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
Showing posts with label epa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label epa. Show all posts
4/16/2009
6/20/2008
Radon: What have you done to protect yourself?
As we all know, Radon supposedly isn’t active everywhere. However, because the gas is caused by the decay of radium, it could eventually happen everywhere.
The EPA has suggested that every house in the USA get their house checked for their Radon levels every 2 years. Have you done that?
What does that number you get mean?
What are your ideas of your basement space?
Why does it matter what I do in the basement?
What does that number you get mean?
Firstly, it’s just a good plane idea to get tested. Radon can then rise with the air content and actually travel through your house, not just affecting the basement environment.
Once you get the test results back, you’ll be faced with a number. For air Radon, a number of 4 or higher is a “not so good” sign. Treatment systems tend to be highly recommended if not demanded upon you at that number. Results from 2-4 are dependent on what you want to do with the space, and anything below a 2 is minimal.
For water Radon levels (such as getting your well water treated, it’s much the same scale). If Radon located in your water supply is higher then 10,000 pCi/L (picocuries per liter) then treatment will be heavily suggested. 4,000-9,999 can have other plans for treatment in mind, and anything fewer than 4,000 is considered safe and for you to retest in 3-5 years.
Radon has only recently received the press it rightly deserves. 21,000 people in the United States die from over exposure to the Gas every year. It’s highly toxic and it’s very important to get tested and to take the results seriously.
What are your ideas of your basement space?
This question has much to do with how acceptable a Radon result number you have. If you’re planning on expanding and adding a living space, or an area you’ll spend a lot of time in, then anything over a 2 really isn’t acceptable. The only thing you could do with a 2 or higher is to use it as a storage space that you spent little to no time in.
Regardless of your plans, levels above a 4 can be costly to your health on the 1st and 2nd floors as well.
Why does it matter what I do in the basement?
As of right now you might not be doing anything in your basement. But if you’re like me, I work down there on house projects, new cabinet doors, painting trim; I also store all my tools and other house maintenance equipment down there. So, I end up spending a great deal of time, not only in the basement but coming and going.
Radon only needs a small amount of exposure time to start doing the damage it’s known for on the human body. With all the combined time you spend interacting with the space, it’d be a better idea for you to make sure that you’re also not interacting with Radon by mistake.
Further reading:
Radon: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radon
Radium: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium
Osha.gov: http://www.osha.gov/dts/chemicalsampling/data/CH_265469.html
EPA.gov http://www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/physic.html
The EPA has suggested that every house in the USA get their house checked for their Radon levels every 2 years. Have you done that?
What does that number you get mean?
What are your ideas of your basement space?
Why does it matter what I do in the basement?
What does that number you get mean?
Firstly, it’s just a good plane idea to get tested. Radon can then rise with the air content and actually travel through your house, not just affecting the basement environment.
Once you get the test results back, you’ll be faced with a number. For air Radon, a number of 4 or higher is a “not so good” sign. Treatment systems tend to be highly recommended if not demanded upon you at that number. Results from 2-4 are dependent on what you want to do with the space, and anything below a 2 is minimal.
For water Radon levels (such as getting your well water treated, it’s much the same scale). If Radon located in your water supply is higher then 10,000 pCi/L (picocuries per liter) then treatment will be heavily suggested. 4,000-9,999 can have other plans for treatment in mind, and anything fewer than 4,000 is considered safe and for you to retest in 3-5 years.
Radon has only recently received the press it rightly deserves. 21,000 people in the United States die from over exposure to the Gas every year. It’s highly toxic and it’s very important to get tested and to take the results seriously.
What are your ideas of your basement space?
This question has much to do with how acceptable a Radon result number you have. If you’re planning on expanding and adding a living space, or an area you’ll spend a lot of time in, then anything over a 2 really isn’t acceptable. The only thing you could do with a 2 or higher is to use it as a storage space that you spent little to no time in.
Regardless of your plans, levels above a 4 can be costly to your health on the 1st and 2nd floors as well.
Why does it matter what I do in the basement?
As of right now you might not be doing anything in your basement. But if you’re like me, I work down there on house projects, new cabinet doors, painting trim; I also store all my tools and other house maintenance equipment down there. So, I end up spending a great deal of time, not only in the basement but coming and going.
Radon only needs a small amount of exposure time to start doing the damage it’s known for on the human body. With all the combined time you spend interacting with the space, it’d be a better idea for you to make sure that you’re also not interacting with Radon by mistake.
Further reading:
Radon: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radon
Radium: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium
Osha.gov: http://www.osha.gov/dts/chemicalsampling/data/CH_265469.html
EPA.gov http://www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/physic.html
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