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Health-conscious homeowners want less toxic homes and builders are beginning to respond

People are being bombarded with messages about dangers to our health and happiness from all corners these days. Rates of cancer, asthma and chronic diseases are all on the rise and we're told the culprits can range from our food to the toys our kids play with to the very homes we live in. The tenuous control we hold over our lives can seem very fragile indeed. More and more people are looking for ways to bring some of that control back into their lives, whether it's through physical exercise or choosing organic foods. Some are now going out of their way to create healthy indoor environments as a way of managing health concerns-and stress levels.

When Greg and Connie Muzatti decided to build a home in Mahone Bay, NS, they searched for a contractor who would let them make the decisions about the environment the family would be living in. "It was made the way we wanted it to be," says Greg Muzatti, "even down to the point of having them not smoke in the building when it was under construction." He spent a year researching everything from the non-toxic insulation to the solar heating panels to the electric furnace. He says the result is a four-bedroom, 2,800-square-foot house he believes will help keep his family healthy.

"I feel much more confident that our kids won't develop asthma or some malady down the road due to off-gassing," says Muzatti. Owner of an online retail business and a stay-at-home dad, he admits he wanted control over his environment and says a contractor willing to look at non-toxic construction methods gave that to him.

Materials that contain volatile chemicals will off-gas, which is what many people refer to as "that new-house smell." Plywood, particleboard, caulk, paint, varnish, carpet, insulation, flooring, and cabinets contain volative organic compounds (VOCs) that, at room temperature, become gases.

Formaldehyde is a VOC found in such wood products as plywood and particleboard as well as paints, fabrics and carpets. The average home in Canada contains between 30-40 µg/m3. Chronic exposure to levels below 123 µg/m3 is associated with respiratory and allergic reactions.

Virginia Salares, a senior researcher at the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, says we still don't know enough about what the chemicals in our air do to our bodies. Possibilities being investigated at the Nova Scotia Environmental Health Centre in Fall River include multiple chemical sensitivity, chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. "We don't know enough about what it actually does to people," Salares says, but since Canadians spend about 90 percent of their time indoors, she says it's prudent to take precautions.

While the link between respiratory problems and environmental sensitivities and air quality is still being studied, we do know more people are reporting problems. Jyl Bishop Veale, who practices naturopathic medicine in Wolfville, NS, says a quarter of her patients have some kind of sensitivity to their home or work environment. "One of my questions to someone who came in feeling unwell would be: what's new in your environment? Have you recently renovated? Have you moved into a new place?"

Bishop Veale says formaldehyde is a big offender when it comes to environmental sensitivities. She says when people come in complaining of non-specific symptoms such as lethargy, fatigue or malaise, and when she suspects environmental sensitivities, she often looks to the patient's kitchen, saying new cabinets, if not made of solid wood, can be a problem because of the potential formaldehyde content.

Exposed particleboard is a concern for the CMHC's Salares. "If you've got particleboard exposed, you've got a high potential for gasses to be released," she says. Salares recommends using solid wood where possible and choosing plywood rather than composite materials such as medium-density fibreboard.

More and more people are looking for building alternatives, says Richard Lind, president of the Canadian Home Builders Association. The Lunenburg County builder says interest has increased over the past five years and he says the industry is responding. When he built a home for a client with environmental sensitivities nearly 15 years ago he says the products he needed were scarce and consequently difficult to find. "What I've noticed is that since then many of the things that were really leading edge and innovative at the time are becoming much more commonplace."

Greg Muzatti opted for ICF construction, which uses styrofoam blocks filled with concrete, and p2000 insulation in the ceilings. "We don't have any particular health concerns in our house as far as asthma or allergies go," Muzatti says, "but I'm not comfortable with fibreglass insulation. I don't like fumes from an oil furnace." He also has no worries about formaldehyde in the insulation. No method is perfect, and most building materials have some chemical content, but Muzatti says he has more confidence in his concrete home than a traditional plywood structure.

According to Health Canada high humidity levels can lead to increased off-gassing, so it's no surprise that another big concern for Salares is humidity. She says basements are at high risk for mold and that the best option is to go without a basement or crawl space, but admits "there's a lot of resistance to this concept." She says if you really feel you need an underground space, at least make sure it's heated. Leaving the area cold can result in condensation, she says. "That's a recipe for disaster."

Muzatti says his ICF home has impressive temperature control, which helps reduce humidity. "No matter how many days we have hot temperatures outside, I'm always 10 degrees lower inside." Humidity is something Jorn Schroder looked at seriously when he built his home in Tatamagouche, NS. The German immigrant and architectural consultant says he has little confidence in the traditional North American method of building plywood homes with a vapour barrier over fibre insulation. "No contractor is able to close in a plastic foil so that there is no moisture going into that wall construction," says Schroder. "I don't want to live in a plastic bag."

Schroder's home is a mixture of timber frame and frame construction, with cellulose insulation. He says everything is vented to the outside to prevent moisture build-up. Schroder also used clay for the interior walls. He says the walls absorb or release humidity as needed and limit the chance of mold build-up. "We never have foggy mirrors in the bathroom when we take a shower."

Ian Startup says he, too, is starting to see more interest in non-toxic methods of building and in more environmentally friendly living. The Queens County, NS, R-2000 home builder and designer promotes the idea of green building. To back up his efforts he established Hawthorne Hill, a 45-acre lot in Mahone Bay, NS, which he's selling as a green neighbourhood. The subdivision has rules about environmentally responsible building and living, banning such things as chemical pesticides and dryer sheets, and setting aside green space for residents. "Some people are very interested in a healthy lifestyle," he says. "They want to exercise, they eat organic food. People are so enthusiastic about this concept."

Startup says the idea came from his late wife Margo Kleiker's naturopathic practice. He says many of her patients suffered because of indoor pollutants, molds and chemicals. Startup says many people don't know what is in the air they're breathing at home. "I think they'd be stunned, I think they'd be astonished. I built a home in Mahone Bay last fall. I had several people stop by to observe the house under construction and several of them commented that the house didn't have that 'new-house' smell."

Startup says he chooses to build with materials he says are less toxic and kinder to the human body. He uses tinted plaster instead of gyproc and paint, and lumber instead of particle board or plywood. "It doesn't really increase the cost. A lot of these modern building materials that have a high toxic load have been developed primarily for the convenience of the builder. The builder really has to take a step back and start making choices that are going to result in a healthier environment for the occupants of the home and not think about his own convenience first. Lumber is cheaper than plywood so choosing a healthier product is going to save money. However, there is more skill required in putting the lumber in place, so the labour component is a little bit higher."

Another alternative source of material is recycled or antique wood. Hugh McGoldrick operates 1850 House in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley, a business that takes down and reuses wood from antique homes and other buildings. He claims the wood is much healthier because it was cut before the era of industrial pollution. "It's just like a human being. What if a human being kept sucking all this pollution into their body, which is what is happening to people. After a while, they develop illnesses: cancer, leukemia. It's the same thing with trees. If you're building a structure with unhealthy materials, you're going to get an unhealthy structure."

He says there is a lot of interest in his product but most of his sales are taking place in the US and western Canada. "I have a huge demand but unfortunately, here in the Maritimes, it's a learning curve."

Interest in alternative products is growing, says Greg Muzatti. He says he was impressed with how much of the material he wanted to use for his home was available locally. "We used pine siding on our home from a local mill, then we put a stain on it that's environmentally friendly. We applied it ourselves. That was available in Halifax. All these technologies were very readily available in Atlantic Canada, so it has a really good Atlantic Canada flavour."

As for cost, Muzatti says some things were more expensive but in the end he figures the overall cost was approximately on par with the average price of building a new home. His research was extensive but he says the result was worth it. After a year living in his new home he has confidence it's a healthy environment for his two young children. "I'm not worried about chemicals in the walls and ceiling and it's all affordable," says Muzatti. "I just found I needed a contractor who was flexible and willing to look at new technologies."

Measuring Emissions

Until now it's been a bit of guess work as to how high you can expect emissions from various construction materials or building designs to be. The National Research Council, in cooperation with various government and private agencies, recently developed a tool that can predict the level of emissions before you build. IA-Quest is a simulation tool that will let your contractor or designer enter building specifications and types of proposed materials. The software tests for 90 different volatile organic compounds that are known or are suspected to have an effect on human health. "You can see the impact of the choices of different types of materials that could be used," says Bob Magee of the Institute for Research in Construction with the National Research Council. "You can very significantly affect the chemicals that will occur in that space. You can reduce it by several orders of magnitude just by changing the types of materials you put in."  The tool can be downloaded at http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/ie/iaq/iaquest_e.html.   - MV

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