For more on this subject see:
Radon Facts: What Is It?
Factors Affecting Indoor Air Quality

The program is a public-private partnership – the feds will pay  $2 billion, ordered through a Presidential Memorandum, for federal building upgrades, and 60 CEOs, mayors, university presidents and labor leaders committed to invest $2 billion of private capital for federal and private-sector buildings.  There are no up-front costs to taxpayers – energy service firms will bid on the work and make the upgrades with no upfront cost – they will get paid over time through energy savings on utility bills.   After the energy service companies are paid back, building owners, be they public or private, keep future savings.

“Upgrading the energy efficiency of America’s buildings is one of the fastest, easiest and cheapest ways to save money, cut down on harmful pollution, and create good jobs right now,” says Obama in a statement.   The program is estimated to save $40 billion a year in energy costs, and create 50,000 jobs in the hard-hit construction industry.  Read the full article.

1.  Rubber gym flooring. This is a wonderful option for water and often made of recycled rubber and plastic. This looks like the rubber flooring you see in gyms and they generally come in 2 x 2 interlocking tiles or rolls.  If your basement gets wet, you can detach the tiles, clean them, air them out and then return them. If you use your basement for a gym, this is stylistically a great option as well.  If you want the look/feel of warm carpet, you can also put carpet over the gym floor. 

2.Luxury vinyl & Natural Linoleum.

Natural Linoleum is made of linseed, cork, tree rosin, limestone, and jute. Lasts 40+ years. Biodegradable, non-toxic, easy to maintain, anti-microbial,

 This is a wonderful option if you want the look of hardwood and you want the durability of tile.  First, luxury vinyl looks and feels real and you can feel the ridges for the graining.  Furthermore, unlike sheet vinyl or peel & stick or vinyl composite tile, luxury vinyl will actually withstand a flood because the adhesive is waterproof.  It’s truly an amazing product.

3.  Laminate flooring or engineered hardwood for basements that have been waterproofed. 

Use flooring is sustainably harvested, recycled or/and reclaimed. Cork and Bamboo are renewable products.

If you’ve gone through the major expense of waterproofing your basement, the world is your oyster and you can do whatever type of flooring you like.  When all the options are open, most customers prefer to install hardwood flooring (budget permitting) or if they can’t afford that, laminate flooring is the next best thing.  If your basement is below grade (i.e. below ground level), then solid hardwood is not an option, but engineered hardwood will work as well as laminate.

4. Stone or Tile Flooring, a natural resource often made with recycled content. Look for locally manufactured tiles to reduce the transport related energy. If a sealer is used select one a low VOC product.

5.  Carpet pad with moisture barrier. Many carpets are made out of recycled products and natural renewable products.  While carpeting will rarely survive flooding, if you just have a bit of a chronic moisture issue, you can consider a carpet pad with a moisture barrier such as Shaw’s Triple Touch carpet pad.  This is a wonderful pad and Shaw even doubles the warranty on their carpets if you use this pad.

If you want the look of wall to wall carpet but the ease to remove it then just create a custom bound area rug, that is make the carpet go up to the wall and bound the ends so it looks like wall to wall carpet.

That way for those that have chronic flooding and consistently have flooding, when you are afraid you will get flooding, you just roll the carpet up.  Or, if you are a bit too late, often, you can send the area rug to the cleaners. This way, you avoid the horrible smell and expense of replacing your carpet after a flood.

 Commercial glue down carpet for those that need to save money ~ Not recommended for damp locations.  For those on a budget, carpeting may be the best option for your budget as it is less expensive than hard surfaces.  If you need to do carpeting and you tend to have lots of moisture in the basement, you may consider avoiding carpet pad (that’s where most of the moisture is absorbed and where most of the smell comes from).  Commercial carpet (or indoor/outdoor carpet) can be glued down without the carpet pad.

To see the 10 attributes that make a flooring “green’ click here.

David Popoff is a Connecticut licensed Realtor in Lower Fairfield County, Ct and ‘Green’ Professional.

Fairfield is moving. On Saturday, September 24, a community bicycle ride is scheduled as part of an international day of climate action. “Moving Planet” was conceived by 350.org, a global grassroots movement founded by noted author Bill McKibben, as a rallying call for the world to move beyond fossil fuels.

Two community groups, the Fairfield Bike Walk Coalition (FWBC) and the Fairfield Clean Energy Task Force (CETF), have joined forces to organize the local event, which will feature a one-hour bicycle ride.  The approximately 6 mile ride will begin and end at the Farmers Market at Brick Walk, 1189-1215 Post Road in Fairfield starting at 10 a.m.  

The organizations chose the Farmers Market location to raise awareness about the importance of locally grown food, which not only helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also promotes the local economy and healthier, tastier produce.  They also will provide helpful consumer tips on how to reduce one’s carbon footprint, including having a low-cost home energy assessment, signing up for CTCleanEnergyOptions and biking or walking as a local transportation option.

FWBC spearheaded a petition drive asking the town to conduct a bicycle and pedestrian study.  The draft Master Plan, developed by the Greater Bridgeport Regional Council, is expected to be released later this month. 

The local event is one of many planned throughout the state and 158 countries across the planet. Participants are also invited to attend a central state rally on New Haven Green from 4-10 p.m., which features a critical mass bike ride, music, talkback with local and state political leaders and a bike-powered outdoor screening of the movie, Wall-e.  

CONTACT:   Bob Wall    gocleanenergy@optonline.net