Houzz Logo Print
robsmama

How to achieve a healthy house (for people's health not green)

robsmama
Год(а)/Лет назад: 11
My husband and I are building a house. We have two kids with significant health problems (lung disease, immune system problems, and many others). We would like out house to be as healthy as possible for them. We do not want any of the materials in our home to be toxic or contribute to health problems. Any advice on what materials to use, how to do it, what to avoid.

What we think know. Please correct me if I am wrong:
- fiber glass in the air conditioning shafts is bad
- formaldehyde in glues and others stuff is bad. What is it all in? What substitutes are there?
- No carpet
- attics and other places like these can contribute to "dirty air"
- paint and barnish is very toxic so we have to use low VOC and let them off gas for at least two weeks (is this right? Is pre fabricated better?
- pesticides and other products are used to treat wood and can be bad for you. Where can we find wood without these
- foam insulation is terrible and most insulation has carcinogens. Any recommendations here/

What we would like to use
- we will use huge industrial size fair filters
- concrete floors and wood upstairs
- organic paint or low VOC

Another concern is that we can't find many professionals who know about health issues in building materials and houses. Everyone keeps trying to sell is a green home. I know many of the green concepts go hand in hand with people's health but not completley. I keep saying I want "people healthy" not "environmental healthy: and so they admit to knwo know what we need.

Please point me to more info or let me know what you think.

Thanks!!!

Комментарии: 18

  • PRO
    Brickwood Builders, Inc.
    Год(а)/Лет назад: 11
    Wow. Can't address many of your issues, but can say that we would recommend a fully enclosed crawl space (if your home will have a crawl space) to prevent mold, mildew and moisture issues that affect a home.

    You can specify formaldehyde free for cabinetry (understanding that there are still small amounts present). I don't know if you can specify formaldehyde free for other building materials. I guess you can google and see.

    Good luck to you. I don't think many builders are going to have all the answers. It will most likely be selecting someone who is willing to take the journey with you to research everything, but they will probably not do it for free. If you have found someone who may not know all the answers, but is interested and is willing to help, it may be beneficial to hire them.
  • onthefence
    Год(а)/Лет назад: 11
    Последние изменения: Год(а)/Лет назад: 11
    You may have already done this, but I just did a search for "home for people with chemical sensitivity" and found a few interesting articles.

    One of the articles links to a database of "healthier' materials. The database is called Pharos Project. I know nothing about this database - but thought it might be helpful to you. Here's the article: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/helping-people-multiple-chemical-sensitivity

    You may have to be a trailblazer here. Best of luck to you!
  • cyn222
    Год(а)/Лет назад: 11
    Avoid carpeting.
  • robsmama
    Автор
    Год(а)/Лет назад: 11
    Thank you all for replying to my post. Onthefence, the link you posted was FANTASTIC! It lead me to all kinds of great information. Thanks you!
  • robsmama
    Автор
    Год(а)/Лет назад: 11
    Последние изменения: Год(а)/Лет назад: 11
    Ironwood Builders, THANK YOU for such thorough info!!! I feel like you just saved me hours of research! I will get the magazine as well. Wish you were in Houston :-)
  • PRO
    Ironwood Builders
    Год(а)/Лет назад: 11
    Anytime! I must say that I wish you lived here...the commute would be so much easier!
  • PRO
    Brickwood Builders, Inc.
    Год(а)/Лет назад: 11
    Ironwood, that was great. CA is a different world. I looked here in NC for three weeks to try to locate formaldehyde free cabinets and never found a source where we could actually see the cabinets. I guess other products could be special ordered.
  • PRO
    Ironwood Builders
    Год(а)/Лет назад: 11
    Deborah, For one project we brought in (before formaldehyde free CA) engineered joists and plywood from Canada. Committing to and finding the resources is not cheap or easy. Material testing takes planning and sometimes, like our caulking, months of time before an acceptable product is found and approved. Both contractor and homeowner need patience and positive attitude to do the job correctly. Natural, healthy construction is much more expensive than tract home or even standard custom home construction. One of our clients was terribly affected by electromagnetic fields and insisted on all wiring being encased in metal. Even using armored cable this added 20% to the electrical costs. As always, proper prior planning prevents p poor performance.
  • PRO
    Linda
    Год(а)/Лет назад: 11
    ironwood, I'm just curious...isn't all your electric encased in metal conduit with only short lengths of BX or greenfield? Does CA actually allow Romex?
  • PRO
    Matt Patterson Custom Homes
    Год(а)/Лет назад: 11
    You are doing the most by eliminating carpet. Texas allows Romex in all but a few places. running conduit make affordable housing difficult. Try air and water filtration systems. Close your toilet seat when you flush. Google that up if you want to get grossed out.
  • PRO
    Linda
    Год(а)/Лет назад: 11
    I'm in NW Chicagoland and conduit is required here, although travel a few miles further from Chicago and Romex (and PEX for water also) is OK. We see lots of Romex put in by homeowners and in basements and attics which were finished without permits.
  • PRO
    Ironwood Builders
    Год(а)/Лет назад: 11
    Romex and PEX are approved for use by the CA building code, though some building departments or municipalities have tighter restrictions. San Francisco required all drain, waste and vent to be cast iron or copper and all water supplies to be copper. I haven't worked there in years and if I ever go back, picking up the most recent guidelines is the first thing I'll do. Commercial work is a different code and conduit or armored cable and the heavier plumbing pipe are required. I guess they felt they had to throw the home builders a bone...residential construction is affected by so many other requirements...structural for earthquake, fire, green building...
  • PRO
    Illinois Green Alliance
    Год(а)/Лет назад: 9
    Perhaps you have completed your project by now, but for anyone else in the Chicago area looking for information on building healthy, "green" homes go to the US Green Building Council - Illinois Chapter website: www.usgbc-illinois.org. Also, mark your calendars for the 2014 GreenBuilt Home Tour which takes place July 26-27. For more info on the tour, go to: www.greenbuilthometour.org.
  • Danielle Rayoum
    Год(а)/Лет назад: 8
    This post is old, so I thought I would check in. Ironwood builders, is there a new caulk out that is better than the poly with the off gas period? Love this post.
  • Danielle Rayoum
    Год(а)/Лет назад: 8
    Also, is geothermal safe?
  • PRO
    Ironwood Builders
    Год(а)/Лет назад: 8
    Danielle, your comment pulled me back! CA has much stricter air quality regulations than anywhere else in the country. Most manufacturers are making some sort of low VOC product for the CA and emerging green markets. All our caulks and adhesives in residential construction are now low VOC by regulation. Are they as good? Some are and some aren't. Paint is not what it used to be in both good and bad ways. I haven't done a "healthy home" for a few years now and staying on top of product research in a changing world is challenging. I can't really render an opinion as yet...but will say that low VOC or not, testing EVERY product with material sensitive clients is necessary.
  • PRO
    Ironwood Builders
    Год(а)/Лет назад: 8
    Geothermal is. broad topic. We have a geothermal electric plant here in Sonoma County (the Geysers). If you mean a water furnace, where underground pipes circulate water (with glycol...antifreeze) and condense the 55 degree subterranean temps in a heat exchange coil or heat pump, then yes....it is just as safe as an electric heat pump. The caveat is that both systems work with a forced air unit (FAU). Same thing as a standard furnace with gas, heating oil or electricity. Ducts get dirty and dusty over time, so a good electronic filter will keep things clean. In healthy homes you need to insist on sealed metal ducts, not flexible plastic and insulation ducts. The metal ducts can be cleaned by duct cleaning services and sealing them (and wrapping them with insulation) provides better energy conservation. On the unsafe side are active volcanos...a different sort of geothermal!