Clean Air In Buildings

   More government legislation coming on home efficiency and ventilation. YEA! The Clean Air in Buildings Challenge is promoting monitoring Indoor Air Quality in our built environment. Long overdue.

   Pandemic control requires IAQ control for good health indoors. Schools are way behind the mark as are other municipal and office buildings, not to mention homes... As climate chases us, more and more indoors, our shelter needs us to take greater responsibility for indoor air quality. Smart thermostats are the central control system, HVAC companies have to get up to speed on this. Continuous conditioning is becoming the norm as lifestyle and structure changes in tighter buildings requires tuning. A system that is programed to adjust to loads requires expert skills at commissioning with ongoing tweaks to respond to occupant behavior. When I model a new home or audit an existing one, my agreement with the occupant is for 4 seasons after CO is issued or the retrofit is done. I suggest that my HVAC buddies look at the "Set it and forget it." mentality and add it to their service contracts, some surely already have. Heathy homes, safe shelter and sustainable efficiency is the future. Get On Board!

Healthy Home

 These days there is a lot of research on the effect of weatherization on indoor air quality. A recent study here in Knoxville of the monetary benefit of whole house makeovers show a home can benefit some 5 times more savings through reduced asthma and respiratory occurrences. Tightening up a home and providing ventilation is a 2 fold improvement in both economic gain and occupant health. Get an energy audit and improve your health as well as reduce your utility cost. Win Win!

     A recent home we helped design tested at .40ACH50 and has recorded a utility cost of $.48 per day. Simple, sensitive HVAC and IAQ systems control thermal comfort and good air quality. Air tightness, good windows and doors and imperative. We should all benefit from modern building science. Science works!

     Hope for Homes legislation needs your help. Contact your senators and Representatives to help pass Hope for Homes bills. This legislation will aid the weatherization of our built environment, making houses more efficient and healthier.

 Get a blower door test if you want to improve your home's efficiency and health. Most homes built before2018 code requirements leak like a sieve. A home cannot be too tight so long as you provide makeup air. Get an energy audit today.

 Hope for Homes is US Gov't legislation designed to help home owners to improve their quality of life. Please contact your House and Senate representatives to approve this legislation.

 There seems to be no end to the misinformation about the correlation between air quality and envelope tightness. To be clear, a home CANNOT be too tight. Once air tightness is accomplished the effectiveness and necessity for ventilation becomes paramount. You are pissing in the wind trying to control IAQ without a tight home. Air tightness allows for good continuous ventilation and adds quality of life for the occupants by providing filtered fresh air.