Builder

BUILDERONLINE.COM BUILDER 61

AIR CARE The owners

of this Passive House–

certified home in Illinois

put a premium on indoor

air quality due to a family

member’s allergies.

Designed by TBDA and

built by Evolutionary

Home Builders, the

project features nontoxic

finishes and materials,

Greenguard-certified

drywall, unfinished

salvaged wood, and

continuous filtered

ventilation.

★

VALUE PROPOSITION

One of the first steps in committing to healthy build-

ing standards is becoming a partner in the EPA’s

voluntary Indoor airPLUS certification program,

launched in 2009 to provide construction specifica-

tions 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.

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

80%

of home buyers

would pay more for a

healthier home

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