U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Earth Day 2009: Green Technologies and Buildings Bloom on the National Mall
(Washington, D.C. – April 17, 2009) On April 18–20, 2009, EPA will hold the 5th Annual National Sustainable Design Expo, which will display new sustainable or green technologies. More than 40 college teams and other exhibitors from across the country will show their innovative solutions for an environmentally sustainable future, including generating ethanol from coffee production wastewater, embedding small glass spheres in house paint to deflect heat in the summer, and the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to maximize prairie switch grass ethanol yield.
The expo will begin at noon on Saturday, April 18 and will also showcase EPA’s Annual People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) Award competition. Previous P3 winners have taken their innovations to new levels, including starting successful businesses.
Staff will post updates on EPA’s Twitter account throughout the expo: http://twitter.com/usepagov.
See the video from past years at http://www.epa.gov/p3/multimedia/videos/p3_07/index.html
WHO:
Lek Kadeli, acting assistant administrator of EPA Office of Research and Development More than 40 student design teams and 40 exhibitors
WHAT:
5th Annual National Sustainable Design Expo and
People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) Awards
WHEN:
Saturday, April 18 from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 19 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Monday, April 20 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
WHERE:
National Mall between Constitution and Independence Avenues and 3rd and 4th Streets, N.W. (Federal Center S.W. Metro stop - Orange and Blue Lines)
More information about the P3 event: http://www.epa.gov/P3 Photos of the exhibits and teams to be posted during the event: http://www.epa.gov/P3/multimedia
4/16/2009
Friend's Basement Inspection - My take on the images part1
So as I promised I'm posting up the images of some of the foreclosed home's basement. There are some minor cosmetic problems upstairs, but the basement is what drew a "red flag" for the couple.
Read about the Top 6 Most common Basement Mistakes.
He sent me the images through email and it was pretty fair to say that the basement had a very clear history of water damage. This was the first image that put up my "basement waterproofing inspection alarm!"
Now you might ask yourself "why such the fuss? It’s a water heater and a furnace. So what? I've marked the key factors in this next image to give you an idea of what I saw:
Noteable Basement Water Factors
This basement had some glaring issues the majority of them can be summed up in this one image.
Thin Yellow: Floor discoloration, efflorescence
Pink: Water run off marks from the chimney ash box, possible cause of regional floor markings.
Green: The entire basement (as you'll see in the next post) has this 2-3 foot painted section along the base of the concrete block foundation. Drylock doesn't typically come in white (all I’ve seen has been the retro florescent 70's green color), and most people who use drylock typically cover the whole of the walls with it, not just small sections. My initial reaction was that this was a cosmetic fix to hide past water damage levels on the walls.
The rest of the basement has an oil tank and a small "finished" room, done with dry wall and wood. And as you all know by now, wood and dry wall aren't good things to have in your basement because they're mold food! yum. The weight room even has a rug in it...seriously?
Basement Gym Room:
Red circle-upper left: They seemed the drywall ceiling with duct tape..different. Looking on the floor there is also indications that the ceilings and walls have been "played" with recently..aka drywall dust.
Red Rectangle, back wall - two holes in the foundation with evidence of water run off.
Green Rectangle- Paint is pealing off the bottom row of concrete block, evidence of direct moisture/water contact.
Green Squiggly and Red Squiggly: Discoloration in the rugs at various points. The red has more of a darker tone to it, which might indicate it as being soaked/recent; the Green area has a definite square pattern, which might indicate floor cracks. However, that question of "floor cracks or not" is answered by this next photo taken of the corner to the left of the camera.
Underbelly of the Basement Gym Floor
So...loe and behold! The underside of that rug is PLYWOOD! It explains the pattern found on the rug and we also find the possible source of the problem. Why? How? Well we'd have to lift that wood up to see what's going on underneath, but $10 says that there is a mold film or colonies living under that wood.
Visual discoloration at the bottom 1"-1.5" on the bottom of the wood pannels covering the walls.
Next blog will be the responce to my friend in an email form.
Related Reading and Links
Read about the Top 6 Basement Mistakes that contractors and homeowners make.
Ask Jacob A question Directly on Pioneer Basement's Help Forums!
Read about the Top 6 Most common Basement Mistakes.
He sent me the images through email and it was pretty fair to say that the basement had a very clear history of water damage. This was the first image that put up my "basement waterproofing inspection alarm!"
Now you might ask yourself "why such the fuss? It’s a water heater and a furnace. So what? I've marked the key factors in this next image to give you an idea of what I saw:
Noteable Basement Water FactorsThis basement had some glaring issues the majority of them can be summed up in this one image.
Thin Yellow: Floor discoloration, efflorescence
Pink: Water run off marks from the chimney ash box, possible cause of regional floor markings.
Green: The entire basement (as you'll see in the next post) has this 2-3 foot painted section along the base of the concrete block foundation. Drylock doesn't typically come in white (all I’ve seen has been the retro florescent 70's green color), and most people who use drylock typically cover the whole of the walls with it, not just small sections. My initial reaction was that this was a cosmetic fix to hide past water damage levels on the walls.
The rest of the basement has an oil tank and a small "finished" room, done with dry wall and wood. And as you all know by now, wood and dry wall aren't good things to have in your basement because they're mold food! yum. The weight room even has a rug in it...seriously?
Basement Gym Room:
Red circle-upper left: They seemed the drywall ceiling with duct tape..different. Looking on the floor there is also indications that the ceilings and walls have been "played" with recently..aka drywall dust.
Red Rectangle, back wall - two holes in the foundation with evidence of water run off.
Green Rectangle- Paint is pealing off the bottom row of concrete block, evidence of direct moisture/water contact.
Green Squiggly and Red Squiggly: Discoloration in the rugs at various points. The red has more of a darker tone to it, which might indicate it as being soaked/recent; the Green area has a definite square pattern, which might indicate floor cracks. However, that question of "floor cracks or not" is answered by this next photo taken of the corner to the left of the camera.
Underbelly of the Basement Gym Floor
So...loe and behold! The underside of that rug is PLYWOOD! It explains the pattern found on the rug and we also find the possible source of the problem. Why? How? Well we'd have to lift that wood up to see what's going on underneath, but $10 says that there is a mold film or colonies living under that wood.Visual discoloration at the bottom 1"-1.5" on the bottom of the wood pannels covering the walls.
Next blog will be the responce to my friend in an email form.
Related Reading and Links
Read about the Top 6 Basement Mistakes that contractors and homeowners make.
Ask Jacob A question Directly on Pioneer Basement's Help Forums!
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