We have never thought so much about theair we breathe as we do now. After a year of working remotely, I returned to the office this week, sharing space with four other businesses. I also had a few people drop-in, from delivery drivers to clients to friends that I had not seen in a year. This was a huge change after a year of almost never leaving my house. Of course, after this past year of a virus that spreads through airborne particles, this is a huge change. The air we breathe has a direct impact on our health and therefore the design of our buildings matters.
Indoor air can be very unhealthy, even outside of virus spread. Smoke, mold, and chemicals along with other people contribute to what is in your air. All of these things in your air can be harmful to human health. When you think of air pollution you often think about smokestacks on industrial building sites or car exhaust. However, that is just a small part of the picture.
The air in your home comes in and gets trapped inside. It comes in when you open doors and windows of course, but it also comes in through your walls, crawl space, and attic. When the wind blows on one side of your home that exterior wall becomes positive pressure and the opposite wall becomes negative pressure. This pulls and pushes air through every gap and cracks in your house. This makes your insulation, carpet, drywall gaps, window edges your air filter – air filters that never get changed or cleaned.
Air is lazy, it looks for the easy path to escape. Easy gaps like electrical outlets, light switches, attic access all become paths for air to come into the house, bringing with it humidity, spiders, pollen, dust, and dirt. Your ductwork run in unconditioned spaces also becomes a conduit for dirty air bypassing the filter intended to clean your air.
Chemicals in your building products are released into your air and you breathe them in. NO-VOC paints have become really popular, but not the only option. Off-gassing from glues, furniture, clothing, cabinets, paints, cleaning supplies, detergents, and even food are released into the air of your home causing a chemical cocktail that has impacts on your health.
When we design a custom home I always encourage our clients to allow us to write a project manual setting the performance standards for the HVAC system, airtightness of the thermal envelope and protects the inhabitants of the home. This performance standard is a critical element to protect the homeowner and to set the standards for the builder to complete. Without this document, you are leaving these performance standards to the builder and his subcontractors. While they may also be very concerned about indoor air quality, their priority is to make sure you are comfortable which is the source of most client’s perception of quality. We need to raise the bar and also talk about the air we breathe and the importance of setting high standards for indoor environmental quality.
Join us tonight for another CVCSI Young Construction Professional Networking Virtual event. Tonight we welcome Brian Nixon and then will have a conversation and network with each other. This group meets monthly and is a chance to ask questions, support one another, and grow your network across the construction industry.
Guest blog by Gabby Koontz, CKD, CAPS a designer with Classic Kitchen and Bath located in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
I asked Gabby if she could share with us some of the ways homes are being renovated after a year or remote working and homeschooling. Here are some ideas she shared:
2020 trend spotters were clearly claiming a top trend to break down walls and create a hub in the home where open kitchens and living spaces for multi-generation living existed in respect to enhancing togetherness and especially for downtime from work and school.
Fast forward to early 2020 and things changed dramatically with the need to transition to working and schooling from home and having separate spaces to be functional and organized.
Certainly, kitchen and bath remodel interest rose with homeowners staying home more and pondering projects. But the home office and home school desk set up quickly rose to the top of the list. As did home organization options.
We are now looking at closets, food pantries, and spaces under staircases in a more focused light.
Designers and homeowners are working together to take a wire shelving closet food pantry and transforming it into a butler pantry with closed storage and countertops inside the closet. Also, where a desk space in the kitchen from a remodel done in 2000 was getting filled back in with more cabinets now is transforming back into a mini desk/ office area to keep kids nearby as they log into a Zoom-held classroom. Food pantries and closets seemed disastrous or un-organized and special pull-outs and dividers were top pinned wish list items.
An example of a butler pantry might be outfitting a small 3ft closet with open base cabinets with roll-outs and a solid countertop to set larger countertop appliances away and out of sight. Shelving or wall cabinets above allow for closed-door storage should that closet door remain open with a pocket door.
Now we are scrutinizing spaces under a staircase and near the kitchen to add wall-mounted countertops and writable surfaces for a desk and chair for schooling purposes.
Pull out organizers, back-of-the-door storage, and custom shelving grace digital idea books to gain space and organize clutter.
Maybe even a shaker farmhouse style will evolve for our traditional markets more quickly to a modern or even contemporary “less is more” look to keep up with the need for less clutter and stress.
But looking at existing spaces for function in a new light as we adjust to being home more and the desire to create new looks for aesthetic nourishment will be a catalyst for change in an exciting way for 2021.
Most wish lists for a new dream home have some very similar elements: lots of light, an open plan, and a nice kitchen. If I am involved there is also some discussion about efficiency, durability, and comfort. However, I have not heard from many clients that they want a resilient home. As we move forward I do think this may be a driving factor in the design of custom homes. So is your home resilient?
Resilient design is the intentional design of buildings in order to respond to natural and manmade disasters and disturbances as well as long-term changes resulting from climate change.
A resilient home is energy-efficient and has a focus on durability, comfort, adaptability, and indoor environmental quality. It will incorporate aging-in-place design elements to help a home adapt to life changes. We ask questions about the future life our clients want to live in their dream home, for instance, what if the world shuts down and you have to do your job from home? What if school happens in your living room? What should we include in the home design to clean the air you breathe? How can we design beyond code, affordably, to manage power outages, extreme temperature changes, increased moisture in the air, and create healthy spaces to live work, and play.
This concept ofresilient design is building on our focus on sustainable design but expanding the conversation to adaptability. How can a home adapt easily over time to changing conditions, goals, wants, needs, and impacts from outside forces? What products are being created to address these concerns? I have seen major advances in heating and cooling technology, automated systems for managing a house, and for localized power generation – but I wonder what is next.
What advances in technology are you excited about? What new building products are coming to market that will make your life easier? What standards for design are shaping how we build a more resilient future?
There are two excellent opportunities in the coming week for construction industry members to network and learn in virtual meetings. Check them out below and register to get the zoom link.
CVCSI Chapter February Monthly Virtual Learning
“New challenges in 2021 for Employers as they continue returning to work after COVID-19”
The CDC and OSHA continuously issue new guidance relating to reopening your business, and state governors and local officials make individual, different determinations about how to relax return-to-work and business closure orders. Business guidance and legal requirements are changing rapidly. This webinar will discuss changes implemented that employers must be ready for as states reopen for business. This webinar session will cover:
Handling Employees that Refuse to Work
Assessing the Workplace for PPE, including face coverings
What potential legal claims employers could face, including OSHA claims
Handling suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases in the workplace
Recording and reporting COVID-19 cases to OSHA
Vaccines in the workplace
Travis Vance, Partner, Fisher Phillips is a member of the firm’s COVID-19 Taskforce, a cross-disciplinary team of attorneys dedicated to advising employers on the many workplace law aspects of the global coronavirus pandemic. Travis has assisted over 500 companies during the pandemic and remains committed to serving companies to protect the safety and health of their employees.
CVCSI Chapter February Monthly Young Professionals Virtual Meeting
“Goal setting skills for personal and professional growth”
