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The homes for Sweet Pond Eco Community have been designed by AustinDesign with input from Dr. Zoe Kopp, MPH, Ph.D. and Dr. T. Namaya, MIA, MSN, FNP, D.Sci., health professionals with more than 30 years experience. Dr. T has worked extensively with patients suffering from Sick House Syndrome. Treating patients suffering from environment related illnesses and allergies has been an inspiration to create homes that are beautiful healthy and a pleasure to live in. To build a strong community we must first have healthy families in safe homes.
Air Exchange
The homes have been designed to provide for proper ventilation and air exchange between indoors and outdoors. This is especially important for super-insulated homes and care has been taken to ensure that the rate of change over is adequate.
Limiting VOC's and Off-gassing
Construction materials and interior finishing products have been selected to limit toxins, VOCs, and limit off-gassing.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. VOCs include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects. Concentrations of many VOCs are consistently higher indoors (up to ten times higher) than outdoors. VOCs are emitted by a wide array of products numbering in the thousands. Examples include: paints and lacquers, paint strippers, cleaning supplies, pesticides, building materials and furnishings, office equipment such as copiers and printers, correction fluids and carbonless copy paper, graphics and craft materials including glues and adhesives, permanent markers, and photographic solutions.
Source: US EPA Website http://www.epa.gov/iaq/voc.html
Universal Design
The homes have been designed with maneuverability and access in mind. The homes on the upper-level, nearest the parking area, will be fully accessible. There are no steps to enter the home or within and the bathroom is wheelchair accessible. The lower tier of units are fully visitable. The homes can be entered from the path without steps as can the kitchen, accessible bathroom, and upper living room. The small set of steps to the lower living room and additional bedrooms can be easily modified to a ramp later in life.
Water Source
Vermont Well Water: some of the cleanest, freshest, most abundant water you'll ever taste! The homes are fed by a shared onsite well, plenty of water will be available through the use of a high-efficiency pump and large storage tank.
Material Consciousness
For interior surfaces we have avoided materials that collect dust and bacteria for optimal health. The homes are well insulated, tightly sealed, and properly drained and ventilated to keep them dry and prevent mold.
Local Environment & Power
Power in the area is provided by small hydroelectric projects and Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant which produces about 80% of Vermont's electricity. The benefits of this are better local air quality. The fresh mountain air is not tinged by local plants burning fossil fuels and there is very little car and truck traffic due to Guilford's rural character and low density. The downside of course is the remote but of course possible risk of a nuclear accident. Extensive literature on both sides of the debate over Vermont Yankee can be found through an internet search.
For more information on indoor air quality the US EPA Website offers some useful and easy to understand information at: http://www.epa.gov/iaq/homes/index.html
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