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One of the first steps in committing to healthy building standards is becoming a partner in the EPA’s voluntary Indoor airPLUS certification program, launched in 2009 to provide construction specifications that protect indoor air quality. Bob Axelrad, EPA senior policy adviser for indoor environments, describes the program as recognition for builders who go “above and beyond” widely accepted building standards to create healthier indoor environments.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Indoor airPLUS
epa.gov/indoorairplus
This EPA voluntary partnership and labeling program was created to build on Energy Star certification with construction practices and product specifications that minimize exposure to airborne pollutants and contaminants.
WELL Building Standard
wellcertified.com
Introduced in 2015, this system for measuring, certifying, and monitoring the performance of building features that impact health and well being is administered by the International WELL Building Institute and third-party certified by Green Business Certification Inc.
LEED for Homes
usgbc/leed
This third-party certification program, focused primarily on green design, operation, and construction, includes credits for indoor air quality and low-emitting materials. Health is more prominent in the newly released LEED v.4.
International Living Future Institute
living-future.org
The institute runs the Living Building Challenge, a rigorous performance standard that u201cdefines the most advanced measure of sustainability in the built environment possible today.u201d It also oversees the Declare label, which discloses ingredients in products and materials through the Declare product database.
Healthy Building Network
healthybuilding.net
The Healthy Building Network, along with BuildingGreen, created the Health Product Declaration Open Standard for reporting product content and associated health information. Products and materials that comply are included in the Pharos Project, a database for identifying health hazards associated with building projects.
Cradle to Cradle
c2ccertified.org
The Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Standard provides u201cvalidation of manufacturersu2019 ongoing commitment to sustainability and their communities.u201d The Material Health Certificate uses the same methodology to recognize comu00adpanies that are working toward u201cchemically optimized products.u201d
Greenguard
greenguard.org
Part of UL Environment, a business unit of Underwriters Laboratories, Greenguard helps buyers identify interior products and materials with low chemical emissions via its free online product guide.
Despite a slow start—the program launched in 2009 just as the Great Recession was beginning and attracted only 300 builder partners for the first five years—interest has boomed, with 800 new builders joining since 2014. Members include builders big and small, from custom home builder Fieldcrest Development Corp. in Greenbush, N.Y., to Tempe, Ariz.–based Beazer Homes, one of the nation’s largest home builders.
Participants see indoor air quality and health as “the next important value proposition that they have to offer home buyers,” Axelrad says, a value that they can use to sell their homes. The Shelton Group, a Knoxville, Tenn.–based marketing communications firm focused on energy and the environment, found most home buyers are interested in health and indoor air quality features in their homes. It’s up to builders to sell it to them, says Lee Ann Head, Shelton Group’s vice president of research.
“Overall, health is a strong purchase driver, and there’s increasing concern about indoor air quality,” says Head. “But there’s work to be done to better communicate about the topic.” For example, a recent Dodge Data & Analytics survey found that most consumers don’t understand how their home can impact their health.
Instead of bombarding potential buyers with technical jargon and health information, Head advises sales agents to fold health into conversations about green certifications and energy efficiency. Consumers are familiar with those topics, and they believe energy-efficient homes are healthier because they have fewer drafts and leaks—meaning less mold and better indoor air.
“When you break a new-home purchase decision into its pieces through conjoint analysis, a special indoor air system isn’t one of the strongest drivers,” Head says. “But it, along with green home certifications, strongly impacts price elasticity.”
At Meritage, it took a while for the sales staff to get comfortable talking about a home’s health-based benefits. Herro says sales agents tried to sell healthy homes like they sold energy efficiency and found it wasn’t effective. After all, he says, a family’s long-term health can’t be quantified in dollars and cents like energy-saving features can. Salespeople—and potential buyers—were intimidated by jargon like MERV (maximum efficiency rating value) air filters and low-VOC (volatile organic compound) materials, and they pushed healthy features rather than overall quality-of-life benefits from the house as a whole. The sales team now focuses on “reminding consumers that they can and should have a better functioning home than they’ve had,” Herro says.
