Dynamic Green = Healthy Home

A big part of the impetus for USGBC-MN’s involvement with the Dynamic Green Home initiative comes from the chapter’s commitment to social and environmental justice. Poor housing conditions and energy inefficiency have a disproportionate impact on low and moderate-income families. That means that green building and sustainable development provide a greater return on investment for those living in affordable housing.

You probably know there’s a National Center for Healthy Homes. Those folks have brought us the Seven Principles of Healthy Homes: A Healthy Home is

1. Dry 
2. Clean 
3. Pest-Free 
4. Safe 
5. Contaminant-Free 
6. Ventilated 
7. Maintained 

I think these principles offer a useful framework through which to look at the work being done to rehabilitate the Dynamic Green Home at 929 Edmund Street. Lets start with a quick overview. OK?

929 Edmund        © harrington

DRY: The yard is going to be landscaped and a rain garden added. This will help move moisture away from the foundation. Some of the improvements are called for by Minnesota’s Building Code, others are best (or at least better) practices from stormwater management and landscape design.

CLEAN: Part of this will come from the application of Integrated Pest Management (prevention rather than extermination), part from the new owner’s efforts to keep food stored properly and the renovated kitchen clean of food residues.

PEST-FREE: Some of the work that Greater Frogtown CDC will be having done includes repair and/or replacement of windows and siding. Sealing openings will limit entrances for pests.

SAFE: The kitchen redesign and bringing stairs up to code will help make the house safer.

CONTAMINANT-FREE: Here’s where a lot of effort is going to be focused. The house has had a lead paint assessment; lead paint remediation and containment will be done. Radon, the second leading cause of lung cancer, will be mitigated and asbestos will be remediated. VOCs (which can trigger asthma and cause cancer) will be reduced by using low VOC paint and building materials. Why is all this so important?

According to USEPA Region 1, an “…average American spends approximately 90 percent of their time indoors….studies of human exposure to air pollutants by EPA indicate that indoor levels of pollutants may be 2 to 5 times – and occasionally more than 100 times – higher than outdoor pollutant levels. Indoor air pollutants have been ranked among the top five environmental risks to public health.”

VENTILATED: New exhaust systems and fans will be installed in the bathroom(s) and kitchen. The house uses radiators so there’s no ducting for forced hot air.

MAINTAINED: The rehabilitation and renovation will catch up deferred maintenance and minimize major maintenance requirements for the new owners for the first few years.

On behalf of the DGH development team, we’d love it if you would join us at one of the upcoming seminars. If you do, you’ll have an opportunity to see many of the improvements that are being made besides those covered in the seminar. It could give you some great ideas for making your own home healthier and more energy efficient.