Health & Safety

Ventilation

Unsealed homes generally have a significant amount of natural air infiltration. When a home is air sealed, natural ventilation may be reduced to the point where a source of mechanical ventilation is required. In any case it is preferable to have a predictable source of fresh air rather than depending on a leaky house and random gusts of wind to keep your indoor air fresh and healthy. An under-ventilated home will feel stuffy, unpleasant and may have unhealthy levels of indoor pollutants in it. Combustion appliances may also be negatively affected.

Mechanical ventilation can take the form of a quiet and energy efficient bathroom fan set up and rated to run 24/7, or an energy recovery ventilator (ERV) which balances incoming and outgoing airflow. ERV's also are able to capture heat from the outgoing airstream and transfer it to the incoming stream. This reduces the cost of reheating the incoming air on a winter day.

Exhaust fans as well as a naturally occurring stack effect can backdraft combustion appliance creating potentially harmful conditions for the occupants. For this reason combustion safety tests should always be performed before to confirm that all systems are operating safely and efficiently.

Air Quality

Air quality can be affected by a multitude of factors including dust, moisture, mold, carbon monoxide, radon, off-gassing, occupant generated carbon dioxide, pets, allergens as well as pesticides in the crawlspace. Radon kills 20,000 people per year and is the second leading cause of lung cancer after cigarette smoking. Air sealing, high quality filters and mechanical ventilation can greatly improve air quality and increase the safety and comfort of the home's occupants.

Combustion appliance safety

Carbon monoxide poisoning is the leading cause of poisoning in the United States and kills over 2000 people a year. In addition, more than 15,000 nonfatal poisonings occur annually from this colorless, odorless and tasteless poison. Symptoms of severe headaches, dizziness and nausea are often mistaken for the flu. Children are particularly susceptible to damaging consequences. As a part of our home evaluation we test all combustion appliances for safety and CO levels. After any air sealing work is completed we test the appliances again to ensure that they that they have not been negatively impacted by the work performed.