The need for healthy homes

CAPTION:  My own Eco Room entry for the Marin Designers Showcase Home of 2002

 

 

Such showcase houses rarely discuss sustainability.  Usually there is one room set aside for such things, often referred to as the "Eco Room" on the little floor plan they hand you when you buy your tour tickets.  I did one of these myself back in 2002, and you can imagine the strange looks people would give me upon explaining the concept of using healthy paint. Most tend to focus on the things you can see and touch:  reclaimed woods, recycled metals, salvaged furniture. The concept of healthy products, especially the entire topic of indoor air quality is largely unmentioned.

 

CAPTION:  The initial rendering for the Healthy Home 2010 Showhouse, with proceeds benefitting Healthy Child Healthy World.

 

Located just thirty miles northwest of Chicago, in the suburb of Palatine, sits the Healthy Home.  Weighing in at 5,800 square feet, this home could easily be criticized as anything but green, but rather than focusing on efficiency, the designers chose to explore what it would take to make it as healthy as possible.  

 

The materials selected for the home include an all-star cast of experts, among them:

 

-Penny Bonda, FASID, LEED AP, Partner

Author of Sustainable Commercial Interiors

 

-Annette K. Stelmack, USGBC LEED Faculty, LEED AP

Author of Sustainable Residential Interiors

 

-Leslie Gage, LEED AP

 

-Leigh Anne Vandusen, Owner

 

And spearheaded by:

 

-Victoria Di Iorio, Education Outreach Coordinator

 

-Jill Salisbury, Principal and Founder

 

CAPTION:  One of the gorgeous and green pieces by el: Environmental Language.

 

Jill was my tour guide and provided the incredible furniture for the home.  The idea of healthy and sustainable furniture is an easy one to understand: Use sustainably harvested materials and finish them with non-toxic finishes.  Despite this simple message, Jill's company, el: Environmental Language is still one of the few companies offering furniture that is both well designed and healthy.  Her lines of furniture and kitchen cabinets are the only (and the first) to embrace the Cradle to Cradle design protocol.

 

CAPTION:  The warm and cozy Family Room sits opposite the kitchen and is filled with healthy products without any sacrifice of aesthetics or quality.

 

The furniture market has been the last to delve into sustainability. Since most products are made with potentially toxic and harmful chemical fire retardants, lacquers and sealers, furniture companies are reluctant to explore healthier alternatives. So instead, (nearly) the entire industry sits and waits for either the inevitable legislation or a competitor to push them to action.  If you are a designer, the best thing you can do is start to ask tough questions from your furniture suppliers about health (or just spec Jill's products).

 

CAPTION:  The whimsical Kids Room features healthy paints and draperies from O Ecotextiles.

 

Healthy Home 2010 is the first house in the U.S. to follow the Indoor Environmental Quality Management Plan for Residential Construction from the Greenguard Environmental Institute.

 

Air pollutants can be up to five times higher indoors.  Since we spend 80 to 90 percent of our time indoors and more and more children are now sedentary homebodies, the need for healthy interiors is more important than ever.

 

CAPTION:  The kitchen of the Healthy Home feature cabinets with no added formaldehyde and zero-VOC countertops.

 

The house is rather traditional in it's design and layout, but that is forgiven in the sensitivity taken to all aspects of the indoor air quality.  In fact, Susan Fredman Design Group, the lead interior designers on the project, maxed out the points in the IAQ Category on their LEED checklist.  In addition to zero-VOC paints, certain feature walls are covered with American Clay Earthen Plaster, which not only adds a healthy alternative to paint, but adds depth and humidity control to the walls.  Even the cleaning products and food in the cupboards were chosen for health reasons.

 

This focus on healthy interiors is in deference to Healthy Child Healthy World the showhouse producer.  Running on a loop in the gorgeous media room is their latest educational video.  Entitled, "A Wake Up Story" is a must see/must share video focusing on the hidden chemical dangers lurking in your home.

 

Watch it here:

 

The Healthy Home 2010 is a LEED for Homes registered project and certification is expected in the Spring of 2011.

 

The home will be open for tours during the upcoming Greenbuild Conference and Expo this month (November 2010).  For additional information on the home and to purchase tickets for events and tours, please visit www.HealthyHome2010.com.

All proceeds from the tours support Healthy Child Healthy World.

 

 

All proceeds to benefit: Healthy Child Healthy World