Key Products for Superior Indoor Air Quality

Controlling the flow of air in and out of the home has a huge impact on indoor air quality, but monitoring potential toxins in materials and products is equally important.

The term “indoor air quality” or IAQ has become widely used in recent years. It refers generally to the amount of pollution or “particulates” airborne inside buildings. 

Why the sudden popularity? In part because new, affordable sensors that measure toxins in the air have revealed the pollution that surrounds us. We can now measure whether our air is safe, or loaded with CO2, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and other unseen health risks.

Want more articles like this? Download the Homeowner’s Handbook of Green Building and Remodeling.

What’s the answer to poor indoor air quality? First, reduce the sources of pollution, then add a combination of diffusion and filtration. That means paying close attention to cabinet materials, carpets, and finishes, then installing quiet bath fans, range hoods, filters and smart controls.  

Here are some key products whose attributes help provide healthier indoor air:

Air Quality Sensors: Find Out Where You Stand

Some modern building products operate passively. Housewraps fall under this description. These weather-resistant barriers allow water vapor to escape living spaces and wall cavities (where it might condense and encourage mold or mildew), at the same time preventing unwanted outdoor air from creeping into the home. Housewrap is only as good as its installation, however. 

The Department of Energy says that housewrap must be taped at every seam. Otherwise, it may be 20 percent less efficient. It’s also important that housewrap not be left exposed to sun and wind for too long; these factors can degrade its effectiveness over time.

Broan’s Overture system combines a smartphone app with sensors, switches, and connected plugs. Create custom responses for Broan-NuTone ventilation fans, range hoods, and other components of a home’s fresh air system. Maintain optimal humidity, remove particulates and save energy automatically. www.broan-nutone.com

Carpet: Look Below the Surface

Carpets have come under close scrutiny for their environmental impacts—both in and out of the home. Most commercial carpets are made from some variation of synthetic, petroleum-based material. This material is often treated with other chemicals to improve stain resistance, wear or color retention. To make matters worse, many carpets are installed over highly toxic rubberized pads. They may also be glued to the floor with pungent adhesives. 

That new carpet smell you recognize is not something you want in your home. It’s a sign that your floor is releasing unknown chemicals into your living space. A few of the larger carpet makers—notably Mohawk, Interface, and Shaw Industries have begun to approach carpets from a more eco-friendly perspective—not only recycling old carpets but also offering less toxic installation systems and products that have lower levels of off-gassing.

Products and Furnishings: Bringing It Home

Carpeting is not the only source of VOCs and other harmful chemicals. After your new home or remodeling project is complete, make sure you don’t compromise indoor air quality with the products and furnishings you bring into the space. This goes for everything from furniture, which can contain flame retardants and formaldehyde, to cleaning products.

It may take a little research to ensure items are completely nontoxic. Some manufacturers have made it easier by revealing their products’ “ingredients” with either in-house labels or by seeking third-party certifications. Several organizations have developed standards that make it easier to  specify and use low-emission products. 

These include UL Environment, which developed the GREENGUARD standard and which maintains a database of thousands of certified products in 28 categories.

The Panasonic WhisperFit EZ Ventilation Fan is ideal for residential remodeling. Built-in Pick-A-Flow speed selector allows a user to select required airflow (80 or 110 CFM). Installation for this ENERGY STAR-certified fan is made easy with the Flex-Z Fast installation bracket and detachable installation adapter. Visit: https://na.panasonic.com/us/

Central Vacuum Systems: Dust Deniers

The carpet industry suggests that the average American family uses a vacuum cleaner at least once weekly, while about 10 percent of us vacuum our homes once or more per day. But the typical upright household vacuum cleaner may not be the solution to clearing the air in a home. 

These upright units are not all created equal. Most lack an effective HEPA filtering system—the only reliable way to capture the fine particles that have been shown to be harmful to human health. On the contrary, a vacuum with a non-HEPA filter may simply toss tiny particles back into the air. 

A whole-house vacuum solves this problem by actually taking unwanted particles outside the living space—into a garage or unfinished basement.

Central vacuums play an important role in keeping indoor air healthy, by removing dust, pollen, dander and other irritants from living spaces, typically depositing them in a canister in the garage or basement. H-P offers the Chameleon retractable hose system, so vacuum hoses and nozzles disappear completely into walls when not in use. Visit: www.chameleonvac.com

Spot Ventilation: Local Management

Chronic moisture can lead to mold growth. Exhaust fans excel at removing excess moisture that tends to build up in specific locations, such as bathrooms and kitchens. Kitchen range hoods also remove cooking contaminants. 

These fans have become quite sophisticated and quiet; some manufacturers such as Panasonic offer “smart” models that adjust to changing moisture conditions, or that can sense when a room is occupied. Whole-house exhaust-only ventilation systems exist, but be aware that these rely on cracks and penetrations in the building envelope to supply the makeup air that replaces the exhausted air. 

In tighter homes, this can create “negative pressure.” In general, we recommend using exhaust fans to supplement balanced whole-house ventilation systems.

When used properly ceiling fans can reduce a home’s overall heating costs by keeping occupants comfortable with less need for air conditioning. They can also move warm, conditioned air down into living spaces from cathedral ceilings. Big Ass Fans are precision engineered, energy-efficient fans that can be integrated into a smart home scenario with SenseMe technology. This means that they automatically turn on and off as people come and go throughout the day. https://bigassfans.com

Energy and Heat Recovery Ventilators: Key Component

You may have heard of energy recovery ventilator (ERVs) and their northern cousins, heat recovery ventilators (HRVs). This heat transfer technology is a key component of any “tight” house. Without them, modern houses would probably not be worth the foam, tape, and caulking with which they’re sealed. 

These mechanical wonders take hot, unconditioned fresh air from outside, and pass it over a heat collecting medium, where it gets a partial cool-down before entering the home. A study by John Bower found that using a heat recovery ventilator with continuous ventilation cost a Minnesota homeowner just $86 a year. It cost $188 to do the same level of ventilation without an HRV.

The Vivint Carbon Monoxide Detector is part of a suite of “smart” devices that work together to keep homes secure. More than just an alarm, it communicates with the home’s HVAC system to increase ventilation, unlocks doors to allow first responders to enter and disarms windows to improve ventilation. Visit: www.vivint.com 

Fresh Air Formula

Indoor air tends to concentrate pollutants quickly. As a result, building codes typically have certain requirements for the amount of fresh air that must be exchanged with stale indoor air over a given period. Typically, this is expressed as cubic feet per minute, or CFM. An organization called ASHRAE provides guidelines for how much ventilation is needed, although the best means for achieving that ventilation are often debated. When in doubt, more ventilation is better than less, but you have to balance the resulting energy loss with improved indoor air quality. -Editor SOURCE: ASHRAE 62-2-2003

Publisher’s Note: This content is made possible by our Today’s Homeowner Campaign Sponsors: Whirlpool, Vivint, myQ, Sonos and Jinko Solar . These companies take sustainability seriously, in both their products and their operations. Learn more about building and buying homes that are more affordable and less resource intensive.