Since 1998, the United States Green Building Council, via the Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) standards, has established the premiere set of guidelines
for construction ethics from the standpoint of eco-friendliness and occupant safety and
health in the U.S. and around the world. These guidelines are skyrocketing in use due in
part to two reasons:
· increased awareness of a need for reducing, reusing, and recycling in order to
save resources and natural areas for future generations; and,
· increased amount of time spent indoors in work places and homes.
The LEED guidelines encourage sustainable and responsible use of land, water, energy,
and materials, and promote a safe and healthy environment through use of innovative
designs and technology. As part of the responsible use of materials, the LEED guidelines
encourage the use of rapidly renewable materials such as cotton, straw, wool, and cork as
insulation products. Although these products can be produced naturally and quickly from
nature, they are also cellulose or carbohydrate based products. Cellulose and
carbohydrate based materials are typically optimal food sources for mold in the presence
of moisture, ironically destroying facilities and creating poor living and work
environments.
Samples of wool, cork, straw, and cotton--rapidly renewable materials used as
exterior wall insulation products--were exposed to different moisture amounts in an
encapsulated environment, representing the environment within a wall cavity when
exposed to water from pipes, leaks, condensation and absorption, or from initial
construction. The samples were monitored over time for mold growth. The data logged from the samples were analyzed to determine the degree of mold
susceptibility of each material. In addition, samples with increased amounts of moisture
were examined to determine increased promotion of mold growth. The results from this
study showed that all of the above mentioned materials were highly susceptible to mold
growth and that the moisture amount did not increase the rate of mold growth. Based on
the data collected from this study, recommendations were made to review the current use
of rapidly renewable and other cellulose and carbohydrate based materials in wall
construction.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2428 |
| Date | 15 May 2009 |
| Creators | Cooper, Aaron McGill |
| Contributors | Graham, Charles W. |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Thesis, text |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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