Measuring Health and Comfort in Homes

Since Covid hit the US in earnest in March 2020 there has been a lot of buzz amongst home professionals about how to make homes healthier for their occupants. But, even before Covid, health and comfort were at least as important to homeowners as energy efficiency. In surveys conducted in 2013 and 2014 home buyers ranked comfort and health the first and third most important reasons to choose an energy efficient home:

An energy efficient home is not inherently healthy and comfortable, however. While some energy efficient features like insulation and air sealing will make a home more comfortable, other features like ventilation and filtration, which are important for occupant health, cause a home to use more energy.

With that said, let’s discuss some of the existing efforts in place to ensure homes are healthy and comfortable. As you read, I encourage you all to think about these issues and I invite you to tell us your thoughts on the matter below.

Building Codes

Modern building codes generally guide builders to build healthy and comfortable homes. For example, most codes now require mechanical ventilation, but there is still plenty of room for improvement. Of the 177,429 homes RESNET registered in Ekotrope that were constructed in 2020, 145,359 (82%) of them had some mechanical ventilation. That means 18% of the most energy efficient, newly constructed homes in the country have no mechanical ventilation. Furthermore, 58,382 (33%) of those homes have exhaust-only ventilation, which is problematic because the ‘fresh’ air being delivered to occupants is often coming from adjacent units, attached garages or under slabs, all of which bring contaminants into the home.

Furthermore, most homes were built long before 2020, when buildings were not built to the standard they are today.

Indoor airPLUS

The EPA runs a voluntary partnership and labeling program called Indoor airPLUS that  provides this checklist for home energy raters which offers some guidance. However, there is also some room for improvement. For example, it only requires a MERV 8 air filter which provides very little filtration of Covid or similar viruses, while higher MERV filters provide up to 95% filtration.

Hayward Score

Hayward Score provides homeowners with a brief (approximately 15 minute) survey and delivers a report with a score between 0-100 (example below) along with issues, a list of recommendations, and additional information. The Hayward Score is an excellent resource for homeowners; however, it does come with some limitations. Homeowners have limited time, expertise and do not have the equipment to conduct some tests that measure how healthy a home is for its occupants.

Future of Home Health and Comfort

I fully expect home health and comfort to continue to improve. Covid has forced us to spend more time in our homes and be more conscious of our health and the air we breathe. In addition to the programs mentioned above, the ACEEE has an ongoing working group tasked with Bridging Health and Energy Efficiency. There is some interest among RESNET stakeholders in developing an Indoor Air Quality rating. Finally, we at Ekotrope are interested in helping out where it makes sense.

Your Thoughts

We would love to hear your thoughts on the issue of measuring home health and comfort in homes as we head into the future. Start the conversation in the comments below!