From green buildings to toxin-free buildings: Homes of the future?

Popular green options were not always the least toxic
or "healthy" materials, a couple's research showed.

When a Minneapolis couple decided to replace their mold-riddled, 1950s-era home, they wanted to use the least toxic materials available.

Since the wife had just undergone treatment for ovarian cancer, the couple wanted to reduce their exposure to chemicals and toxins linked to cancer to help prevent occurrences.

Their quest was not an easy one, since there exists no official standard for building a “healthy” home, and the couple had to do their own research into materials, studies and marketing claims to get what they wanted.

The inside of their luxuriously large house now features curved stone and wood walls, high ceilings, glass-and-steel floating stairs and copper accents.

The couple's non-toxic options include:

• Cast-iron pipes instead of PVC piping
• Water purification system
• Air purification system
• American Clay plaster on inside walls that resists mold
• Wood floors with toxin-free, water-based finishes
• A green roof for insulation and better indoor air quality
• Recycled-glass counter tops

It is still a fact that non-toxic and green homes often cost a bit more, but a growing public awareness about chemical exposures and potentially harmful materials may help make them become more available to the general public.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Air cleaners for better indoor air quality

Whether it’s during construction or after completion, the indoor air in most buildings tends to be polluted in some way, exposing people to airborne chemicals, odors, dust, particles, biological contaminants and mold.

Electrocorp has developed portable and extremely powerful air cleaners for a wide range of commercial and industrial applications as well as for residential use.

The air cleaners purify the air with a multistage filtration system containing deep beds of activated carbon for chemicals, odors and gases, HEPA for particles and dust, pre-filters for larger pollutants and optional UV germicidal filtration for the neutralization of molds, bacteria and viruses.

Contact Electrocorp for more information or recommendations.