National Environmental Health Assn. 3/25/10
Indoor airPLUS Better Environments Inside and Out
What is a Healthy Home? 2
Healthy Homes are … • Dry • Pest-free • Ventilated • Safe • Clean • Maintained
• “Free” of Known
Health Risks,
including: –Lead, mercury, asbestos, –Tobacco smoke, –Radon, –CO, NOx, & other combustion pollutants –Formaldehyde & other VOC’s –Asthma triggers (mold & other biologicals, particles, pesticides, and other chemicals) 3
epa.gov/indoorairplus
NEHA RRNC March 2010 1
Qualified Homes Earn the Label
Quality Built Homes Healthy Home Testing, LLC
4 / 19 / 2009 4
Why Do Consumers Care About Indoor Air Quality? 5
1,800,000 # of ER Visits per year due to Asthma in the U.S. 6
NEHA RRNC March 2010 2
19% … of U.S. Households have at least One person with Asthma 7
20-50% Increased risk of asthma in damp houses 8 epa.gov/indoorairplus
9
NEHA RRNC March 2010 3
“My House is Killing Me”
10
Do homebuyers care about IAQ? • Moisture and mold litigation - Up [~9,000 moisture and mold court cases - American Banker, 1/03]
• Home moisture problem inquiries - High [30%, double the next closest subject - NAHB Research Center]
• Asthma prevalence - High [19% of US households have at least 1 person with asthma - EPA]
• Air cleaner product sales - Up [$1.2 Billion annual sales - Levin, 2005]
• Radon mitigation sales - Up [300% increase in home radon mitigations since 1990 - EPA] 11
“Clean Air is easy, right?” …
Air Fresheners
Air Cleaners
UV Lights
12
NEHA RRNC March 2010 4
13
When outside air is unhealthy …
Stay Inside?
14
2 to 5 times EPA estimates 2 to 5 times higher chemical pollutant levels indoors 15
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Why Do Builders Worry About Indoor Air Quality? 16
Defects No Longer Hidden
17
Infrared camera’s for sale …
18
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Defects Are Expensive to Fix
19
It’s All About Business
20
How Can Builders Sell Indoor Air Quality? 21
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$1 Billion Amount Americans spend per year on Indoor Air Quality at home. 22
If you help them make the connection
23
How To Sell Indoor airPLUS
24
NEHA RRNC March 2010 8
Solutions
Help avoid comfort callbacks, condensation/frost on windows, mold, asthma/allergies,etc.
25
Comfort Problems,
26
Courtesy: Tremco Barrier Solutions, Inc.
Make it Visible
Plus!
27
epa.gov/indoorairplus
NEHA RRNC March 2010 9
How To Verify Indoor airPLUS
28
How Verification Works
Check 1 box per row
29
How Verification Works
Rater and Builder both sign the completed checklist. Rater files checklist with HERS rating documents.
30
NEHA RRNC March 2010 10
Indoor airPLUS Label
Quality Built Homes Healthy Home Testing, LLC
4 / 19 / 2009 31
Let’s look inside … 32
ENERGY STAR
+ + +
Moisture Control
Healthier Materials
+
Pest Barriers
Safe Combustion
+
Radon Control
+
Effective HVAC 33
NEHA RRNC March 2010 11
Indoor airPLUS
Moisture Control
34
DRAFT Basement
35
DRAFT
Conditioned Crawlspace 36
NEHA RRNC March 2010 12
DRAFT
Siding 37
1.6 Fully Flash Windows & Doors
More Details …
38
DRAFT
Roof Flashing
39
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DRAFT
Roof Flashing
40
Indoor airPLUS
Radon Control
41
Note:High levels of Radon can be found in any home.
42
NEHA RRNC March 2010 14
2.1 Radon Resistant New Construction Zone 1 See 1.2 A. Gas Permeable Layer (4” clean gravel)
B. Plastic Sheeting
(under slab or over crawl space)
C. Sealing and Caulking (all openings in concrete floor) D. Vent Pipe (3 or 4 inch PVC pipe)
E. Junction Box
(if fan needed later)
43
2.2 Provide buyer 2 Radon test kits Zone 1 Zone 2
http://www.epa.gov/radon/radontest.html
44
Indoor airPLUS
+
Pest Barriers
45
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3.1 Seal foundation joints/penetrations 3.2 Pest screens
Detailed specification guidance
Air Sealing 46
Indoor airPLUS
Effective HVAC 47
4.1 HVAC load calc’s documented 4.2 Duct design documented 4.3 No HVAC in garages
OR HVAC & DUCTS IN GARAGE
Documented
Field Verified 48
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4.4 Rooms pressure balanced
JUMP DUCT
OR Pressure Tested ≤ 3 Pa 49
TRANSFER GRILLE
4.5 Whole House Ventilation 4.6 Local Exhaust Ventilation LOCAL EXHAUST FRESH AIR DAMPER
62.22007
BALANCED VENTILATION & HRV/ERV’s
50
DUCTED FRESH AIR SUPPLY
A House Needs to Breathe, Right? TABLE 4.1a (I-P) Ventilation Air Requirements, cfm Bedrooms Floor Area (ft2)
0-1
2-3
4-5
6-7
>7
7500
105
120
135
150
165 51
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4.7 MERV 8 Filter, No by-pass, & No Ozone Generating Systems Specific Specification Guidance
52
4.8 Independent dehumidification control in warm humid climates
Controlled to ≤ 60% RH
53
Indoor airPLUS
Safe Combustion
54
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To: National Environmental Health Assn. – 3/25/10
Radon-resistant New Home Construction EPA’s Indoor airPLUS and
Green Building Programs 55
EPA’s
Indoor airPLUS
epa.gov/iaq/indoorairplus 56
Features of Indoor airPLUS Homes QUALIFIED HOME
+ +
Pest Barriers
Moisture Control
Materials
+
+
Combustion Systems
+
Radon Control
+
HVAC Systems
57
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Indoor airPLUS
– Radon control features
Radon Control
58
1 in 15
Homes with radon above 4 pC/L 59 59 epa.gov/indoorairplus
Note:High levels of Radon can be found in any home.
60
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Construction Specifications
61
Indoor airPLUS- Sect. 2. Radon Control
62
Radon: New Construction Standards / Guides 1/3 • International Code Council (ICC), International Residential Code (IRC), “Appendix F, Radon Control Methods,” 2009; http://www.iccsafe.org • ASTM International, “E 1465-08, Standard Practice for Radon Control Options for the Design and Construction of New Low-Rise Residential Buildings,” Single copy: National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP), http://www.epa.gov/nscep 1-800-490-9198, (request EPA 402-K-07-0100); or http://www.astm.org
63
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Radon: New Construction Standards / Guides (continued, 2/3) • National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), “Building Construction and Safety Code, NFPA 5000,” (Chapter 49), 2006, http://www.nfpa.org
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Building Radon Out: A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Build Radon-Resistant Homes,” technical guidance document (EPA 402-K-01-002, April 2001), http://www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/
64
Radon: New Construction Standards / Guides continued, 3/3 • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Model Standards and Techniques for Control of Radon in New Residential Buildings,” Model standards for use by code organizations, states, and other jurisdictions developing building codes, appendices to codes, or standards to meet radon control requirements; (EPA 402-R-94-009, March 1994); http://www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/
65
Indoor airPLUS- Sect 2.1 Radon Control Zone 1
See 1.2
A. Gas Permeable Layer (4” clean gravel)
B. Plastic Sheeting
(under slab or over crawl space)
C. Sealing and Caulking (all openings in concrete floor) D. Vent Pipe (3 or 4 inch PVC pipe)
E. Receptacle box
(if fan needed later)
66
NEHA RRNC March 2010 22
Crawlspace Construction
67
Indoor airPLUS- Sect. 2.2 Provide buyer 2 radon test kits
Zone 1 Zone 2
http://www.epa.gov/radon/radontest.html 68
Qualified Homes Earn EPA’s Label
Quality Built Homes Healthy Home Testing, LLC
4 / 19 / 2009
69
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Active Radon Systems and
Moisture Reduction
70
Active Radon Systems and Moisture Reduction ? • Anecdotal Reports: ASD mitigation systems also reduce basement odors and moisture in some houses • Limited study of ASD impacts on moisture entry and control in residential structures • Exploratory study of 3 PA homes with basements
71
ASD – Moisture Impacts • Fall, winter and spring: statistically significant reductions in moisture levels in air and many materials. • Summer months: may see some reductions; reductions diminished during warm and humid periods. • Inter-zonal airflow data suggest large quantities of air from upstairs and outdoors are drawn into basement. • Fall, winter, spring: low-moisture air from upstairs and outdoors can cause drying of basement air and foundation materials • Summer months: potential to add moisture to the basement by drawing in warm humid air from outdoors – while at the same time pulling in dry (A/C) air from upstairs. 72
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ASD – Moisture Impacts (continued)
• Robust ASD configurations (more suction points, higher airflows and pressures) produced larger moisture reductions. • Typical residential ASD configurations caused smaller, but encouraging, moisture reductions • ASD systems cycled during the study: 1, 3, 7, and 14 days, returning to baseline with no operation. Continuous operation may have demonstrated greater moisture reductions. 73
The Green Programs
74
Residential
Green Building Programs 1.
National programs • National Green Building Standard – ICC 700-2008 (International Code Conf. (ICC) & NAHB)
• LEED for Homes Rating System – Jan. 2008 (U.S. Green Building Council)
2.
State, Local, City programs •
3.
60-plus distinct programs nationwide
Regional Programs - examples • Environments for Living (Masco Corp.) • EarthCraft (Greater Atlanta HBA & Southface) • Earth Advantage (Oregon; Wash.; Redding,CA; Conservation Services Group, 7- northeastern states)
75
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Simple Question
What are you going to do?
76
Search Out the Opportunity Speaking and Training Events Meet with Decision-makers
• Home builder association meetings • Does the HBA have a green building program? • Other const. assns. & groups (e.g. Associated Builders and Contractors, mostly commercial)
• Business groups… (e.g. breakfasts) ….many members do business with builders • U.S. Govt’s. “Recovery Through Retrofit” (many upcoming training and business development opportunities) 77
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