The air you breathe and the water you drink have a significant impact on your health. To keep your water supply clean and healthy, you use a plumbing system to control the water that comes into your house. Did you know you can take similar steps to control your house’s air supply?
Responsible House offers indoor air quality services to help Central Virginia homeowners maintain clean, healthy indoor air. We are a certified building analyst professional and we use building science to uncover the root cause of poor indoor air quality in your home so we can solve the problem at its source. With diagnostic testing and custom-designed solutions, we can improve your home’s health and comfort.
What Causes Poor Indoor Air Quality?
Poor indoor air quality is caused by pollution sources that release contaminants into the air. Some of the most common indoor air contaminants that affect indoor air quality include:
- Mold
- Radon
- Pet dander
- Dust
- Tobacco smoke
- Pollen
- VOCs (volatile organic compounds)
Some of these pollutants originate from sources inside your home, while others are carried in through a leaky building envelope. Proper building science can solve this problem and help you maintain good indoor air quality.
How to Improve Indoor Air Quality
When working to improve indoor air quality, we look at the house as a system. As building scientists, we know how air and moisture move in a home, and we know how to control them. This allows us to provide effective, whole-house indoor air quality solutions instead of Band-Aid fixes that alleviate symptoms but ignore the underlying problems. We also have extensive general contracting experience, which allows us to implement complex solutions that most indoor air quality companies can’t handle.
Every house is different, and we’ll need to get inside yours to determine the best path forward for healthy indoor air quality. Some of the most common solutions we implement include:
Air Sealing
Air sealing is one of the most effective methods for improving indoor air quality. Air sealing stops the constant movement of air into and out of your house through leaks in its envelope. This keeps outdoor pollutants from seeping into your house and gives you much greater control over your indoor air.
Energy Recovery Ventilators (ERVs)
An Energy Recovery Ventilator is a piece of equipment installed in your home to mechanically bring in fresh air. They are able to replace the air in your home while minimizing energy loss, so you don’t waste lots of money heating or cooling air that’s sent outside. This energy exchange works with the law of thermodynamics. In the wintertime, the hot air going out is attracted to the cold air coming in and they exchange temperature. In the summertime, the moist air that is coming in is attracted to the dry air going out and loses the humidity. ERVs have 80% efficiency, making them an effective indoor air quality product for your home.
Crawl Space Encapsulation
Unsealed crawl spaces are highly susceptible to moisture intrusion, which can cause many problems in your home. Sealing and encapsulating your crawl space will help keep it dry and clean, creating a healthier home for you and your family. Once your crawl space has been encapsulated, it should be maintained to prevent new issues from forming. We offer annual maintenance plans that make crawl space maintenance easy. Improve the indoor air quality in your home.
Call 540-942-2061 or contact us to learn more about indoor air quality testing and solutions.
Improve your indoor air quality!
Talk to us about indoor air quality solutions.
Responsible House has been serving Virginia homeowners since 1995—and we’ve seen firsthand how indoor air quality impacts comfort, health, and efficiency. Humidity and temperature fluctuations are common occurrences in our …
