Healthy Home Building & Remodeling Basics. . .

Most homes earn the label “healthy homes” because they avoid using many of the chemical toxins that are so prevalent today in conventional construction that lead to “sick homes”. But health is far more than the absence of illness. From foundation to roof-top, building materials should be scrutinized carefully for chemical content, as well as for the ways their manufacturing and transportation to market impacts the environment. Further, homes should be wired for ElectroMagnetic Emissions reduction with special attention to their bedrooms; interior walls should be designed with materials for natural humidity control and negative ion-rich indoor climate; and special attention should be paid to whether your design provides ample and multi-directional day-lighting, cross-ventilation, outdoor “living rooms” and indoor green spaces that purposefully connect the home dwellers to the surrounding natural environment. And don’t overlook heating and cooling! Radiant heating and passive heating and cooling create a healthy and comfortable indoor environment, avoiding the noise, drafts, air stratification and dust associated with forced air heating and cooling.