Why healthy homes?

Most of us spend 90% of our lives indoors and 2/3 of that in our home, yet very few of us consider the impact on our wellbeing. Paying attention to a few key elements in both the building and design of a home can improve our mood, health and even relationships. A truly healthy home goes beyond clean materials and incorporates our basic human needs for light, clean air and food, a quiet environment and a peaceful atmosphere.

• Natural Light
Good exposure to natural light throughout the day is important to balance our circadian rhythm, which can impact our mood, behavior and hormone levels, in particular it can affect our sleep/wake cycles.

• Clean, non-toxic materials
Many homes are inundated with a whole host of artificial materials and toxins in our living spaces through paints, furnishings and flooring, while sealing up the house with double glazing and draft excluders. It’s important to choose paints that don’t contain Volatile Organic Compounds, which give off gas as paint dries and hardens over time, and furniture that doesn’t contain formaldehydes or brominated fire retardants.

• Proper Ventilation
The need for good ventilation has often been overlooked to allow fresh air in and stale air and excess humidity to escape, which can lead to a build-up of damp and mold.

• Safe & efficient heating system
A poorly insulated, damp, drafty home can lead to a weakened immune system. Your home needs to be insulated before installing a heating system as this will keep this heat in and keep the temperature from fluctuating throughout the day.

• Reducing noise
It is hard to escape the constant buzz of background noise, which has an effect on our nervous system, even if not directly audible. You can resolve this by fitting acoustic doors, sealing up cracks in walls, and fitting draft excluders round doors and windows.

• Clean water filtration systems
More than half the chemicals in municipal waters systems are not regulated allowing such toxins as chlorine to remain in our drinking water as well as the steam we breathe when we shower. Installing a home filtration system can remedy this and insure that your water has the healing properties without the chemicals.

Healthy Air Systems:

Why you should be concerned about indoor air quality?

Many people are not aware that poor indoor air quality can contribute to asthma, headaches, fatigue, eye, nose and throat irritations and allergic symptoms due to the increased concentration of allergens such as dust mutes, VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), pollen and mold. Good air quality is created through continuous extraction of moist, stale air from bathrooms and kitchens and continuous supply of clean, tempered air to habitable rooms. Low velocity air supply ensures that fresh, clean air does not create drafts around the home.

• Chronic health problems are linked to indoor air quality and HVAC systems. Prolonged exposure to certain contaminants has even been connected to life-threatening medical conditions including heart and lung disease and cancer. By controlling contaminants such as duct mites, asthma cases can be reduced by 55-60%.

• It has been found that 50% of all illnesses are caused or aggravated by poor indoor air quality.

• A well-designed system does more than pump cold and hot air into your space. It maintains a consistent temperature to promote healthy indoor air quality.

• A properly designed ventilation system is critical because ventilation provides the right balance of gases and ensures that the air you breathe doesn’t contain too much carbon dioxide. It also controls odors and removes contaminants from occupied spaces.

• When considering indoor air quality solutions, more advanced, contaminant-removing technologies are available. Ultraviolet air purifiers are designed to substantially improve air quality and remove health-threatening microbial particles that may be in the air. UV air filters kill dangerous particles without any actual filtration, but with rays of ultraviolet light that incinerate them as they pass through it.

There are energy efficiency systems available, which use recovered and renewable energy sources. Whole house recovery ventilation technology can recover up to 90% of the heat and contribute to an energy savings of up to 50%.

Healthy land healthy home:

What about the land?

Just as important as the design and materials of the home you are building is the land that it is built upon. Having a trained professional get an energetic read of the land can make the difference between a home that feels peaceful and serene or one that feels a bit “off” and unsettling.

Subtle earth energies can reveal a lot of information and geomancy (a method of divination that interprets markings on the ground or patterns formed by tossed handfuls of soil, rocks or sand which dates back to the Middle Ages and Renaissance) can be used to create sacred spaces around your home which are in alignment with your own sense of peace and harmony.

Indoor Gardening:

Hydroponic Units

Indoor gardening has gained popularity and new hydroponic units enable you to grow a garden in your kitchen. Hydroponics is the process of growing plants in sand, gravel, or liquid, with added nutrients but without soil. There are many options such as do-it-your-self window farming kits to more high tech varieties. This allows people in more urban dwellings to grow vegetables, herbs and greens in their kitchen. Since it uses hydroponics, there is no need for pesticides or fertilizers. Instead of sunlight, lighting is provided which promotes the growth of plants. It also functions as a natural air purifier and eliminates unpleasant odors.

EMF (Electromagnetic Frequency) Safe Homes:

Creating Energetically Safe Spaces

• Attention to the recommended maximum allowable ambient levels of EMF and RF

• Consideration of building and neighborhood EMF factors when choosing a new home

• Utility services and magnetic field considerations for home wiring

• Electrical system installation for low-EMR

• Low-EMR heating via forced air

• Low-EMF electric radiant heat

• Low-EMF wiring in a bedroom

• Pool pumps & outdoor lighting transformers