Kentucky Home Safety Tips & Asbestos Prevention
Purchasing or moving into a new home is the investment of a
lifetime. It will insure you and your family will have a safe and
healthy home for a long foreseeable future. However, it is also time
where additional responsibilities will be brought into your life.
Having the assistance of a reliable and honest Kentucky real estate
agent will make all the difference in the world.
Asbestos Tips
Used throughout the 20th century to insulate pipes, boilers and in
roofing, asbestos gained recognition due to its resistance to heat and
electrical conductivity. Homes built before 1980 may still contain
asbestos. Its main uses were found as insulation, piping, brake lining,
flooring and roofing. Asbestos exposure incidents in Kentucky have
mainly occurred as a result of industrial sites.
If asbestos is located, it must be left un-touched until a
professional can provide a course of action. In many situations, the
best action is no action. Asbestos that is disturbed or damaged due to
age is known as "friable" asbestos. This is a concern because its toxic
fibers can easily circulate and become inhaled.
Frequent and long term exposure to asbestos has been known to cause asbestosis and sarcomatoid mesothelioma,
two forms of asbestos lung cancer. Asbestos-related illnesses may not
appear until 20 to 50 years after exposure and may have symptoms which
are commonly found with less serious illnesses. This makes mesothelioma diagnosis even more difficult for physicians.
Sometimes, the best action is no action. If asbestos removal is
necessary, it should be performed by licensed abatement contractors who
are trained in handling toxic materials. The Kentucky Division for Air Quality strives to protect the environment and civilian health by monitoring and assisting in the disposal and removal of asbestos.
Green = Healthier and Cost Efficient Homes
Recently, congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act. Included in this act were extensions to the tax incentives placed
for energy efficiency in 2005, as well as new credits for homeowners
who remodel or build using eco-sustainable methods. This promotes
incentives for home or business owners who implement green building
methods into their property.
Many locations throughout the United States are swiftly changing
their construction practices to suit the environment and the health of
human beings. Promoting new ways of building construction and
insulation, there are new regulations being put on older methods which
are now known to be harmful.
Most people are unaware to the fact that eco-friendly products can
cut energy costs by 25 % per year. These include the use of cotton
fiber, lcynene foam and cellulose. These alternatives have the same
flame resistant, durable qualities of asbestos, except they are
eco-friendly and safe.
Conducting a study in 2003, the United States Green Building Council
also reported a savings of $50 to $65 for green constructed buildings.
Rather than expensive and mal-treated wood, interior walls can be made
from steel and concrete, avoiding many of the problems associated with
asbestos and other insulation methods.
Jesse Herman
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