How to Build a Healthy Home

Here are the basic steps for building a healthy home.

• Make sure your build site is free of toxins, including pollution, high voltage power lines and cell towers. 

• Grade your site so water flows away from your home.  This may mean including swales, foundation drains, and getting the grading correct. 

• Make sure your foundation has a taped 10ml vapor barrier.  Stego is the brand that’s often used.

• Use sill seal between your sill plate and the stem walls so water can’t seep up into your walls.

• Minimize and properly remediate water damage on building materials. Use better materials, sort through them before they're installed, clean and remediate as needed throughout the build.

• Include a properly lapped, taped WRB.  Tyvek is most commonly used in the industry.  It can be installed correctly, but usually isn’t.  There are better options.

• Make sure windows, doors, and any protrusions are properly flashed, taped and lapped so they are waterproofed and airsealed.

• The windows are the weak spot in any assembly.  Install proper windows that minimize thermal bridges.  Casement and awning windows are better than sliders.  Triple pane are the best.

• Install outsulation (exterior insulation) to minimize thermal bridging.

• Before you install interior insulation, run a blower door test to find and seal air gaps.

• Install interior insulation correctly, using unfaced breathable insulation, and not having it crammed into corners or leaving gaps. Use a thermal camera to check insulation before drywall goes on.

• If you're required by code to install a vapor barrier, install a smart vapor barrier like Membrain or Intello.

• Properly waterproof showers, tubs, and wet areas.  Tile by itself is not inherently waterproof.

• Install a rainscreen or drainage plan to allow the wall to dry out.

• Make sure your entire assembly is as vapor permeable as possible.  Check the perm rating for all of the products you use.

• Minimize thermal bridging in your assembly.  Don’t leave uninsulated gaps or holes where air can get into your home. Make sure everything is as airtight as possible. Imagine you are building a thermos.

• Design your roof before you design your floor plan.  Ideally you want a conditioned attic that allows straight runs of rigid ducting.  You want to avoid valleys, areas where the roof meets a vertical wall, or unnecessary protrusions.  If these things are absolutely unavoidable, make sure they are properly waterproofed. 

• Make sure your roof has large overhangs to protect your walls and windows. 2’ or more is preferred.

• Install proper gutters and downspouts.  Make sure water from your downspouts isn’t pooling near the foundation.  

• Keep your HVAC, including the internal unit and ductwork, in the conditioned space, to avoid condensation.  Make sure it is properly sized for your home.  Manual J is the absolute minimum, but ideally you should work with one of the few HVAC designers in the country who understand how to properly size an HVAC for a high performance home.

• Include an ERV or HRV for fresh, filtered air circulation.

• Take steps to proactively minimize EMF radiation, including avoiding Ufer grounds, installing MC cable, installing ethernet, and choosing appliances that don’t have wifi.

• Take steps to minimize VOC, including choosing products that have phenol formaldehyde vs. urea formaldehyde, and checking the VOC levels of heavy hitter finishes including paint, flooring, cabinetry, glues, furniture, and cleaners.

• Don’t plant anything that needs water close to the foundation.  Make sure that any lawn sprinklers aren’t watering the house.

• Notice everything above is about the envelope, not the finishes that most people focus on.  Shift your budget so you’re building a better assembly and saving money on the finishes.  Finishes can be changed out but your wall is your wall.  Build the square footage you need, not a McMansion.

Remember, remediation is always exponentially more expensive than building it right in the first place.  Take the time to do it right from the beginning.

What did I miss? If you spotted any omissions, please leave a comment. I'll update this post so we get it right and have a canonical list we can refer to.