Our guest blogger this week is Wes Harding, President of Harding Construction & Sustainable Solutions. He is a college instructor, general contractor, certified green home rater, and energy auditor. He can be reached at www.hardingconstruction.biz

Take a safety pin and stick a bunch of holes in a balloon. Now try blowing it up. Eventually what happens is you run out of breath trying to keep the balloon full of air (hopefully you didn’t pass out and you can keep reading). This same concept can be effectively transferred to our homes.

Obviously we don’t live in inflatable homes, but the holes represent areas in which air and heat (both hot and cold) can travel bringing in containments, dust, and allergens.

You may know where the large holes are in your house such as drafty windows, doors, and chimneys but have you ever really thought of the holes that lead to your attic and crawlspace. These holes are harder to find. They are often where the air barrier assembly (typically drywall and plaster) are not continuous. Such as where drywall meets the framing on ceilings, where the 2 x 4 bottom plate sits on the subfloor,  at electrical boxes for outlets and switches and recessed lighting, and at pluming penetrations such as under the sink. All of these holes allow air to travel through your home.

As air travels within these holes it is bringing whatever is in the air from outside, within your attic and within your crawlspace into your home. For every cubic foot of air that leaves a building, one enters. Trust me, I have seen a lot of things in crawlspaces and attics and it is not pretty. I have seen dead rodents, piles and piles of rat droppings, mold, and raw sewage. Do you want this in your home? How important are the zero VOC products in your home now?

Tomorrow I will go over some of the signs of air travel and how it plays a bigger role in regards to indoor air quality, a green interior, and energy efficiency. In the mean time, try not to think of what you potentially could be breathing.