Science Forums 2

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by Ganoderma

nice roof gardens! i tried that and ended up with a leaky cracked concrete roof....now i just keep green decks

Yes I had problems too mainly because my Crazy Irish Electrician cut a hole in the roof to put the electrical wiring in.
Me: Talking to him on the roof looking at a 4 foot diameter hole.
"But I have spent thousands putting the power underground Look down there"
"O"
"How am I going to waterproof this!!!
I doon't know. It ain't go'n ta be easy"

Never did water proof it, leaked down into the power box no-matter what I did

I did this 25 years ago and roof waterproofing polymers have gone a long way since then. They were hard to find when I was building. (You can always use copper sheets-talk to me first.)

Another Crazy Irish Electrician story.
He was very high up on tip-toe on top of a ladder putting in a light-fitting when the was a tremendous BOOM!
He was thrown though the air for about 30 feet
He picked himself up; shook his head; and said
"I must remember to use an insulated screw driver." (TRUE STORY, I aged 10 years building. The builder helping me was also retarded. My answer if I din't know something as to go and find out. His answer to anything that didn't work was to bung a six inch nail in it.
MORAL hire a German electrician not an Irish one( or never build anything.)

I still wonder about some of those plants usefulness as air cleaners. some need much light....and things like cacti grow so slowly, how can they clean the air much (referring to some of the pics with cacti in their office). pretty, yes, useful not really.

Good question; Glad you asked.

Here is some work that NASA has done on plants. (formaldehyde has been banned in alot of countries now but it was/is/ a major air-pollutant in office blocks.) recently the ABC closed down one of it's buildings as a dozen women came down with breast cancer. The prof who investigated it said the chances of that happing by chance was more than a billion to one.

NASA

NASA Study shows common plants help reduce indoor air pollution....

Common indoor plants may provide a valuable weapon in the fight against rising levels of indoor air pollution.
Those plants in your office or home are not only decorative, but NASA scientists are finding them to be surprisingly useful in absorbing potentially harmful gases and cleaning the air inside modern buildings.

NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) have announced the findings of a 2-year study that suggest a sophisticated pollution-absorbing device: the common indoor plant may provide a natural way of helping combat "SICK BUILDING SYNDROME".
. . .
Philodendron, spider plant and the golden pothos were labeled the most effective in removing formaldehyde molecules.
Flowering plants such as gerbera daisy and chrysanthemums were rated superior in removing benzene from the chamber atmosphere.
Other good performers are Dracaena Massangeana, Spathiphyllum, and Golden Pothos. "Plants take substances out of the air through the tiny openings in their leaves," Wolverton said.
"But research in our laboratories has determined that plant leaves, roots and soil bacteria are all important in removing trace levels of toxic vapors".
. . .

TOP 10 plants most effective in removing: formaldehyde, benzene, and carbon monoxide from the air.

Common Name Scientific Name
Bamboo Palm Chamaedorea Seifritzii
Chinese Evergreen Aglaonema Modestum
English Ivy Hedera Helix
Gerbera Daisy Gerbera Jamesonii
Janet Craig Dracaena "Janet Craig"
Marginata Dracaena Marginata
Mass cane/Corn Plant Dracaena Massangeana
Mother-in-Law's Tongue Sansevieria Laurentii
Pot Mum Chrysantheium morifolium
Peace Lily Spathiphyllum "Mauna Loa"
Warneckii Dracaena "Warneckii

More here:_
NASA Study - Plants Clean the Air!!!

Plants "Clean" Air Inside Our Homes

A team of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) researchers lead by Dr. Bill Wolverton tested the effect of fifteen house plants on three pollutants known to be present in spacecrafts.
These same three pollutants--benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene--are present in homes and office buildings.
They occur because they are emitted from furnishings, office equipment and some building materials.

Under controlled conditions, in the NASA study, certain houseplants were found to remove as much as 87 percent of indoor air pollutants within 24 hours.
. . .

More HERE: (There is a good chart at this site showing where the main pollutants come from and the best plants for getting rid of each one.
Plants
NASA is having trouble funding future research This is a experiment (propaganda) exercise for kids
:: NASA Quest > Space ::
and
Teaming Up on Space Plants

More NASA

After 24 hours, spider plants removed:
96% CO, 99% NO2
After 24 hours, Golden pothos removed:
75% CO

Indoor Air Quality in Florida: Houseplants to Fight Pollution

Third photo across is plants growing in space
If we can grow them in space we can grow them anywhere.

Right: When building a "greenhouse" in space, the light source needs to be as efficient as possible to reduce energy demands. This picture shows wheat growing under Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) -- the same technology used for indicator lights in consumer electronics. LEDs save energy by only releasing light in frequencies that plants can use for photosynthesis.

Leafy Green Astronauts

Some Australian Research

"It is important to know that indoor plants can reduce the number of contaminants by up to 75% down to completely negligible levels," she said on 774 ABC Melbourne’s Saturday Morning Gardening segment. "As far as we know, any standard indoor plant will do it, because it’s mainly the micro organisms of the potting mix which actually do the sucking up and degrading them harmless carbon dioxide. The plant does play a direct role, but its main task is feeding and supporting the micro organisms, and so you have a little microcosm there, a symbiotic relationship with the plants and microbes cooperating."

Indoor plants taking up volatile organic compounds :: ABC Melbourne
To me that sounds like a Terra preta style potting mix would be ideal!!

This is about the ABC 'sick building' I mentioned
[QUOTE]ABC to shut down Brisbane HQ amid cancer concerns
Reporter: Kathy McLeish

HEATHER EWART: In a dramatic and unprecedented move, the ABC has announced that its Brisbane headquarters is being shut down.
Relocation of hundreds of staff is already under way after experts confirmed high levels of breast cancer among workers.[/QUOTE] 7.30 Report - 21/12/2006: ABC to shut down Brisbane HQ amid cancer concerns