Taperman articles

In our quest for building green, the humble garage is almost always forgotten. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found that an attached garage creates a large amount of in-house pollution and affects the health of the occupants. This happens because the interface between the house and the garage is not properly designed reducing the indoor quality of air. As a consequence, all green features incorporated in the house get nullified due to neglecting the designing of your garage.

Car exhaust contains poisonous gases, which are the primary source of indoor air pollution. Low formaldehyde sealing agents are the answer to seal the cracks in the garage wall and the door leading to the house to tackle air pollution. Other materials found commonly in garages too give off poisonous vapors. These ranges from turpentine oil, benzene used by lawn mowers, cleaning agents, and pesticides used for gardening. To keep the garage well ventilated, it is a good practice to have an exhaust fan mounted in the garage to suck out the foul air.

Installing a green roof for your garage is a good green innovation. Grass, plants or other vegetation can help cover green roofs. Many companies in the US offer this service of building a green roof. In a green roof building process, an environmentally friendly water proofing material called Thermoplastic Polyolefin (TPO) forms the first layer. On top of the TPO layer, water retention and filter layers are put. Over these layers, the growing medium, a custom made mixture of light weight soil and rock which supports plant life is laid. Drought resistant plants with shallow roots are the ideal choice for this type of roof. Green roofs offer many environmental advantages. They provide extra insulation, reduce noise pollution, filter the rainwater and reduce cooling costs. Plant respiration helps reduce heat in the surrounding areas. The plants absorb sunlight and reduce the heat from reaching the roof surface thereby increasing the life of the roof. It is estimated that that one green-roofed garage can eliminate the equivalent of eight kg of pollutants and even generate enough oxygen to keep 25 people alive for a year. Having that extra patch of elevated green adds to the aesthetics of the house which would attract not only humans but also your feathered friends, thus adding to the biodiversity of your area.

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