Chic Decor

Almost every article you read these days uses the word “chic,” referencing everything from residential interiors to hotels to personal style. But what is “chic,” and in particular, what is “chic decor?” And how can you achieve this in your home? By definition “chic decor” means elegant or stylish decoration. An elegant home is one that has been well-planned and appointed using a number of the design principles outlined here to help you achieve this goal.

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The First Healthy Building

The first Healthy Building News for 2007 is a week late. On the eve of publication last week, our scheduled topic was rendered moot by the US EPA’s decision to prohibit the residential use of a toxic pressure treated wood formula known as ACC (acid copper chromate). Its main ingredient, hexavalent chromium, is the human carcinogen that made Erin Brockovich a household name.

The urgency of the pending EPA decision had itself bumped our original topic for the 2007 inaugural issue — highlighting the positive implications of the ambitious USGBC initiatives unveiled last November at GreenBuild. The EPA’s surprise but welcome decision brings our thesis full circle: the growing weight of the evidence suggests that the climate of the green building movement is changing, for the better.

Consider this: the US EPA did not move to restrict the use of arsenic-based pressure treated wood until nearly a decade after the green building movement’s journal of record, Environmental Building News, suggested it should be phased out.

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Nice Fresh Paint For ur Home

As the green building construction boom becomes widely popular due to the large cost savings and environmental benefits that can be achieved, green paints and coatings are also becoming a necessity for painting contractors who want to deliver quality green building projects.

What constitutes a green building? According to certification standards, green buildings are environment-friendly structures that use only ecologically-friendly materials in construction, and releases non-toxic hazards and substances that may cause harm to the environment and to human beings. Furthermore, green buildings are sustainable structures that are efficient to maintain, using lesser power, energy and water consumption to operate. Green buildings are therefore much more cost-beneficial compared to non-green buildings.