Healthy Homes Now

Indoor Air Quality and Energy Savings - Both Essential for Green Buildings and Green Homes

The "green" building movement has two opportunities for energy savings: one before the meter and one after. Before the meter is the utility cost. After the meter is the cost of running the HVAC system and lighting. Optimizing HVAC (about 40% of the consumption) for energy and IAQ is an important outcome for green buildings. One way to assess the performance of the HVAC system is to monitor key parameters, e.g. temperature, humidity, ventilation, particles - in the breathing zone. 

Sealing leaky ducts - Energy & IAQ Concerns

Leaky ductwork means your conditioned air is going to another space in your building or home - instead of where it's supposed to go. This can be expensive if your heated air is leaking into your ceiling or wall space. Yes, some of the heat will find it's way back into the space it was intended for, but why heat (or cool) these interstitial spaces? Another problem with leaky ductwork is on the return side. Think about the lovely spaces through which the return ducts run. Now imagine the air, particles, spores and fibers from these dark dingy spaces being drawn into the return duct through the leaks. Not a pretty picture as all this stuff starts recirculating through your home, school or work area. Sealing leaks can be challenging since typically not all the ductwork is accessible. I like the product offered by Carrier Corporation - called AEROSEAL It seals leaks from the inside - amazing process. Check it out: (www.aeroseal.com). 

Green Homes - Green AND CLEAN

I've come across several 'Green Building' articles that emphasize reduced energy consumption in homes. These articles fail to mention the Green aspect of indoor environmental quality. As we seal and insulate our houses to conserve heat and cooling we can lower our electric and gas bills. But a tight home means we breathe in all the recirculated particles, chemicals and biological pollutants. As a result we may be compromising our health and increasing our doctor bills! So what's the answer? Whole House Air Exchange systems. The main purpose of these systems is to bring in fresh outside to dilute the build up of contaminants and exhaust the particle ladden stale air. They've been in the building codes in Canada since 2002. The beauty of these systems is they use an energy recovery core to capture the heat (or cooling) from a portion of the return air.

What whole house air exchange system is the leading seller by far in Canada?  http://shop.healthyhomesnow.com/category.sc?categoryId=6