Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Gas stoves and indoor air quality

[Peg Blum (pegb]

I was also at that meeting with Mark Kelly as Cambridge Cohousing made
the decision whether or not to have gas stoves.  Mark pointed out that
by using a range hood and exhaust fan, the hazard would be diminished.
He further stated that it is difficult to assure that all people
using gas stoves in private kitchens, would automatically turn on the
fan when stove being used.  He agreed that in the common kitchen, it
would be more likely that cook teams would use the exhaust fan.  As a
result, we agreed to use only electric stoves in our units, but did
provide for a gas stove in the common kitchen.  I have observed that
some meal teams use the fans (yes, we have 2) regularly while others
choose not to because of the noise.  Maybe it's time for another
tutorial on the hazards of gas.

Peg
Cambridge Cohousing
http://cambridgecohousing.org

On 5/25/06, Dave and Diane <daveanddee [at] verizon.net> wrote:
> Hi Joani,
> Yes, I would be happy to shed some light on this. Many years ago I attended a
> meeting at Cambridge Cohousing at which Mark Kelly, P.E. was giving a
> presentation. He said that gas stoves created poor internal air quality and
> highly advised against them in tightly sealed units. If you have an old,
> leaky, drafty house they probably are not so much of a problem. But in today's
> tightly-sealed highly energy-efficient units they can be a hazard.
>
> Here is some info about Mark:
> http://buildingenergy.nesea.org/Bios/MarkKelley.php
>
> Mark Kelley III, PE, Hickory Consortium
>
> Mark Kelley is the President of the Hickory Consortium and founder of Building
> Science Engineering, begun in 1989 with the goal of bringing the building
> industry and the building research community into closer accord with energy-
> conscious, sustainable design. The primary focus of Mark's work is whole
> building integrated design, taking into account energy and its interactions
> with building materials, air quality, health, sustainability, construction
> process, and the relationship of the building to the environment. A registered
> professional engineer, Mark specializes in sustainable building engineering,
> including building systems, energy, moisture and health issues. He is a
> nationally recognized authority on building energy efficiency, whole building
> integrated design and sustainable construction. Projects include numerous
> Audubon sanctuaries, Artists for Humanity Epicenter, Cambridge Cohousing, and
> Erie-Ellington projects.
>
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> Date: Wed, 24 May 2006 07:24:02 -0700
> From: Joani Blank <joani [at] swansway.com>
> Subject: [C-L]_ Gas stoves and indoor air quality
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
>
> Several years ago when I visited Pioneer Valley Cohousing, I noticed
> that many of the homes had electric ranges in their kitchen.....an indoor air
> quality expert met with the...[and]advised the group that gas ranges
> contribute significantly to poor indoor air quality. I had never heard
> anything about that, nor has it been corroborated for me since then.  Can
> anyone reading this listserve shine some light on this matter?
>
> Joani
>
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