Improving homes’ indoor air quality through design, materials selection and maintenance is the focus of the latest Tech Set by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH).

Tech Set No. 9, Indoor Air Quality, outlines the three basic steps that ensure a comfortable and allergen-free indoor environment. These steps include designing and building the home to ensure it continuously performs properly; controlling contaminants at their source; and properly maintaining the home and its environs. Through written material and diagrams, the Tech Set outlines how quality building practices, homeowner vigilance and products such as low-VOC paint, radon detectors and customized HVAC units can improve air quality.

As builders, remodelers, and homeowners focus on energy efficiency, less fresh air leaks into homes and indoor air quality can become a concern. Cooking odors, excess humidity, dust, mold spores, chemical fumes, radon, and combustion by-products are among the potential irritants. Although most people aren’t significantly affected by this indoor air cocktail, the long-term effects are still being evaluated.

Developed by the NAHB Research Center and released through PATH, the Tech Sets are a series of innovation packages designed to encourage a systems approach to technology integration. Earlier Tech Sets provide guidance on topics including resource-efficient plumbing, energy-efficient lighting, solar power, and green kitchen remodeling, among other topics. All Tech Sets can be accessed online at http://www.pathnet.org/sp.asp?id=13675.

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