Wondering whether the home you’re designing is actually healthy to live in?

Discover why indoor air quality is a sustainability issue, and what’s quietly impacting yours in the materials, ventilation and energy sources you’re choosing.

Learn the questions to ask about VOCs, mould, gas and ventilation before any materials, products or finishes are ordered or installed.

Listen to the episode now.

Hello! This is Episode 409, and Way #9 of the 44 Ways to Create Your Sustainable Home series here on the podcast. This episode also closes out Section Two: Sustainable Design Strategies.

The ways I’ve been sharing in Section Two have been about the bigger-picture design decisions that need to be thought about early, but can create a huge amount of impact in your future home’s sustainability, functionality and performance. 

We’ve covered designing a smaller, smarter home, choosing an aligned team, creating an efficient structural design collaboratively, and future proofing your home with accessibility.

In this episode, we’re finishing Section Two with Way #9. 

Way #9 is: Improve Your Indoor Air Quality.

When most people think about sustainability, they’re thinking about energy, water, and materials, and how they can save all of those things. But a sustainable home is also a healthy home.

Research from the World Health Organisation and other public health bodies consistently shows that we spend approximately 80 to 90 per cent of our time indoors. And the home is where we spend a significant portion of that time. 

Meanwhile, we’re lining the inside of our homes with finishes, materials, paints, sealants, and a range of other products that are often synthetically made, can contain a lot of chemicals and can off-gas volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, into our indoor air.

As we’ve tried to improve the energy efficiency of our homes, we’ve been building them as more airtight in their construction, and adding insulation into their wall cavities. 

This is the ideal scenario for a building envelope that moderates indoor temperatures. 

However, it also means that any indoor air, and whatever is being carried in it, such as water vapour and pollutants, can create issues if the home’s ventilation hasn’t been designed to manage it.

Addressing indoor air quality requires that you’re aware of what creates problems, so you can know what to ask for, and include it in your Design Brief from the start.

VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compound. These are gases emitted from a wide range of solid and liquid products, and they’re present in many standard building materials and finishes. 

The good news is that no or low-VOC alternatives are widely available in most product categories and are not usually more expensive. Once homeowners know to ask for no or low-VOC paints, adhesives, and finishes, their builders and suppliers can usually accommodate the request.

Moisture and mould are also a big factor in indoor air quality and a home’s longevity. As homes become better insulated and more airtight, managing indoor humidity becomes critical. Humans can produce up to 3 litres of water vapour in a 24 hour period simply from everyday activities in a home. 

If you haven’t designed in a way for that water vapour to dry out, or be extracted in some way, you can get moisture on windows, in ceiling cavities, in wall framing, and in in-wall insulation. Where moisture sits for long enough with the right temperature conditions, mould can grow.

Additionally, going all-electric and choosing an induction cooktop and electric heating source rather than gas will remove one of the most well-documented sources of indoor air pollution entirely. 

The Climate Council has estimated that gas cooking is responsible for up to 12% of the childhood asthma burden in Australia.

In this Episode, I cover:

• Why indoor air quality is a sustainability issue, and how synthetic materials, airtight construction and ventilation all interact
• What VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) are, where they show up in standard building materials, and how to find low-VOC alternatives
• How moisture and mould can quietly damage indoor air quality and your home’s longevity, and what role ventilation plays
• The problem with gas as an energy source inside the home, and the case for going all-electric
• What to consider with open fireplaces and combustion stoves
• What you can actually do at the design and specification stage to set your project up well for indoor air quality
• How to incorporate indoor air quality goals into your Design Brief, and how the Brief Builder Template inside HOME Method has been updated to support this

Plus a whole lot more.

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW.

RESOURCES

Episode 297 ‘What’s a WUFI Analysis? With Jessica Allen, Climasure [NCC Series]’ >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/podcast-wufi-analysis-jessica-allen-climasure/ 

Episode 292 ‘Building Membranes + Condensation Management, with Jesse Clarke, Pro Clima [NCC Series]’ >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/podcast-building-membranes-condensation-management-jesse-clarke-pro-clima/ 

Episode 231 ‘Mould in Your Home? Here’s what to do’ >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/podcast-mould-in-your-home-alexx-stuart-low-tox-life/  

Kicking the gas habit: how gas is harming our health – Climate Council report 2021 >>> https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Kicking-the-Gas-Habit-How-Gas-is-Harming-our-Health.pdf 

’44 Ways to Create a Sustainable Home’ e-guide >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/ways 

Access the support and guidance you need to be confident and empowered when renovating and building your family home inside my signature online program, HOME METHOD >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/courses/the-home-method/