Home Design and Construction
Simple decisions like designing the home to encourage shoe removal upon entry and carefully selecting healthy construction materials can greatly impact occupant health. Shoe racks at entry doors encourage people to not wear street shoes indoors and installing tile or wood floors are easier to clean that carpet. To prevent harmful off-gassing of pollutants, use low- or no-VOC (volatile organic compounds) paints, finishes, and caulks; cabinets, and composite wood products with no added Urea Formaldehyde; and avoid flexible vinyl flooring and vinyl backed carpets. During construction, cover HVAC registers and exhaust fans to keep equipment and duct work clean. Before occupancy, run all fans for 48 hours to remove any fumes that may remain from cabinets and finishes.
Building an air tight envelope is an essential element of creating a healthy home. This includes carefully air sealing all seams in exterior sheathing, around windows and doors, at attics, crawlspaces, and attached garages. Leaky homes allow humidity to sneak inside in the summer and outside in the winter. This creates opportunities for mold and mildew and requires more air conditioning in the summer and allows the house to dry out in the winter. Air sealing also helps keep out dust, dirt, pollen, and pests.
Once you have a tight home, it’s important to minimize the entry of pollutants and thoughtfully exhaust those created during normal operation. Combustion appliances, like water heaters and stoves, are potential sources of carbon monoxide and should be inspected for proper operation when present within the home. Exhaust fans remove moisture and odors from bathrooms and cooking fumes and odors from kitchens. They should be installed with rigid ductwork in a direct route to the outside. Avoid flex duct and adding extra turns as they can reduce airflow.
Mechanical ventilation either brings outside air into the house and distributes it through the HVAC system, exhausts air out of the house, or does both through an air to air heat exchanger, such as an Energy Recovery Ventilators (ERVs) or Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRVs).
