Fund for Santa Barbara Puts In Plug for Energy Efficiency

» Realist on 04.18.09 @ 07:08 AM

What a waste of charitable funds that could be helping those in need at a time when they need it most. This green madness is not just affecting businesses that could be providing jobs, increasing government spending during times of budget crisis, putting us into deeper debt than ever before; it is now even making the poor poorer at a time when charitable giving is at an all time low. Stop it. The globe will maintain its cool for quite some time I assure you. People are suffering let’s get our priorities in order.

» Dick Jensen on 04.20.09 @ 04:06 AM

As one who has—and will continue—contributed to this fund, it works for me.
1. Non-profits get no “tax benefits” of the type private investors get for alternative energy investments. 2. By making such investments, non-profits can avoid the growing cost of utilities.  3. Non-profits can through the use of such investments walk the talk, and 4. by reducing the non-profits’ overhead costs, we allow more money to be applied to their core mission.

I don’t see a lot of negatives here.  Instead of “I’ve got mine…” This fund is clearly a means for helping non-profit organizations to do what ‘everyone else’ is doing.

» The earth day green house will get mold on 04.21.09 @ 10:59 AM

The green house will get mold.

A non ventilated roof joist space and attic meets code.

But consider this fact:—over the last 20 years thousands of homes have been built that met the code but got mold that made it’s residents very sick.

So it a fact that just meeting the code does not stop mold!  This means the code is faulty.

Here is how it works.

1. Moisture in the form of water vapor is add to the inside air, not from the outside, but from the inside due to numerous sources such as people perspiration, taking showers or bathing, washing hands, washing dishes, washing clothes, drying clothes. cooking, water from pet water bowls, aquariums, humidifiers, steam vaporizers.

2. the green houses are so tight that there is not enough ventilation air to remove the water vapor.

2. The icynene spray foam is open cell so is permeable to water vapor and air so the humid air and water vapor moves through the open cell foam insulation.  Water vapor travels from high water vapor ( inside the house) to low water vapor inside the foam insulation and in the wood roof structure. .

3. Water vapor in air condenses into water at the dew point which in Santa Barbara is around 55 degrees.  I the winter when it is below 55 degrees the back of the wood roof decking is at 55 degrees as it has no insulation to keep in heat.  So the water vapor which travels right through the open cell Icynene spray foam insulation condenses into water on the back of the wood roof decking which is at or below the 55 degree dew point.

( this condensation at the dew point is exactly the same as when one takes a shower in the winter and water vapor in the humid room air condenses on the windows. also, it is the same as when one takes a cold drink out of the refrigerator and puts it in a glass and the outside, and bottom, of the glass gets water from the condensation of the water vapor in the air.

4. There is no ventilation to get rid of the water because there is no air space on the cold side of the roof insulation.

4. Mold, which is often toxic, grows on this moist wood wit the two necessary ingredients of water and a food source -the wood.

5.  The mold spores, which are often toxic, work their way back into the house.

6. The occupants sometimes get very very sick, even die, from toxic mold.

7. The design of this house served the function of making it very air tight but it is this very air tight function which allows mold to grow and make occupants sick,

8. It is a well documented fact that green energy efficient houses, even though meeting the code, actually have significantly MORE mold in them than conventional houses which have much more natural ventilation due to all the air leaks.

German architects know this and have come up with the only possible solution to the mold problem in air tight houses. They always install a air to air heat exchanger fan which constantly exhausts humid air from within the house and replaces it with fresh outdoor air and the heat exchanger transfers the heat from the exhausted air to the incoming fresh outdoor air.  The German architects have found that this mechanical ventilation system is the ONLKY way to prevent significant mold from growing in tight energy efficient houses.

Now you can choose to ignore this factual reality but that will not stop mold from growing in tight energy efficient houses.  I hope you designers of these tight energy efficient houses using this spray foam, without the needed 1 inch of air ventilation air space above it, have a whole lot of liability insurance as you are sure going to need it.

An architect friend of mine and the contractor, of a new air tight house like this one, both sued last year because of mold and lost and each got a $500,000 judgement against them.  And the occupant ended up getting very very sick from the toxic mold and almost died. .  It was stachybotrys mold—the worst type of toxic mold.  The house needed over $300,000 in rebuilding to correct the moisture problems and sat vacant for over a year.