Separating ourselves from air pollutants is the next step we can take to improve the indoor air quality in our homes. Whether remodeling a home, building new or just content to stay where you are at, these steps are easy and pretty inexpensive. As you know from previous blogs they are in sequential order: Eliminate, Separate, Filtrate and Ventilate. And since a truly high performance green home is not just energy efficient but also healthy, it just makes sense for us to learn how to implement these practices if we want to live in a modern home. Let us now discuss Separation and Ventilation, the 2nd and 3rd steps in improving our indoor air quality.

Gasoline and oil, paints, paint thinners and pool, lawn and garden chemicals are some of the many chemicals in our lives we choose not to live without. Hence our goal is to separate ourselves from these chemicals wherever possible. Those means storing them in the garage or if you are building a new home, build it with a detached garage. In some cases building a storage shed is an even better solution to reduce our exposure. Because you are separated from them and not sharing the nearby dangerous air, you can live safely with the knowledge your clients will not be breathing these harmful air pollutants.

But if the garage is attached to the home, you clearly cannot separate them from each other. In this case you have to completely air seal the common wall and attic between the house and garage. That can usually be accomplished with caulks and foam sealants but in some cases you may actually need a carpenter to get into the attic and frame the space closed. This by the way, is not just a good means of preventing the pollutants from enter the house it is a critical fire safety feature which can slow down a garage fire trying to enter the home.

Regardless of whether the garage is detached or attached, ventilating polluted air is the next step in improving your indoor air quality. In the garage, simply install a solar powered ventilation fan that operates on a timer and sensor which is triggered by a car entering the garage. That will ensure the nasty fumes in the garage are regularly vented out and away from the house. Since it doesn’t use energy to operate and shuts off automatically this is really tough to be beat!

Because our cooking, cleaning, bathing and washing activities all increase the moisture level in our homes to levels not considered healthy we also need to learn how to properly ventilate our bathrooms and kitchen. That simply entails installing ventilation fans in these areas and ducting through the attic and out the roof. When buying a ventilation fan consider the following:

• An Energy Star rated fan will use less energy and have a noise rating so that it doesn’t disturb your next dinner party!
• Make sure the fan is properly sized for the size area it is ventilating because each fan has different capacities.
• Put your fans on timers or humidistats that will automatically turn them off or on

Consider these discussion tips with your next client::

• Add a fan to the laundry room. After all, with laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, pet food, litter boxes and wet and dirty clothes there is likely no other room that needs venting more than our laundry rooms!
• If the budget allows, adding a central vacuum system will make an unbelievable difference in reducing dust levels in your home when you clean.
• If you are replacing floors then install hard surfaces instead carpet which can be a big dust collector.
• Let them know you will take these basic safeguards during construction: 1. regularly change out the return air filters, 2. seal off the supply registers in the work areas and 3. Continuously operate temporary fans to blow the construction air outside the home.
• Recommend higher quality windows-they have lower air infiltration leakage ratings (not to mention they are more energy efficient)

In the next and final blog of our “Green Air is Clean Air” series you will learn the 4th and final step required to safeguard the air you and your family breathe in your home today.

To visit our next green certified home under construction or to answer your questions on how to improve your family’s indoor air quality you can contact me at Michael@GreenHausBuilders.com

Separating ourselves from air pollutants is the next step we can take to improve the indoor air quality in our homes.

• An Energy Star rated fan will use less energy and have a noise rating so that it doesn’t disturb your next dinner party! 
• Make sure the fan is properly sized for the size area it is ventilating because each fan has different capacities.
• Put your fans on timers or humidistats that will automatically turn them off or on 

• Add a fan to the laundry room. After all, with laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, pet food, litter boxes and wet and dirty clothes there is likely no other room that needs venting more than our laundry rooms! 
• If the budget allows, adding a central vacuum system will make an unbelievable difference in reducing dust levels in your home when you clean. 
• If you are replacing floors then install hard surfaces instead carpet which can be a big dust collector.
• Let them know you will take these basic safeguards during construction: 1. regularly change out the return air filters, 2. seal off the supply registers in the work areas and 3. Continuously operate temporary fans to blow the construction air outside the home. 
• Recommend higher quality windows-they have lower air infiltration leakage ratings (not to mention they are more energy efficient) 

As Americans we spend + 90% of our time indoors, oftentimes inside homes that are built tighter than ever. But since our homes, especially those built before 2006, usually lack the proper ventilation as defined by ASHRAE, we are also getting sicker than ever simply by breathing that unventilated and inadequately filtered air. Consider the following information from the American Lung Association:

• 5.9%-10.5% of Americans suffer from asthma depending on the state you live in
• 12.4 million children under age 18 had an asthma attack in 2006. It is the most common chronic disorder in childhood
• $ 14.7 Billion is the direct cost of asthma related health care
• $ 5 Billion is the indirect cost of the same
• 66% of the adults that die each year from asthma are women

So our homes are being built tighter, which is a good thing because leaky homes cost more to heat and cool. But because we are not properly cleaning and exchanging the stale air with fresh air from outdoors we are now seeing increases in allergies, asthma and other breathing disorders. What’s a person to do?!

Fortunately, according to the NAHB, there are four easy and pretty inexpensive steps we can all take: Eliminate, Separate, Ventilate and Filtrate. This article will focus on eliminating these pollutants from our homes right from the start. That means eliminating the toxins inside our cabinets and on our bookshelves. That’s right. It’s time we part ways with the incense, perfumed candles, so called air “fresheners” and other chemical laden household cleaners we buy in the grocery store. Sorry, but smokers need to smoke outside and while I do not recommend getting rid of our pets, we should at least brush and wash them outdoors where the pet dander belongs. Bringing clothes home from the cleaners? Remove the plastic covering and let them air out in the backyard for 5-10 minutes as well-let that nasty formaldehyde blow away. And think about your sheets, bed covers and pillow cases. When you get all curled up at night and pull them over your head are you snuggling up with organic, chemical free linens? Maybe its time to consider spending that little extra money and going chemical free?

Make sure you consider other basic safeguards to protect your client’s immediate and long term health during the remodeling or construction of their new home. Use building materials that are free of formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds. That includes name brand paints like Sherwin William’s Harmony line of paint that has no voc’s or carpets with Green Label Plus logo from the Carpet & Rug Institute. Use only insulation, cabinet materials, wallpaper, carpet, pads and adhesives that are formaldehyde free. For a true professional, these are common sense standards you will have no trouble following.

Now, while I have not reduced my own cleaning supplies to only vinegar and baking soda as my mom recommends, I do balance them with a line of Seventh Generation cleaning supplies which at least do not make my eyes bleed when I use them! The point here is the more we can eliminate unhealthy pollutants from ever getting in our homes in the first place, the less effort (and money) we will have to spend getting them back out!

As mentioned before this is a lot to cover but stay tuned and you will learn that building a healthy high performance homes can be easier and less expensive than just building a home focused on energy efficiency.


To answer your questions on how to improve your family’s indoor air quality you can contact me at Michael@GreenHausBuilders.com

Michael Strong, CGR, GMB, CGP, CAPS

President, GreenHaus Builders
Builder of Houston’s 1st LEED Home
2008 NAHB Green Remodeling Advocate of the Year