Want to Protect Your Home from Wildfire? The Secret’s not Luck – It’s Science

It’s no secret – anyone living in Marin and Sonoma Counties fears the Big One now more than ever. In the last two years, wildfires decimated $11.2 billion worth of damages in the U.S., according to the National Centers for Environmental Information. And California is smack in the middle of Ground Zero. The top 10
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What is ERMI Testing?

Scientists always needed a reliable process to understand the amount of mold burden in a specific area. The conventional way of analyzing it today is by measuring mold concentrations in an airborne mold spore trap sample. For practical purposes, air sample readings have been limited to very brief periods, typically 5 minutes, with some limitations
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Outdoor Living Tips from HBS and Redfin

Healthy Building Science recently spoke to Redfin about ways to improve the outdoor living space of your home. To check out our tip on how to enjoy more local wildlife in your yard, visit Redfin.
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Keeping Your Air Clean During the California Wildfires

How to Improve the Air Quality in Your Home and Car During Wildfire Season   The smoke season over the past four years has kept us very busy measuring and mitigating wildfire smoke in the air we breathe. On top of California’s extended drought, this year has also delivered extreme heat and massive lighting storms
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Mitigating Potential COVID-19 Exposure with HVAC Systems

How HVAC Systems Help Reduce Potential COVID-19 Exposure: As the economy begins to reopen and we return to our buildings, what role do building ventilation systems play in reducing our risks of infection? Infection via inhalation or contact with droplets is well understood at this point. Another potential exposure route being discussed is exposure via
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Healthy Building Science taking care of our community

growing concern for the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-10)
With growing concern about the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19), we at HBS (Healthy Building Science) want our clients and community to know we are taking precautionary measures to ensure their safety, health, and well-being as a top priority.  In addition to our standard Health and Safety Program at HBS, our staff has been instructed to
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Fire Proof Building

Protecting Home from Fire - Eaves Detail
Fire Proof Building The past few summers I’ve been caught somewhat off guard by how vulnerable I feel when dry winds are blowing and smoke fills the sky. I remember very clearly being on the roof, with a mask on, cleaning out gutters and small piles of leaves. As an industrial hygienist, I know harm
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Air Quality Index (AQI) and You

Air Quality Index (AQI) and You During the 2018 Paradise Fire smoke wave, many in the Bay Area obsessively checked online for air quality information and updates. Here is an overview of a handful of real-time air quality websites I found helpful and how they compare. Keep in mind that climate change plus newer and cheaper
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DIY Box Fan Filter – MERV 13 versus HEPA Air Purifier

Air flow of fan filter on intake side. Wildfire smoke and air quality
DIY Box Fan Filter & Air Quality Experiment Here in San Francisco and surrounding areas kids are stuck indoors during this smoke wave caused by our wild fires with little or no air filtration. In San Francisco the school buildings are older and are not setup to have building wide air filtration. Nor can cash-strapped
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Interesting Things About EMF Testing

5 Interesting Things About EMF (Electromagnetic Fields): There are 5 different types of “EMF” that are commonly tested in buildings: low frequency magnetic fields low frequency electric fields “dirty electricity”, “high-voltage transients” or “electrical noise” radio frequency (RF) radiation alpha, beta and gamma ionizing radiation Each of the above types of radiation originates from unique
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