What Is A Green Home?

Indoor air quality

A green home is a healthy home. There are three basic strategies for improving indoor air quality:

• Source Control. - This is the most important strategy, mainly because the other two strategies involve using energy to eliminate harmful chemicals and improve air quality. If care is taken during material selection and when homes are built properly to reduce mold and mildew, indoor air quality is drastically improved without the need for expensive air cleaners. By choosing low V.O.C. (volatile organic compounds) materials, properly sealing cracks, and using moisture and vapor barriers, sources of poor indoor air quality are eliminated.
• Improved Ventilation. - Mechanical ventilation is extremely important in tightly built, energy efficient homes. We typically use heat recovery ventilators (HRV's) as part of our ventilation systems. HRV's capture heat from exhaust air and transfer it to the fresh air entering the home to preheat the air and improve heating efficiency. Ventilation systems do not have to be expensive; your existing kitchen and bathroom exhaust fans can typically be included in the system.
• Air Cleaners. - Even when care is taken to eliminate harmful chemicals and allergens in your home, occasionally an air purification system is still required to give you the highest quality air to breathe.