News

The Healthy House Institute (HHI) Partners with the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA)

Boise, Idaho - In an ongoing effort to improve home health, The Healthy House Institute (HHI) announces its partnership with the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA). As part of the relationship, HHI visitors will be able to access environmental health research made available by NEHA.

“Many homes new and old have unseen contaminants that can negatively affect the health of a home,” said Nelson E. Fabian, Executive Director and CEO of NEHA. “By making experts and research available through HHI, homeowners will be empowered with the resources needed to help ensure their families are not adversely impacted by poor building, home care and maintenance practices.”

As a part of the partnership, Fabian will also serve on HHI’s advisory board and provide ongoing direction on HHI’s content and resources. As the Executive Director of NEHA for more than 25 years, Fabian has achieved numerous accolades. In 2007, he was honored as  “One of the Nation’s Top 15 Leaders in Environmental Health” from the Journal of Environmental Health. He is the recipient of several awards including the prestigious Walter Snyder Award given by the National Science Foundation. In addition, he has been asked to serve on a wide variety of different boards.

Under Fabian’s direction, extensive research has been conducted which will be added to the library of articles available at www.healthyhouseinstitute.com. Visitors will be able to  search by category to find potential home hazards and actual studies from NEHA that highlight housing health impacts.

“Asthma, cancer and a variety of other health conditions can result from contaminants in the home,” added Fabian. “Homes are an ecosystem. As a result, every component of that system including HVAC, pest control, cleaning, water treatment, and more, must be carefully reviewed to keep families safe and healthy. Understanding these relationships is an important step in the direction of fostering a healthy housing environment, and we are pleased to be working with The Healthy House Institute to make this information available to the public."

About The Healthy House Institute

The Healthy House Institute (HHI) provides consumers information to make their homes healthier. HHI strives to be the most comprehensive educational resource available for creating healthier homes. HHI treats the home like an ecosystem with many interrelated parts, covering topics in-depth such as air and water quality, building, remodeling and furnishing, cleaning and housekeeping, health and safety, ventilation, lighting, energy efficiency and more. Rather than preaching to the converted, HHI seeks to reach a mainstream educated consumer with credible information merging the best of ‘green’ with the best of healthier homes research, indoor environmental data, health and medical science, into a practical, timely, easily digestible but comprehensive message. HHI strives to be a truly authoritative voice that has the ‘ear’ and trust of major media, influentials, and most importantly, the intelligent consumer.

About NEHA

NEHA is a non-profit association for environmental health professionals. Since 1937, NEHA has been working to advance the environmental health profession for the purpose of improving the human environment in cities, towns, and rural areas throughout the world and creating a more healthful quality of life for all. NEHA’s 4,500+ members practice their profession in the public and private sectors as well as in academia and the uniformed services, with a majority being employed by state and local health departments. In partnership with the National Center for Healthy Housing, NEHA offers the Healthy Homes Specialist Credential. This credential tests an individual’s understanding of the connection between health and housing, enabling a holistic approach to identify and resolve problems that threaten the health and well being of residents. For more information about the National Environmental Health Association, please visit www.neha.org.

Free on Amazon Kindle – The Healthy House Answer Book

BOISE, Idaho – The Healthy House Institute (HHI) is now offering The Healthy House Answer Book – Answers to the 133 Most Commonly Asked Questions, free on Amazon Kindle through April 2009, and at a reduced rate thereafter.

The book, written by the founders of The Healthy House Institute (HHI), is a concise healthy housing guide covering all major aspects of construction, maintenance, and creating healthier indoor environments, in an easy-to-read Q and A format.

"The Amazon Kindle version is an update of the original 192-page, 1997 paperback edition that has long been popular among green living, green building, and healthy home enthusiasts," said Allen Rathey, president of HHI. "We are pleased to make this helpful resource available free through Amazon.com.

The Healthy House Answer Book covers 133 common questions in 15 major categories:

1. Why Houses are Unhealthy
2. The Basics of Healthy House Construction  
3. Foundations, Decks, and Garages
4. Framing and Insulation
5. Windows, Siding, and Roofing  
6. Plumbing and Moisture
7. Electrical Wiring
8. Heating and Cooling 
9. Ventilation 
10. Air Purifiers and Filters  
11. Interior Walls
12. Interior Floors
13. Cabinets, Doors, and Trim
14. Furnishing a Healthy House
15. Maintaining a Healthy House  

The Kindle is Amazon's Wireless Reading Device featuring 3G wireless (cell phone technology) that enables downloading any of 270,000+ books anywhere, anytime without monthly fees, service plans, or Wi-Fi.

About The Healthy House Institute®

The Healthy House Institute® (HHI) provides consumers information to make their homes healthier. HHI strives to be the most comprehensive educational resource available for creating healthier homes. HHI treats the home like an ecosystem with many interrelated parts, covering topics in-depth such as air and water quality, building, remodeling and furnishing, cleaning and housekeeping, health and safety, ventilation, lighting, energy efficiency and more.

Rather than preaching to the converted, HHI seeks to reach a mainstream educated consumer with credible information merging the best of ‘green’ with the best of healthier homes research, indoor environmental data, health and medical science, into a practical, timely, easily digestible but comprehensive message. HHI strives to be a truly authoritative voice that has the ‘ear’ and trust of major media, influentials, and most importantly, the intelligent consumer.

Gaining Victory Over VOCs (and Energy Costs) in Tight Winter Homes – Leading Consumer Organizations Say Use Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRVs)

BOISE ID. Americans tend to button up their houses during winter to save energy and stay warm. This can create indoor air quality problems, including elevated levels of harmful VOCs. Opening up the windows to air the place out and inserting fans may help, but at the expense of the loss of precious - and expensive - heat energy. What can consumers do?

According to the US EPA: “Ventilation systems can be equipped with a heat exchanger that recovers most of the heating and cooling energy from the exhaust air. These are also known as Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRVs) or Energy Recovery Ventilators (ERVs).”

“It’s the best of both worlds,” said Jacki Golike, CAE, Executive Director of the non-profit Home Ventilating Institute (HVI). “You can have fresh air without losing heat or running up your heating costs.”

Given the timeliness and importance of this information, The Home Ventilating Institute (HVI) and The Healthy House Institute (HHI) - an educational resource whose mission is to help consumers make their homes healthier -  have formed an educational partnership to teach the principles of residential ventilation and a practical awareness of Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) and Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) technology options. Information on and benefits of using mechanical ventilation systems are featured on the Web sites of both organizations. Visit: www.healthyhouseinstitute.com or HHI on Ventilation or visit www.hvi.org or Ventilation Info for Consumers.  In addition, HVI offers a free brochure covering Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRVs) and Energy Recovery Ventilators (ERVs).  Also, HVI and HHI have partnered to produce a free QuickGuide to Indoor Air Quality as a general indoor air quality resource.

Benefits of Heat Recovery Ventilation

According to the US EPA, balanced ventilation systems can provide many benefits including:

• Improved indoor air quality.  Balanced ventilation systems supply fresh air to the living and sleeping areas of homes while exhausting stale air at an equal rate from other areas. This proactive approach to ventilation can result in improved indoor air quality.
• Improved comfort. ENERGY STAR labeled homes with tight construction and balanced ventilation systems can have fewer drafts and a constant supply of outdoor air resulting in improved comfort.
• Improved health. Stale air can cause health problems. It can be responsible for symptoms such as headaches, drowsiness, and respiratory problems. These symptoms are more common in homes with poor ventilation and moisture control. Continuously providing fresh air can result in the improved health and well being of the occupants.
• Lower utility bills. Less energy is consumed to operate ventilation systems than to heat and cool excessive amounts of outdoor air that infiltrates leaky homes. Additional savings are captured when these units are equipped with an energy recovery system or heat exchanger. This can result in lower utility bills, making homes less expensive to operate.
• Improved resale position. ENERGY STAR labeled homes with balanced ventilation systems can provide the many impressive benefits listed including more comfortable homes with better indoor air quality and lower utility bills. These benefits can translate into higher resale value.
  

Backstory on VOCs

Volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, are common indoor air pollutants.  VOCs can originate from a variety of natural and man-made sources. The characteristic odor of mold is composed of VOCs, as is the smell of an orange or an onion. Baking bread also releases VOCs into the air. VOCs are also released, or outgassed, from many manufactured products and home furnishings. Familiar sounding VOCs might include benzene, xylene, toluene, formaldehyde, and ethanol. These can all be released from typical building materials.  Indoor air typically contains 30-100 different VOCs that are readily measurable, and others at low levels that are more difficult to measure. Some VOCs cause no health problems, but others are serious indoor air pollutants. Mixtures of VOCs have undetermined health impacts.
 
About HVI

The Home Ventilating Institute (HVI), founded in 1955, is a nonprofit association of the manufacturers of home ventilating products. Through a Certified Ratings Program, HVI provides a voluntary means for residential ventilation manufacturers to report comparable and creditable product performance information based upon uniformly applied testing standards and procedures performed by independent laboratories.

Today, HVI represents manufacturers from the United States, Canada, Asia and Europe, producing the majority of the residential ventilation products sold in North America. For more information, contact HVI at 1000 N. Rand Road, Suite 214, Wauconda, IL 60084. Telephone: 847/526-2010; fax: 847/526-3993; E-mail: hvi@hvi.org. Visit the Web site at www.hvi.org.

About HHI

The Healthy House Institute™ (HHI) provides consumers information to make their homes healthier. HHI strives to be the most comprehensive educational resource available for creating healthier homes, covering topics in-depth such as air and water quality, building, remodeling and furnishing, cleaning and housekeeping, health and safety, ventilation, lighting, energy efficiency and more.

The Institute’s goal is to reach a mainstream educated consumer with credible information merging the best of ‘green’ with the best of healthier homes research, indoor environmental data, health and medical science, into a practical, timely, easily digestible but comprehensive message. HHI strives to be a truly authoritative voice that has the ‘ear’ and trust of major media, influentials, and most importantly, the intelligent consumer. For more information, contact HHI at 13998 West Hartford Dr., Boise, ID 83713; Telephone: 208/938-3137; Fax: 208/938-3138. Visit the Web site at www.healthyhouseinstitute.com.