What Makes a Home Healthy?
Apr 07, 2009When one thinks of home, usually it brings back memories of being clean, fed, well-loved and warm and fuzzy all over. It brings waves of good feelings and a place to go when you don’t feel well or when you feel great. However, most people do not look at the actual “health” of a home.
There are seven principles to a healthy home according to the National Center for Healthy Housing:
- Dry
- Clean
- Pest-Fee
- Ventilated
- Safe
- Contaminant-Free
- Maintained
There are several factors that influence how “healthy” our home is including indoor air quality, energy-efficiency, pest control, weatherization, lead poisoning, the tightness of the insulating envelope, and more.
A healthy home is one that is constructed with materials, maintained and rehabilitated in a manner that is conducive to good occupant health. To maintain a healthy home occupants should act to reduce allergens, prevent illness, and reduce injury from accidents.
The National Center for Healthy Housing provides a checklist for healthy homes maintenance. This checklist is an excellent tool for healthy home maintenance and basic guidelines and time frames of when to perform maintenance on your home.
