As a result of Home Energy Audit we often recommend that the house be better sealed to avoid wasting energy that flows through leaks.  However, it isn’t uncommon to recommend additional ventilation because the house is too tight and dangerous chemicals and gases are building up.  This is a particular concern if combustible fuels are used in heating or cooking.

But how do you know?  There are industry accepted standards for residential air flow but the EPA has determined that Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is often worse than outdoor air quality.  This is why defined, definitive IAQ testing is so important to the health and safety of your family.

In addition to determining appropriate air flow through quantitative blower door testing, Green Energy Engineering Services provides combustion appliance evaluation.  We will test items such as your furnace, your hot water heater, your dryer and your range, anything that uses combustion. 

· We evaluate how much CO is outside and inside the house.  Is high CO found in the house due to you or the business down the street?

· We evaluate how much CO is being produced in the appliance, as well as its’ efficiency. 

· We test how much CO is being spilled back into the house, not just during normal operations but under the worst case depressurization of the house when fans and blowers are sucking fumes out of the exhaust and back into the house.

We also evaluate how much humidity is in the house.  Standards call for 30 to 60 % relative humidity in a home.  More than that will raise your heating and air conditioning costs.  It will also lead to wood rot in places you can’t see.  But perhaps most importantly, it will encourage mold growth with all of the spores that result in allergy issues.

These tests are all in accordance with protocols by the Building Performance Institute (BPI).  More information is available at their web site.

INDOOR AIR QUALITY

Phone: 215-793-9783

Fax: 215-793-9784

E-mail: dougsmithman@gmail.com

Copyright ã 2010 by Douglas K. Smithman, P.E.  All rights reserved.  Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a data base or retrieval system, without prior written permission of Douglas K. Smithman.

Old Chinese proverb:

No single raindrop considers itself responsible for the flood.

 

Green living begins at home

 

215-793-9783