or not. That two-minute popcorn machine uses just 1/3 of the wattage your oven at 750–1100 watts on average and can be used for more than just frozen meals, reheating leftovers, and defrosting chicken. In fact, there are entire books dedicated to culinary usage of the microwave. Recipe books such as “A Man, a Can, a Microwave,” have now turned some of your favorite party-pleasing meals and hors d'oeuvres into microwavable treats (think Buffalo wings).  As a general rule, shorter cooking time equals fewer watts, and you're unlikely to use a microwave for anything more than 20 minutes at a time, even with these new age recipes.

Q2.  What kitchen appliance uses less energy than your oven and can be left on all day?

Answer? If you didn’t guess it, it’s a Crock-Pot or slow cooker. The device that made “Set it and forget it” style cooking popular in the 70s makes incredible beef stews, brisket, and chicken casserole as easy as turning a dial. It also uses much less energy. At 200-250 watts on the high setting, it beats any toaster oven at 1225 watts.  Try slow-cooking a tasty 8-lb cured- ham, drizzled with brown sugar for four hours. Pair your vegetables accordingly... READ MORE
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"Reclaimed Items Make My House A Special Place" republished with permission of Greenspiration Home, an online publication dedicated to educating homeowners about green-building, renovating and decorating in a unique homeowner to homeowner format. Images via Douglas DeMers, CC-SA-BY, unless otherwise noted. Visit our sister blog Designer in Exile for more on sustainable design. 

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200,000 Homes and Counting...

  

By Douglas DeMers - Working with the Weatherization Assistance Program here in Philadelphia has given me an enlightened, community-level perspective on the initiatives of state and federal groups striving to help make America's homes more energy efficient for its low income residents.

Weatherization and energy efficiency is essentially the foundation of all green building retrofit work; it comes before implementation of more advanced alternative energy concepts and sets the path to a truly greener world.
                   
But even at this base level, training people to be good weatherization energy auditors can be a slow process. Converting the old workforce to a new way of thinking is necessary and inevitable, but it isn't going to happen overnight. Likewise, there are plenty of challenges when offering to do such work in places that might not be as tranquil as imagined.

One valuable lesson I've learned in the WAP program is that good communication, customer service, and community outreach skills are a necessity. As an energy auditor trained to work in some of the more poverty stricken areas of urban Philadelphia, cultural sensitivity is key, as well as learning how to cope with adverse situations. The job is part tradesman, part educator, and perhaps, part social worker.
                
The mission of the program, which has been in place in Pennsylvania since the 1970's, is not simply to seal homes and tune-up appliances, but to advocate good habits of energy efficiency to folks who could benefit from them most, and thus save money for themselves, the government, and help the planet too.
 
Perhaps the advice might be simple things like not blocking heating air vents or radiators with furniture, or making the living zone more comfortable and cooler in summer by shutting window blinds or draperies on the southern exposure of a home during a sunny afternoon. Maybe it's a quick talk about how air circulates through a building, and which way to run window and ceiling fans to adjust the indoor temperature and comfort level. Whatever the case, if the message is communicated in a friendly manner and with sensitivity, people will greatly appreciate your recommendations.   
                    

Oil burning residential heater.

           
But the real job satisfaction of being a WAP auditor goes beyond gratitude given for finding ways to save people money on their ever-soaring energy bills. The golden reward is the notion that you can turn folks around, that you can inspire people to become enthused with home science and energy efficiency, and essentially, contribute to making a better world.

The positive impact of that on the big picture is tremendous. It helps the economy, people's social well-being, and the environment. I've seen clients from low income housing communities become so interested in the work done on their homes that they, themselves, have joined WAP training programs and gone on to become expert weatherization workers. Thus the feedback loop revolves, and brings with it hope and knowledge to communities struggling to rise from the grips of adversity. These are the inspirational and often untold stories about plight of urban life that need to be told - not the usual bleak, cliche, dark sides, that our newspapers seem all too eager to sensationalize and exploit.                      
     

Diagram showing methods of heat transfer.

    
So while you can see that many of us are enthusiastic and working hard to make this little known sector of the green jobs economy a great success, one might ask, exactly how are we doing?

Well recently Vice President Biden announced some pretty ecouraging statistics regarding the nation's weatherization goals and accomplishments in a press release from the Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy website:

 
At an event with homeowners and workers who benefited from the program, today in Manchester, New Hampshire, Vice President Joe Biden announced a major Recovery Act milestone—the weatherizing of 200,000 homes under the Recovery Act. As a result of the Administration's unprecedented commitment to energy efficiency, more than 200,000 low-income families have been able to save money on their energy bills while saving energy, and thousands of people have been put to work.
   

Vice President Joe Biden

 
"Thanks to the Recovery Act, thousands of construction workers across the country are now on the job making energy-saving home improvements that will save working families hundreds of dollars a year on their utility bills," said Vice President Biden. "From replacing windows and doors to adding insulation, these are small changes that are making a big difference for American workers, manufacturer and consumers. We've hit the accelerator on the weatherization program, making over 200,000 homes more energy-efficient already, and are now full speed ahead to meet our original target of weatherizing 600,000 homes nationwide. "
 

"The weatherization program under the Recovery Act—one of our signature programs—is successfully delivering energy and cost savings for hundreds of thousands of American families while creating thousands of clean energy jobs in local communities," said U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

                             

Auditor flue gas analyzer.

Vice President Biden today visited the Manchester, New Hampshire home of the Dumont family to announce the milestone. The Dumont family is expected to save over $600 a year on their utility bills once their weatherization project is completed and Southern New Hampshire Services, the local organization weatherizing their home, has already hired 7 new full-time employees and an estimated 68 subcontractors as a result of the Recovery Act weatherization funding.

                        
New Hampshire has been one of the nation's weatherization leaders, ramping up quickly and effectively to reach their goals ahead of schedule. Through June, New Hampshire has weatherized a total of more than 1,000 homes under the Recovery Act. New Hampshire was also recently selected to receive an additional $3.1 million to complement and expand their existing weatherization program, drive innovation, and deliver even greater energy bill savings for local families.

                    
New Hampshire's efforts are contributing to the success of the program nationwide. After ramping up last year, the Weatherization Assistance Program is now weatherizing homes at its optimal rate—approximately 25,000 homes per month. With 200,000 homes weatherized nationally, states are more than a third of the way to reaching the President's goal of weatherizing nearly 600,000 homes under the Recovery Act. This summer alone, more than 80,000 homes are being weatherized nationwide versus 3,000 last summer. Including homes weatherized with annual program funding, more than 300,000 homes have now been weatherized since the Recovery Act began.
   

US residential electricity consumption through 2008.

 
The weatherization program is also creating thousands of jobs locally—putting carpenters, electricians, and factory workers back to work installing insulation, upgrading appliances, and improving heating and cooling systems. According to state reports, the Recovery Act Weatherization Assistance Program supported more than 13,000 jobs in the second quarter of 2010, including approximately 120 jobs in New Hampshire. These workers are receiving training in energy upgrades that will help form the foundation for a sustainable energy efficiency industry in America that can extend to the more than 100 million middle-class homes that stand to benefit from weatherization.  

                                                             

Philadelphia green jobs training center.

    

The U.S. Department of Energy's Weatherization Assistance Program helps lower-income families save energy and money by improving the energy efficiency of their homes. According to a recent study by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, weatherization services save families an average of more than $400 in energy costs during the first year after home retrofits are installed. Overall, the Administration is investing about $90 billion through the Recovery Act in clean energy and energy-efficiency projects that cut costs, reduce energy use and create new jobs. 

        
Now that's some good news for a change. America, let's keep up the nice work!--D.A. DeMers.

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