When most people build or remodel their homes, they pay close attention to indoor air quality, comfort and aesthetics. The task of building to survive natural disasters like earthquakes (as the San Francisco Bay region is prone to) is left to building codes and local code enforcement. And the task of ensuring the home maintains livable

Blown-in-Cellulose Insulation Test Results On a recent project, we recommended a homeowner try Blown-in-Cellulose insulation as a healthy alternative to other insulation choices. Blown-in-cellulose is known in the healthy materials world as a pretty safe insulation choice. But just to be sure the product was safe, we sent a wet sample to a lab for

What is a Sick Building? There is often confusion over the definition of a sick building syndrome. We hear questions like, “Is my building sick?,” and, “How do I know if my building is sick?” Therein lies much of the confusion. Buildings don’t get sick, people do! Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) Determining if occupants suffer

A Comfortable and Energy Efficient Home through Science – Part 1 I am a big believer in using principles of science and an understanding of the sun’s movement through the sky to enhance your comfort while also making it a more energy efficient home. I am going to devote the next few blogs to giving

Asthma and Buildings – California and US Trends in Asthma Buildings are too often neglected in the asthma equation. Asthma is sometimes defined as a symptom of poor indoor air quality, and other times defined as a Building Related Illness. This blog references the recently released report, “Asthma in California: A Surveillance Report,” compiled by

LEED EMF ID Credit Application The USGBC/LEED recently denied an Innovation in Design (ID) credit application for Magnetic Field (EMF) Reduction. This post includes the official LEED EMF ID Credit Application. The following text is in the traditional formal of an ID credit application and request for a Credit Interpretation Ruling (CIR). Unfortunately the USGBC

No one rating system can isolate every possible environmental angle, and the International Institute of Building Biology founders were certainly most interested in human health, but it is hard to imagine a more comprehensive healthy building checklist than what’s provided in the Building Biology 25 Principles. It is quite difficult to incorporate every principle into

Helmut Ziehe is the Building Biologist who brought Building Biology to the United States. Helmut learned Bau-Biologie in Germany from the “mothership.” In Germany he was trained as an environmentally-conscious architect at the Technical University of Berlin, followed by a Master’s Degree from the London School of Architecture. Helmut mastered 5 languages during his life

Tips for a Healthy Home – Keep It Dry Keep Water Out Excess moisture is at the center of many problems relating to durability and indoor air quality. If we build structures that won’t rot or support mold growth, we will both increase the longevity of those buildings and reduce the health risks of living

“Healthy Building Inspections” transitions to “Healthy Building Science” Blogging. I admit this is my first time. It’s hard to know where to begin. The previous few posts were created by our web designer who cut and pasted links from our old site into a few blog entries so the data wasn’t lost. Later this year