by Charles Hendricks | Jan 22, 2016 | Building Science, Indoor Air Quality
If your crawl space looks like this:
then your indoor air quality is suffering. You are also paying too much to heat and cool your home. Vented crawl spaces usually have insulation located in the joist spaces. This insulation gets pulled away from the heated surface by moisture in the space, which opens up air gaps and reduces any insulation value at all. The space usually has high humidity levels promoting mold growth. The heating and cooling vents running in that space usually have minimal insulation allowing for condensation to occur in the ductwork, again impacting indoor air quality and efficiency of the HVAC system.
Instead of a vented crawl space in our mixed humid climate, you should have a conditioned crawl space – like this one. Here is an example of an excellently sealed space.
My community’s wellbeing is our main concern, so give us a call for some great referrals to businesses that you can trust. If you are looking to build your home or business, read this post about how to achieve a healthy building through proper HVAC installation.
by Charles Hendricks | Dec 21, 2015 | Building Science, Green Building, green term defined, Indoor Air Quality
Green Terms Defined Summary 2015
2012 International Energy Conservation Code: Minimum energy code standards adopted by the Commonwealth of Virginia
Air Changes per Hour (ACH): the measure how many times the air within a defined space is replaced.
ASHRAE 90.1: a standard in the US that provides minimum requirements for energy-efficient designs for buildings except for low-rise residential buildings.
Carbon Footprint: a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases we produce.
Carbon Neutral Building: the process of taking into account measuring, reducing, and offsetting carbon energy used by the building.
Cellulose Insulation: a low-thermal-conductivity material use to reduce heat loss and gain from a building.
Ceramic tile: made from clay that has been permanently hardened by heat, often having a decorative glaze.
Commissioning: verification and documentation that a building and the systems used are designed, installed, tested, operated, and maintained to meet the project requirements set by the building owner.
Conduction: the flow of heat through an object by transferring heat from one molecule to another. Think frying pan on a stove or wood stud that touches the inside drywall and the outside wall sheathing.
Convection: refers to the transfer of heat by a moving fluid. Thing warm air rising and cool air sinking in a room. Convection loops circulate near walls. During the heating season, warm air is cooled by exterior walls and falls towards the floor, creating a convection loop. Convective loops can also happen within framing cavities if the insulation doesn’t completely fill the space.
Edible landscaping: the practical integration of food plants within your landscape for the purposes of decorating as well as producing food.
Erosion: the removal of soil and rock by water from one location to another.
ERV or Energy Recovery Ventilator: part of a balanced ventilation system that transfers water vapor and heat from one airstream to another.
Flashing: a strip of impervious material used to stop water from penetrating the junction of a wall or roof with another surface.
Fly Ash: a fine, glass like powder recovered from the coal-burning process for the production of electricity.
Formaldehyde: A gas used widely in production of adhesives, plastics, preservatives, and fabric treatments and commonly emitted by indoor materials that are made with its compounds.
Grasslands Conservation Carbon Offsets: similar to forestry, native grasses and other vegetation provide a natural source of greenhouse gas (GHG) absorption and sequestration.
Historic Building: a structure that has historic, architectural, or cultural significance.
Humidistat: an electronic device that measures the relative humidity in a space.
HVAC: Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning system in your home or business.
Infrared Thermography, thermal imaging, or thermal video: a type of infrared imaging used for determining air leakage in energy audits.
Insulated concrete form (ICF): a wall building system made of reinforced concrete and most commonly rigid thermal insulation.
Insulating Curtains: Thermal curtains have a lining that resists temperature change and are heavy enough to stop air flow.
Interior design: the art or process of designing the interior of a room or building.
Karst Topography: an area of irregular limestone in which erosion has produced fisures, sinkholes, underground streams and caverns.
Lifetime Home: A design approach that encompasses specific design features that ensure that a new house or apartment will meet the current and future needs of most households.
Light Shelf: a horizontal overhanging element located above the eye-level and typically having a highly reflective upper surface.
Linoleum: a resilient flooring product that was developed in the 1800’s. It consists of cork flour, linseed oil, oak dust, and jute.
Natural Ventilation: the process of supplying and removing air by natural means from building spaces by using windows, doors, solar chimneys, and non-powered ventilators.
Net Metering: a method of crediting consumers for the electricity that is generated on their home or business in excess of the total electricity that they have used.
No-Step Entry or zero-step entry: a flush entry from the driveway or garage into your home.
Pervious Concrete: concrete that allows water to move through the material into a storage area under the pavement.
Radiation: flow of heat from a warm source through space in waves of infrared or visible light energy. Think sunlight through a window.
Renovation: the act of repurposing / updating / remodeling of a building.
Resilient Design: the capacity of a design to adapt to changing conditions and to maintain or regain functionality and vitality in the face of stress or disturbance.
Single-stream recycling: a process or system where all paper, plastics, metals, cardboard, glass, and trash goes into the same can and is sorted by the facility into separate commodities.
Solatube: a tubular daylighting system
Specifications: define the requirements regarding materials, products, installation and quality aspects pertaining to the execution of the work and contract.
Thermal Bridge: where heat occurs across more conductive components in an otherwise well-insulated material, resulting in disproportionately significant heat loss.
Tiny House: home designed to be less than 1,000 sf
Vampire Load: the power consumed by electronics and appliances while they are technically switched off or in standby mode.
Vapor Barrier: a barrier that reduces the rate that water vapor can move through a material.
Wastewater: water from bathtubs, shower drains, sinks, washing machines, and dishwashers is considered grey water.
WaterSense: a label program created by the Environmental Protection Agency for consumers to easily identify water efficient products.
Weatherization: the practice of using cost-effective strategies to modify a building to decrease energy usage and increase comfort.
Window: Casement or Double-Hung glass opening in a wall system.
by Charles Hendricks | Dec 7, 2015 | green term defined, Indoor Air Quality
Natural Ventilation is the process of supplying and removing air by natural means from building spaces by using windows, doors, solar chimneys, and non-powered ventilators.
solar chimney
Most of us spend about 90% of our time inside of a building. As a result, the indoor air quality is critical to our health, productivity, and comfort. Scientific studies clearly show that buildings with proper fresh air ventilation improves productivity and health for occupants. If designed right, proper natural ventilation can be used to increase comfort and reduce energy bills.
Read more from our Green Term Defined series here:
Green Term Defined: HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning System)
Green Term Defined: Energy Audit
by Charles Hendricks | Aug 14, 2015 | architecture, Building Science, Harrisonburg Architect, Indoor Air Quality
There are some common things on the wish list for most custom homes. Clients want an open floor plan, lots of light, a beautiful kitchen, luxurious master bathroom, and connection to the outside. However, it is not often asked for – healthy indoor air quality.
Materials, structure, and the heating, ventilation, and cooling systems all contribute to indoor air quality. Making the right selections in all these areas is critical.
Fireplace
There are common elements that impact indoor air quality. A fireplace is a leak in the building envelope. When there is a leak, it will either bring dirty air into the home or pull dirty air through the building envelope into the home. This also happens with restroom ventilation fans, crawl space, and duct work.
Ductwork
If the ductwork is not tight, it will actually spread dirty air around your house. Insulate it right and seal it tight.
Building Envelope
The building envelope is critical in the design of a home for healthy indoor air quality. Keeping the air from moving through the walls will allow you to filter make up air through a filtration system. This will, along with a fresh air system, keep the air flowing through your house healthy and clean.
Moisture
Also, and this one has big impacts to durability and indoor air quality, keep the water out of the wall system. Water infiltration in your home will contribute to indoor air quality faster than anything else.
Finally, the materials used in your home impacts indoor air quality. Do the materials you use have VOC’s? What chemicals will they off gas into your air? Are they easy to clean? What do you use to clean the materials used? All of these questions impact indoor air quality and should be considered.
It is not going to be on the top of your list, but include healthy indoor air quality when building or renovating.
by Charles Hendricks | Jul 4, 2015 | architecture, green term defined, Indoor Air Quality
Green Term Defined: Lifetime Home
A design approach that encompasses specific design features that ensure that a new house or apartment will meet the current and future needs of most households. The space is designed for any ability, not just specific disabilities. The space can adapt to changing needs over time and allow for life to happen. The space makes life easier if you have a baby in a stroller and a trunk full of groceries or if you are aging-in-place and start facing mobility issues.
A lifetime home is not an often talked about green idea. However, building a home that can adapt to your changing needs reduces the chances of you needing to move. This reduces energy and materials used in the future. It also encourages you to build a more durable, energy-efficient, home since your timeline for thinking about costs will be many more years.
The key factors to think about for a lifetime home are:
- A place to arrive at your home that is safe, comfortable, and accessible for all abilities.
- A way to get into your home that is level or gently sloping, has a comfortable width, and is properly lit at night.
- An entrance that is wide enough, weather protected, has a level landing, and is properly lit at night.
- An open floorplan and doors that are wide enough for a wheelchair or walker. Avoid tight corners.
- Turning spaces for a wheelchair or walker in all spaces – hallway, kitchen, bathroom, closets.
- All living functions on the same level or an elevator to access other levels of the home. This includes a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and living room. The bathroom should be accessible for someone in a wheelchair or someone assisting the user in the space.
- A roll-in shower with a rear linear drain to prevent flooding.
- Blocking or plywood underlayment on walls in areas where you might need grab bars in the future. This includes the shower, around the water closet, and hallway.
- Hoists blocking in bedrooms and bathrooms to give the appropriate ceiling support that might be needed in the future.
- Easy to open windows – casement windows are a nice solution as you can crank them out from a seated position.
- Front mounted controls, adjusted electric outlet and light switch heights, accessible HVAC controls.
- Multi-height working surfaces in the kitchen with some roll under seated space. A bonus would be a sink that has a removable base cabinet should you ever need that option. Don’t forget storage, a wall cabinet mounted at traditional heights is not easy to use from a seated position, so a large pantry closet can be used for accessible storage.
- An energy-efficient building envelope. It has to be efficient to be affordable.
- A durable home that does not require daily maintenance and will last for, well, a lifetime.
- A heathy indoor environmental quality. This is very important to consider for a lifetime home and touches materials used (VOCs) and the ventilation strategy for the heating and cooling system. Your home should not make you sick.
- Affordable – probably the most important aspect of a lifetime home is to design and build something that you are comfortable paying for and can afford over a lifetime.
by Charles Hendricks | May 9, 2015 | architecture, Indoor Air Quality
If you are thinking of building a new home – you should consider these questions first.
1. What is a typical day for you and your family? What can be done to make things easier and more organized – cubbies, laundry chute, kitchen island?
2. Think about the activities, parties, and gatherings you want to host at your home. From a daily dinner to the occasional social party, what is your dream life?
3. How long do you plan to stay in this home? Is it your lifetime home? Do you want to make your home marketable for future resale?
4. Do you work at home? Do you have a different schedule from your spouse? Do you like to bake? Do you work out at home? Do you read in your bedroom? Do you watch television?
5. Do you want your home to have technology to help you manage daily activities?
6. Do you want to have low electric bills, low maintenance lists, and healthy indoor-air-quality?
7. Are you or someone in your family concerned about mobility problems? Parents are in a wheelchair? Back problems run in the family?
8. How much land do you want? Enough for a garden? Small enough not to have to mow?
9. Do you want particular spaces in your home? Gym? Walk-in Pantry? # of bedrooms? Dining room? Family Room?
10. Do you have any particular types or style that you prefer? Colonial? Modern? Prairie?
These questions start to establish the life you want to live in this new place. A custom home is designed to facilitate your dream life and support those goals. It should be adaptable over time as life situations change and evolve.
