A green building primer for wholesalers in the PHCP industry

BY TOM HEIDEL

Special to The Wholesaler

Toilets, showers, dishwashers, dripping faucets, top-loading washers, kitchen fumes, bath steam, hvac compressors, indoor air handlers, ducting, indoor air quality, radon, VOCS, building particulates, carbon dioxide/monoxide, mold and mildew. All of these are pieces of the increasingly significant green building puzzle that is now taking shape thanks to several recent industry actions that better define green homes and green ventilation.

Understanding what green building and, more specifically, green ventilation means can represent the difference between progress and prosperity for your business or going nowhere. In this article, I’m focusing on green home building and the important role that green ventilation now plays. As this movement moves mainstream, it is critical for PHCP wholesalers to have a general understanding of green home building and the various industry recommendations and regulations affecting our business and our customers.

What is green building?

Generally, green building refers to the design, construction and operation of buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable, healthy places to live and work. The term green building first surfaced in Austin, Texas, in 1990 when the city launched a green building program. Three years later, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBCC) was founded and the pace began to quicken.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) started developing its own green building guidelines; the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE) introduced new ventilation building standards; and the energy star program was launched at the U.S. Department of Energy in 1995.

At the close of 2007, the NAHB estimated that more than half of its members (who build more than 80% of the homes in this country) were incorporating green practices into the development, design and construction of new homes. And, recent USGBC information estimates the annual U.S. market in green building products and services as exceeding $12 billion.

According to the DoE, the residential sector accounts for about 20% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, about 22% of the total energy consumed in the country and 74% of the water. Indoor air pollutants often can be four to five times higher than outdoor levels, says the DoE.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a growing body of scientific evidence indicates that the air within our homes can be more seriously polluted than the outdoor air. As Americans spend 90% of their time indoors, the effects of indoor air pollution can pose serious health risks to our children, the elderly and chronically ill.

As we know, indoor air pollution comes from many sources common to all homes: central cooling and heating systems, humidification devices, building material off-gassing, carpet fibers, cabinetry or furniture, tobacco smoke, household cleaning and personal care products, solvents, pesticides, vocs, household pets, asbestos, lead-based paints, pollens and fungi, mold and mildew -- the list is endless.

Green ventilation implications for wholesalers

ASHRAE took note of the home building industry’s need for better guidelines for a healthier indoor living environment and introduced Standard 62.2. This standard set the minimum ventilation requirements for low-rise residential structures, three stories or less, which includes most standard homes, condominiums and apartment buildings and has become the foundation for more recent green ventilation initiatives.

For example, energy star’s “Indoor Air Package,” which includes ventilation, recommends that mechanical whole-house ventilation should meet ASHRAE 62.2 requirements. Energy star also states that local mechanical exhaust ventilation to the outdoors should be provided in each bathroom and kitchen (per ASHRAE 62.2, section 5 requirements). In a nutshell, ASHRAE 62.2 identifies two types of ventilation needed for the home:

• Spot ventilation -- This intermittent ventilation is used at potential sources of pollution like bathrooms and kitchens. Sources also include laundry rooms, exercise rooms and workshops. This type of ventilation removes source type pollutants that occur from specific occupant activities such as showers, spas, cooking and laundry.
• Whole house ventilation --Continuous whole house ventilation changes the air in the home at a rate typically based on the size of the home and the number of occupants.

ASHRAE 62.2 has set such a high standard for residential ventilation that ASHRAE has proposed that the standard be included in the International Residential Code (irc) of the International Code Council (ICC).

LEED - nationally accepted benchmark

Launched by USGBCC, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System  is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings.

In addition to the commercial LEED program, there are now two new residential LEED rating systems -- one for new home construction (LEED for Homes) and one for remodelers (LEED for Existing Buildings). This LEED certification recognizes and rewards builders and remodelers for meeting the highest performance standards, and gives homeowners confidence that their home is durable, healthy and environmentally friendly. Both programs were piloted for more than a year before being accepted by the group’s membership in late 2007.

LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health:

• Sustainable site development
• Water savings
• Energy efficiency
• Materials selection
• Indoor environmental quality.

The LEED for Homes program has a minimum of six points that must be achieved in the Indoor Environmental Quality (IEG) category. A maximum of 11 points can be achieved with energy star’s new Indoor Air Package. This initiative is currently being test piloted and is not yet available in all U.S. markets. According to the EPA, the Indoor Air Package specifications were developed based on the best available science, information and risks associated with indoor air quality problems, and balanced with practical issues of cost, builder production process compatibility and enforceability.

Other ventilation highlights in LEED for Homes include:

• Moisture control and the recommendation of a Moisture Load Analysis 
• Outdoor air ventilation to reduce occupant exposure to indoor pollutants by ventilation with outdoor air based on the design and installation of a whole building ventilation system that complies with ASHRAE 62.2
• Local exhaust that requires kitchens to have a vented range hood.

NAHB’s National Green Building Standard

In recent years, the NAHB also has piloted its own green home building guidelines which were finalized earlier this year (February 2008). Called the National Green Building Standard, they include six voluntary guidelines for green home building which are flexible depending on the region of the country. The Building Standard provides guidelines on two areas central to proper ventilation:

• Occupancy comfort and IEQ
• Energy efficiency.

Occupancy comfort and IEQ deals with effective management of moisture ventilation -- and the creation of a more comfortable and healthier indoor living environment.

Energy efficiency is meant to help a builder create a better building envelope and incorporate more energy efficient mechanical systems, appliances and lighting into a home, yielding long-term utility bill savings and increased comfort for the homeowner.

Green ventilation products

As these green building guidelines are becoming part of a builder’s normal course of home construction, the focus on green ventilation products is greater than ever. There are many ways to incorporate proper ventilation in any home, as those of us in the industry are well aware. Typically, builders of green houses often make use of natural ventilation, energy recovery ventilation, whole-house fans, energy-saving exhaust fans or a combination of these methods.

Most green building experts will agree that the ideal home ventilation system is carefully planned and designed, taking into account airflows, combustion air, range hood air and the dryer. All ventilation must be accounted for so everyone in the home is comfortable and pollutants are removed.

There are a number of new ventilation products on the market that provide more opportunity for phcp wholesalers. The Broan SmartSense Ventilation System was developed in direct response to ASHRAE 62.2. For the first time, home builders and contractors now have an affordable, energy efficient, intelligent ventilation solution to meet the intermittent and continuous ventilation requirements of 62.2.

Broan SmartSense allows all Broan Ultra Silent fans throughout the home to be connected. Whether it’s a fan in the master bathroom, laundry room, secondary bathrooms, workshop or recreation room, all fans are connected and use a Broan SmartSense control. One control is designated as the master and, using the ASHRAE formula based on the home size and number of bedrooms, the ventilation rate is entered into this control. The remaining controls communicate with the master control through the use of insteon™ technology, a powerful, wireless home control technology that digitally communicates over the power lines already installed in the home. No control wires are needed.

The master control monitors the normal/manual usage of the fans in the home, such as during shower time. It calculates the volume of air ventilated and deducts this from the total ventilation required. If necessary, it will intermittently operate fans throughout the home to achieve optimal ventilation and superior distribution of fresh air. ASHRAE studies have shown that a single fan system does not provide effective continuous ventilation, which is why the Broan SmartSense system makes sense.asd

Those of us who have been in the PHCP industry for more years than we care to admit have always known that good home building was green home building. And we understand the importance of proper ventilation. The various green home building standards that are now in place help to ensure the building industry embraces the importance of green ventilation. The more you understand these current green building standards (and then carry ventilation products that meet the recommended standards) the more you can expect your business to benefit and prosper.                   

Thomas Heidel is the marketing manager-IAQ, low-voltage and control products for Broan-NuTone, Hartford, Wis. Heidel has extensive experience in new product development with Broan-NuTone Engineering, having been with the company since 1981. A member of ASHRAE and holder of various ventilation and control-related patents, Heidel has been instrumental in developing ventilation products and strategies for ASHRAE 62.2-related ventilation recommendations and codes for Broan-NuTone llc. For additional information, visit www.broan.com or www.nutone.com.