Building codes should be updated to protect residents from the harmful health impacts of indoor cooking, according to a new report from the Environmental Law Institute (ELI).
Reducing Exposure to Cooking Pollutants: Policies and Practices to Improve Air Quality in Homes provides policymakers with information to help people in their communities protect themselves from being exposed to particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and other harmful pollutants inside their homes.
“Any type of cooking—from boiling water to frying food—will generate some amount of cooking pollution,” said ELI Staff Attorney Amy Reed, in a news release. “Fortunately, proper ventilation practices, which can remove those harmful cooking pollutants, are well established and readily available.”
Updated building codes should mandate kitchen ventilation in all new residential construction. Jurisdictions should establish minimum ventilation performance standards to ensure that exhaust systems can remove a sufficient share of the pollutants emitted during cooking immediately after they are emitted.
ELI also says policymakers should increase public awareness of both the health risks from cooking pollutants and the solutions that are available.
Related Stories
| Feb 26, 2013
Southern Pine Inspection Bureau publishes new design values effective June 1
New design values for all sizes and grades of visually graded Southern Pine dimension lumber were published in the Southern Pine Inspection Bureau’s (SPIB) Supplement No.13 to the 2002 Standard Grading Rules for Southern Pine Lumber on Feb. 11.
| Feb 26, 2013
ANSI standard for interior doors open for second public ballot
WDMA I.S.6A-11, Industry Standard for Interior Architectural Wood Stile and Rail Doors and WDMA I.S.1A-11, Industry Standard for Interior Architectural Wood Flush Doors, are now open for their second ballot for recognition as American National Standards.
| Feb 26, 2013
CRSI releases new technical note on stainless steel reinforcing bars
The Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute (CRSI) has released a new technical note, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Stainless Steel Reinforcing Bars, to its online collection.
| Feb 26, 2013
Proposed ASHRAE standard revisions would boost requirement for automatic lighting
Proposed changes to the ASHRAE/IES energy standard would require automatic lighting controls in more space types and shorten the times before lighting is automatically reduced or shut off.
| Feb 20, 2013
Bill would make all California state building codes free and open source
California Assembly Bill 292 would make the California Code of Regulations (including the Building Codes) open source.
| Feb 20, 2013
Pittsburgh’s Phipps Conservatory aims for three top green certifications
The $15 million Center for Sustainable Landscapes at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh, a net-zero facility, is applying for certification from three of the world's most stringent green rating systems—the Living Building Challenge, LEED Platinum, and the Sustainable Sites Initiative.
| Feb 20, 2013
ANSI/CRRC Cool Roof Standard has been approved
The Cool Roof Rating Council says the American National Standards Institute has given final approval of its ANSI/CRRC-1-2012 Standard after a two-year public review process.
| Feb 20, 2013
Group of West Coast civil engineers developing building standards for tsunamis
A group of civil engineers from around the western U.S. is developing additions to the building code to address the threat of a tsunami.
| Feb 20, 2013
Higher standards, efficiency programs keys to 40% energy usage reduction in commercial buildings since 1980
Commercial buildings have seen a drop in their energy intensity of more than 40% since 1980, according to a recent report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy.
| Feb 12, 2013
Higher education institutions providing leadership on sustainability
More than 665 U.S. colleges and universities have publicly committed to pursue net-zero carbon emissions.
