Q: I have heard that straw bale homes are far greener than wood frame. My husband and I are retiring and planning to build a home in Vermont. We are considering straw bale. Do you think that this is what we should do? What are the differences between wood and straw?

Candace, VT

A: Candace,

What a great question to kick off this Q&A session! The problem with the question is that there is no clear answer, but there is a discussion we can have about “the sustainability of wood and straw bale construction, where the materials come from, the consequences of harvesting the materials, and the benefits and restrictions associated with each.” There are a surprising number of consequences of straw bale construction that people do not consider, purely because they do not second guess that it is a green building technique.

Both types of construction can be carried out in green ways. Location is key to determining if wood or straw bale is more appropriate for your site. Please see ThinkDwell’s WOOD vs. STRAW BALE page for detailed information regarding specifics. Hopefully this will help you gain more knowledge and determine what is the best choice for your home.

Check out more Q&A posts .

To further help “re-green” the city of Greensburg, Kansas, - 95 percent of the city was destroyed in a tornado - SunChips is taking another small step and encouraging others to join them in this cause.  For each person who adds the new SunChips Greensburg app to their Facebook profile, SunChips will donate $1 towards replanting the tree canopy destroyed in the tornado. With the goal to raise $50,000, every small step can make a big difference.

Visit www.SunChips.com to get the application and watch Greensburg on Planet Green.

The ThinkDwell Blog is holding an open Question & Answer forum: an opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have in regards to home projects you are thinking of undertaking and have professional home designers respond. We specialize in issues facing the affordability and sustainability of home construction projects, chemical-free mold remediation techniques, green building product specification, and energy-efficient home design. We are happy to supply any information we can about your small or large projects and point you in the right direction!

E-mail your questions to pubs@thinkdwell.com with "Q&A" in the subject line. We will try to post all questions and answers on the blog.

You can see responses to this post by clicking on the title , and you can see the answers to specific questions by visiting the Q&A Category .

I have been taking a certification course in chemical-free mold remediation and thought that readers would like to know a bit about mold in homes, especially what you should do if you have a mold problem. So…

What should you do? Well, it really depends upon how bad the mold problem is, and if it is affecting someone who lives in your home. If someone is allergic to mold then you need to fix the problem or they will be very sick with serious symptoms until the mold problem ceases. If no one is sick, then you have some options.

A little bit of information about MOLD: There are thousands of kinds of molds, and hundreds of kinds love to grow in homes due to the common materials we use to build homes that mold loves to eat. Mold eats stuff in sheet rock (gypsum board, wall board) and wallpaper paste. It’s cellulose that it’s eating. Mold cannot live without water/moisture. Most likely you have mold because your home has a leak or because cooking, showering, or exposed pipes (like under your kitchen sink) has caused condensation on surfaces where mold can grow easily. If you have a flood, this opens the door for mold to grow, so you need to dry out before 48 hours to prevent growth.

Common places mold can grow include kitchens, bathrooms, attics and basements, but the most dangerous place for mold to be is in your A/C ducting. If mold gets in your air ducts, it readily dispurses microscopic seeds called spores that it uses to reproduce, as well as little other pieces of mold. These pieces and spores contain nasty toxins that can cause mold-sensitive people (like children, people with asthma and respiratory problems, and older people) to have allergic reactions. The reactions can range from minor to VERY BIG DEAL: short term memory loss, neurological problems (brain), problems trying to concentrate (think A.D.D. kids).

If mold is getting into the air in your home, through cracks in the ceiling to allow basement or attic air into living space, or another source, seek a professional for CHEMICAL-FREE MOLD REMEDIATION. In homes, people should not use anything other than common household cleaners to get rid of mold problems. These include Lysol, Tilex, and Chlorox Bleach. Biocides are dangerous and many leave a residue for up to 6 months that ‘keeps on killing’. This is unnecessary and as harmful to people to breathe as mold in some cases! Biocides and other chemicals should never be used in a/c ducting. This spreads the chemicals in the air as well. If you have mold that you cannot afford to properly get rid of, like behind wallpaper, LEAVE THE WALLPAPER ON or leave the mold-infested wall/ceiling cavity alone, wipe any surface mold away with soap and water until you can afford to get rid of the mold problem, and make sure the cavity that has mold is sealed so mold isn’t flying out in air drafts. When you open up a wall or peel wallpaper off to expose the mold, it releases many more toxins into the air, causing sensitive people to get even sicker, and helping the mold spread to other moist parts of your home.

If you think you need immediate help with mold remediation, contact ThinkDwell and inquire about chemical-free mold remediation certified professionals coming to inspect and resolve your mold issues.