MCALLEN – The green-colored studs in the frame of a home under construction in north McAllen give the first hint that this is no ordinary house. Among the many that go up daily in this booming section of the country, this home is unique.
The 5,000 square-foot home is being built using the latest technologies to keep homes free of moisture, mold and insects. It is the brainchild and new family home of Dr. Mani Skaria, who plans to also use the new structure as a classroom for builders and homeowners.
“With a little knowledge, and by being proactive in the building process, it is relatively easy and inexpensive to build a home that minimizes the impact of things that harm our health and damage our homes,” he said.
Skaria is a plant pathologist and professor at the Texas A&M-Kingsville Citrus Center in Weslaco. But in addition, Skaria has also become a mold expert. This fall he will again teach an online mold class for engineering and biology students from all over the country.
Skaria’s new project home has attracted industry support, including an invitation to give a talk at the annual Builders’ Show in January in Orlando, Fla.
A live, radio remote on “The Davis Rankin Show” on KURV 710 Talk Radio will broadcast for two hours from the construction site beginning at 9 a.m. on Sept. 29.
Marcie Alamia, executive vice president of the Rio Grande Valley Builders Association in McAllen, said Skaria’s project home is of great benefit to builders and the public.
“To learn this type of information our builders would have to travel to a yearly national meet and attend a seminar,” she said. “But having this in our area is great for the local industry, as well as educational for the home-buying public. I took a tour of the home and was fascinated with what I learned.”
Skaria, who is opening his home to anyone who wants to learn about new construction methods, said it’s all about education, not profit.
“My interest in mold began 16 years ago when I became very ill from allergens in a home I was living in,” he said. “The more I learned, the more passionate I became about eliminating those things in our homes or offices that make us sick. I learned so much about preventative construction that I realized the best way to teach what I’d learned was to build a demonstration home.”
Among the innovations in the home are pre-treated lumber to prevent mold and termite damage, membrane wraps on the roof and walls to repel moisture, glass fiber drywall that won’t retain moisture, tear- and moisture-proof foundation sheeting, pipes that won’t leak from water hardness damage, and pipe penetrations that keep insects from invading the home.
“We’re also using a new insulation that reduces humidity and insulates a home much better than products currently being used,” Skaria said. “Many of our building techniques and products are relatively cheap, but they must be installed at the time of construction to provide years of protection. And that’s where the education comes in – you’ve got to know this information before you build.”
Joe Flores, owner of J.F. Energy Consultants in Mission, said, “Dr. Skaria’s home project will go a long way to convince builders and the public that there are many new ways to make a house more efficient while creating a good indoor environmental quality for the family that lives there.”
The house will be electronically monitored by Skaria over the next few years to track temperature, relative humidity, dew points, carbon dioxide levels and allergens.
The recent introduction here of a new species of termite makes anti-insect and anti-moisture efforts more important than ever, Skaria said.
Dr. Victor French, an entomologist and Skaria colleague at the Citrus Center, said Formosan termites pose a new threat to area homes.
“The Formosan termite is not yet widespread here,” French said, “but it has been identified here and compared to the subterranean termites we’re used to, the Formosan termite has an extremely high reproductive capacity, is very aggressive and difficult to control.”
Because Formosan termites seek and require moisture, a moisture-free home is less likely to attract such voracious insects, Skaria said.
“With proper construction and practical solutions, we can eliminate termites, moisture, mold, cockroaches, rodents, mites and allergens from our homes,” he said. “Unfortunately, there is a lack of knowledge, not just locally but nationally, on how to do this.”
The project home is being built by Premier Homes of McAllen. Owner Fidel Paras Jr. said, “Improving the quality of life by creating a healthy environment in our homes is our goal. I’m very pleased to be a part of this project with Dr. Skaria.”
For more information, contact Skaria at (956) 968-2132, or e-mail m-skaria@tamu.edu.
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