Get The Facts - Indoor Air Quality & Toxic Building Materials

For those who want to learn about mold, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a nice overview. And actually, Wikipedia has a nice summary as well. But if you live around Chicago and need a local subject matter expert to further investigate any mold or moisture issue, I recommend talking with Cheryl Ciecko whose online work at avoidingmold.com I have been following the last couple years.

I used to refer people to fellow Building Biologist Martene Davis at Indoor Environmental Testing in Central Wisconsin who was my teacher for a week-long seminar held in Santa Fe on the topic back in April 2015. But Martene no longer travels to Chicago for consulting or remedial work, so we are fortunate to have Cheryl as a local resource.

MY APPROACH TO MOLD & MOISTURE CONTROL

Most builders’ efforts to control moisture is to make a home as tight as possible to seal out moisture. Passive House builders are notorious for reducing air exchanges to an absolute minimum. They do so by typically super insulating, sealing every nook and cranny with synthetic tapes and compounds and foams that fill air gaps, then reintroducing a very strict and controlled amount of treated air.

My homes are designed to do things differently. We can’t ever truly seal a home—water always finds a way—so instead I fully ventilate and holistically design for Health first, confident that as we do, energy efficiency, comfort, and moisture control WILL follow.

Our tools to build a moisture-regulating home? Natural unadulterated building materials of high thermal mass finished with materials that are highly hygroscopic, in a building envelope designed with “flow-through” walls that, like our skin, protects from the elements while allowing water vapor to escape. When combined with a radiant heat source and adequate insulation, this is the best way to build healthy, “mold-free” homes.

HOW TO REMEDIATE MOLD

No matter how hard we try though, sometimes mold happens and remediation is required. In these instances, here are a few things to keep in mind: