IAQ / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

How to know if vermiculite insulation contains asbestos and what to do about it Vermiculite was a popular choice for home attic insulation from the 1920s to about 1990 in both the US and Canada, until it was phased out in 1990. And there is a high risk of it containing asbestos, so finding it can be a major source of a...

...IAQ) remains a safe refuge when the air outside is smokey and therefore hazardous. Wildfire smoke all across Canada and the US Wildfires are unpredictable and can happen in a wide range of forested areas, but there are hot spots where large-scale wildfires are more common. Wildfires are a regional event, but their smok...

Green kitchen cabinets - why does it matter? To improve the air quality of your home, that's why! “Indoor air quality” refers to the quality of the air in any home environment. The potential impact of indoor air quality on human health nationally is important for many reasons, including: Americans spend on average abo...

...IAQ - can actively draw this smoke-polluted air inside. All these factors lead to indoor air often being many times more polluted than outdoor air, which you then filter with your lungs. We think it's important to take steps to mitigate that, but due to the economies of scale (the volume of air compared to the amount o...

...IAQ) Whatever floor finish you choose, different products will have different impacts on your home air quality and the planet. Like paints, floor finishes will contain varying levels of VOCs (volatile organic compounds), or if you're a really shrewd shopper, none at all.  While the smell may be gone in days or weeks, t...

Protect your home air quality during renos Any renovation or building project is exciting, but it can also be exhausting and emotionally taxing. Don't forget to keep your air safe to breathe in the process. Right at the end when it's time to furnish your new space can be one of the hardest times to stick to your enviro...

Mold in homes is a bad sign, so how to get rid of it or prevent mold in drywall? Mold and mildew in homes develop in conditions of high humidity, most often in bathrooms, kitchens, and basements, unless caused by roof leaks and other building envelope failures. Along with affecting the durability of your home, mold and...

There is a current trend towards limiting the production of solvent-based paints, replacing them with solvent-free or water-based paints, often labelled as low-VOC paints or zero VOC paints. The move towards safe paint has led to a noticeable improvement in indoor air quality since the mid-seventies, and better even in...

Homes built in the last 40 years in Canada are relatively airtight. Before that we generally relied on leaky uninsulated walls to provide fresh air and prevent mold and mildew, and they did that very well. Cost and comfort had us adding insulation, but not necessarily sealing our walls. The folly of this was quickly re...