Anne: Welcome to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Indoor airPLUS podcast series. I’m Anne Rancourt. Today I’m speaking with Rebecca Morley, Executive Director of the National Center for Healthy Housing. Rebecca thanks for joining me. 
Rebecca: Thanks for having me. 
Anne: To start, can you tell us a little about bit about the mission of the National Center for Healthy Housing?
Rebecca: Sure, we were founded in 1992, and our mission is to create safe and healthy homes for children through practical and proven steps. 
Anne: And what does your research show lately about consumer demand for healthy homes and indoor air quality?
Rebecca: Well, we conducted a survey and there is lack of awareness about healthy housing, but more importantly, there is a lack of action. So, for instance, only 10% of families have tested their homes for radon. So, that’s a pretty low number. Similarly, only 10% had tested for lead-based paint, if their home was older. Other issues that we found – 19% of families still permit smoking in the home. Twenty-nine percent reported not having a CO alarm. And, about 15% reported that they used pesticides; that they had mold or mildew and that pests, such as mice or roaches, were in the home in the last three months. 
Anne: Does this help you draw any conclusions about the number of people that might be interested in the Indoor airPLUS program?
Rebecca: I think that there is actually a large portion of families who are interested in these issues. Either they don’t know what to do because it hasn’t been communicated to them in a way that is simple and empowering, and the Indoor airPLUS program does offer that opportunity. 
Anne: And, what are the most important indoor air quality and health hazards to address in new construction? 
Rebecca: So, I think that there are a range of things that we can do with in new construction. The first is building materials and we’ve learned the hard way that putting chemicals like lead, asbestos, formaldehyde into our building materials may have a benefit initially from a housing structural standpoint, but the long term health ramifications absolutely negate whatever initial benefit we thought we had.  So we really need to take a close look at our building materials and not put contaminates in the home to begin with. The second thing is making sure that we’re balancing the tightness of the home, the energy efficiency aspects of it, with comfort and fresh air. So, if we are making a very tight building envelope, we want to make sure we introduce sufficient fresh air so that we’re not trapping either moisture or chemicals on the inside. And, then I just think there is a quality issue and I think some of those details have gone by the wayside. So, for instance, flashing around windows to make sure that water sheds away from windows, extending the eaves out so that we’re making sure water’s not running against the walls or the foundation. Really a focus on quality and that’s got to be homeowner, or home purchaser, driven. You’ve got to just demand that if you want to get it. 
Anne: And from your perspective, how does EPA’s Indoor airPLUS program fill a need in the United States?
Rebecca: Well, the Indoor airPLUS program is outstanding in that it focuses on the construction and design of new homes. And, so we’ve seen the proliferation of buildings in the last 20 years that have lacked in quality and in design details. So, some of the problems that we are seeing today, whether it be moisture and mold, or structural issues or even chemicals that are being emitted from our building products, are the result of really of a building industry that has not kept up with current practice. And, so the Indoor airPLUS program will provide clear guidelines for builders to help them build more healthy for families. It also will give families a little bit of an opportunity to identify what is a healthy home, because right now there’s a lot of information out there about healthy indoor air or healthy indoor environments, but there’s not necessarily a label that people can point to. So, this fills that gap. 
Anne: As I’m sure you know the Indoor airPLUS program has a third party rater come and verify the home before it can earn the label. Do you think that raters can play an inspection role to help identify a healthy home?
Rebecca: I think so and I think that also brings up the point of the other business that raters have. Often times, energy raters will be doing energy audits. So, what we are trying to do is encourage them to look beyond just energy efficiency issues and address whole house, healthy housing issues as well. So, as they are doing their energy audit, can they address combustion problems, ventilation issues, moisture issues? 
Anne: How can homebuyers be assured that their purchase is beneficial to their family’s health? 
Rebecca: Well, I think, again, the Indoor airPLUS label is one way of doing that since it’s based on the best available science about what housing upgrades will result in improvement to heath. And, it’s something though that requires vigilance on the part of the owner. It’s not something where you move into the home and then you’re done. So for homeowners I really recommend that they look at maintenance as something that they need to build into their housing budgets, but also into their “to do” tasks every year. 
Anne: Rebecca, thank you so much for joining me. 
Rebecca: Thank you for having me. 
Anne: To find out more about the National Center for Healthy Housing, visit nchh.org. To learn more about EPA’s Indoor airPLUS label, or to listen to more podcasts, go to epa.gov/indoorairplus. I’m Anne Rancourt from the Cadmus Group. 


Rebecca Morley Podcast
6/19/2010


1