Housing and Design Newsletter
Kenneth R. Tremblay, Jr.
Winter, 2006
- Homes Should be Tested for Radon
- Be Prepared for Fire
- A Clean Energy Choice: Small Wind Turbines
- Trends in Housing
- Wood Stoves and Indoor Air Quality
Homes Should be Tested for Radon
January is National Radon Action Month, and Governor Bill Owens recently signed a proclamation making it also Colorado Radon Action Month. Colorado State University Extension encourages state residents to test their homes for radon, and to take action if radon levels are high.
Radon is a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas emitted from uranium, a naturally occurring mineral in rocks and soil. Normally, radon rises up through the soil and dissipates in the air outside. Radon becomes a concern, however, when it seeps through openings such as cracks, loose fitting pipes, sump pits, dirt floors, slab joints, or block walls and accumulates in the home. Air pressure inside the home is usually lower than pressure in the soil around the house's foundation. Because of this difference, the house acts like a vacuum, drawing radon in through foundation cracks and other openings.
Radon has been identified as a risk factor in developing lung cancer because it decays into radioactive particles that can get trapped in the lungs. These particles release bursts of energy that damages lung tissue. It is estimated that radon may be associated with 3,000 to 32,000 lung cancer deaths per year in the U.S., second only to smoking.
Surveys show that homes in most Colorado counties have the potential for radon levels above the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) recommended action level. Because radon levels are influenced by a variety of factors-soil type and moisture, how "tight" the home is, type of heating and ventilation system, movement of air and groundwater, air pressure, and lifestyle behavior of the occupants-the only way to know if a home has elevated levels of radon is to test it.
Only individual testing can determine which houses may have a radon problem. You cannot base your radon levels on your neighbors' test results. Every house is different. Measuring radon levels in the home is simple and inexpensive. Test kits include complete instructions and return postage for mailing samples back to the lab for analysis. Radon test kits can be purchased at most hardware and home improvement stores.
The EPA set 4 picocuries per liter (pCi/L) as a recommended action level. If a short-term measurement is over 4 pCi/L, the recommended action is to perform a follow-up test to better characterize the radon levels. If a long-term test measures over 4 pCi/L, action should be taken to reduce radon exposure. Once a home's radon level is measured, if it exceeds the recommended level, simple systems for removing the radon from underneath the home before it has a chance to enter its interior can be installed. This can cost between $500-$2,500.
Radon reduction methods can be planned for and installed during new home construction using the Radon Resistant New Construction Guidance. Installation costs are generally much lower during construction and careful planning allows a variety of strategies to be integrated to ensure the most effective radon reduction system possible. Installing radon-resistant features during construction of a new home generally cost under $1,000. Currently, Fort Collins has the only radon resistant policy for new homes in Colorado.
Testing is easy and inexpensive, and Governor Owens is encouraging Colorado citizens who have not yet tested their home for radon to do so, and to reduce any elevated radon levels found, in order to protect their families from the serious health risk associated with radon.
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Be Prepared for Fire
From Larimer County Emergency Information (www.larimer.org/emergency) comes advice to be prepared for fires, especially wildfires:
- Remove excess trees and highly flammable shrubs.
- Remove leaves and pine needles from roofs, gutters, and downspouts.
- Remove combustible items from around the house such as woodpiles, patio furniture, and barbeque grills.
- Develop a family disaster response plan, complete with escape routes and an emergency meeting place.
- Have an emergency go-kit with supplies readily available. This should include prescription medication and backup eye glasses/contacts.
- Review your homeowners/renters insurance policy to ensure you have adequate coverage.
- Create a home inventory to make policy claims go smoothly.
- Arrange temporary housing in case of a fire for both your family and your pets.
For more information visit www.firewise.org and if you live in a fire prone area read the fact sheet Creating Wildfire-Defensible Zones (Natural Resources Series no. 6.302) on the Colorado State University Extension Web site.
A Clean Energy Choice: Small Wind Turbines
In the booklet Colorado's Clean Energy Choices, available from the Governor's Office of Energy Management and Conservation (www.state.co.us/oemc), a number of clean energy solutions are described, including solar energy, biomass power, geothermal energy, and wind power. For an individual home or farmhouse a good choice might be the use of a small wind turbine, a relatively simple yet hardy piece of machinery. It consists of a turbine, blades, a tower, wiring, and associated electrical equipment.
For remote homes and stand-alone operations, small wind turbines might use a battery for energy storage. Or for grid-tied systems, they will come with an inverter to interconnect with the utility.
Tower height is very important for wind turbines because wind speeds increase with height, and the available wind power increases with wind speed.
You can estimate what a small wind system will produce at a certain location if you know the average wind speed. A manufacturer can tell you the output to expect from a particular turbine.
For more information visit the American Wind Energy Association: www.awea.org/smallwind.html
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Trends in Housing
Home Gyms Rise in Popularity. According to the National Sporting Goods Association (www.nsga.org), from 2000-2004, 5.8 million multi-purpose home gyms were sold. In the same time period, 20.3 million motorized treadmills were sold, most for household use. Below is the Total Gym XL endorsed by Chuck Norris and Christie Brinkley.
American Housing Survey. The U.S. Census Bureau disseminates and reports the American Housing Survey, a study that focuses on properties and people's relations to their homes. It is conducted every three years and includes a sample of almost 200,000 households. For a snapshot look at data from previous AHS reports go to www.huduser.org
Log Cabin Fever. According to the Log Home Council of the National Association of Home Builders (www.loghomes.org), more than 25,000 log homes are built each year, up from about 7,000 in the mid-1980s. Sales in the U.S. and Canada have more than doubled since 1998, to $1.37 billion, and these homes now account for 7% of the custom home building market. They are especially popular in Colorado.
Trust in Housing. The National Housing Trust (www.nhtinc.org) is a national nonprofit organization formed to preserve and improve affordable multifamily homes for low-income people. The trust saves multifamily properties at risk of conversion to market rate housing and resolves the problems of troubled properties that suffer from physical deterioration and financial and social distress.
Multifamily Leadership. The National Multi Housing Council (www.nmhc.org) is a national association representing the interest of the nation's larger and most prominent apartment firms. The association advocates on behalf of rental housing, conducts apartment related research, encourages the exchange of strategic business information, and promotes the desirability of apartment living. NMHC is hosting its annual summit on March 9.
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Wood Stoves and Indoor Air Quality
Many publications exist regarding safety factors to consider when using a wood stove to heat your home. Safety considerations include distances between the stove and combustible surfaces, annual chimney cleaning, and others. Before installing a wood stove in your home, contact your local building inspector for information on necessary permits and installation requirements.
Burning any fuel in a home has potential impacts on indoor air quality. Combustion pollutants are gases or particles that result from burning materials. The types and amounts of pollutants produced depend on the appliance, how well the appliance is installed and maintained, and the fuel it uses. Major combustion pollutants from wood and other fuels and the health effects of exposure include the following:
Carbon monoxide interferes with the delivery of oxygen in the blood to the rest of the body. It can cause fatigue, headaches, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, increased chest pain in people with heart disease, confusion and disorientation, and, at high levels, death. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (www.cpsc.org), there are more than 1,000 carbon monoxide deaths in the U.S. each year. Because carbon monoxide is odorless and some of the symptoms it causes are similar to common illnesses, the effects may not be recognized until it is too late. Those most at risk are the elderly, infants, and people with anemia or with a history of heart or respiratory disease.
Nitrogen dioxide is a colorless, odorless gas that can cause irritation of the respiratory tract, shortness of breath, and increased incidences of respiratory illness. There is evidence from animal studies that repeated exposure to elevated nitrogen dioxide levels may lead or contribute to the development of lung disease such as emphysema. Children and individuals with asthma and other respiratory illnesses are at greater risk from exposure to nitrogen dioxide.
Sulfur dioxide irritates the eyes, nose, and the respiratory tract at low levels of exposure. At high levels, it causes the lung airways to narrow. This results in chest tightness, wheezing, or other breathing problems.
Particulates can cause eye, nose, throat, and lung irritation, and can increase respiratory problems, especially in those with preexisting medical conditions, such as cardiovascular illness and immune system diseases. Certain chemicals attached to the particles may cause lung cancer if they are inhaled. The risk of lung cancer increases with the length and amount of exposure. The health effects from inhaling particles depend on many factors, including the chemical makeup and size of the particles.
is also a product of combustion. When you heat your home with wood, be aware that water is also present in the wood before you burn it. Properly seasoned wood has a moisture content of 20-25 %. Freshly cut wood, which should not be burned in a stove or fireplace, has a moisture content of 45% or more. For this reason, firewood should never be stored inside a home, as the moisture it contains will evaporate and lead to potential condensation problems on windows, walls, and other surfaces. Under the right conditions this will lead to the growth of mold and dust mites. A good practice to follow is to store firewood outside and bring only small amounts of wood into your home at a time.
Adequate combustion air. All fuels need oxygen to burn. 
New fireplaces and wood stoves get their combustion air from outside the home. Older woodstoves and fireplaces that get their combustion air from inside the home can depressurize the house. This can result in cold air being drawn into the home through cracks around windows and doors and places where dissimilar building materials meet. House depressurization can also pull radon and other soil gases into a home through cracks in a foundation wall and basement floor. To minimize this, run an air duct from outside the home to a spot near the woodstove or fireplace.
Backdrafting, the spilling of combustion products into the home, occurs when a chimney has inadequate draft or when one air-consuming appliance overpowers another and pulls its combustion gases into the home. An exhaust fan, clothes dryer, water heater, or furnace can cause this. Ideally, every combustion appliance in a home should get its combustion air from outside the home. Backdrafting can also be caused by a clogged chimney. Chimney cleaning and inspection is part of annual maintenance that should be performed on a wood stove or fireplace.
All homes should have smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. These are not replacements for annual maintenance of wood stoves, fireplaces, furnaces, boilers, and water heaters, but do provide a level of protection.
__________Adapted from a fact sheet by Joseph Laquatra, Cornell University. The descriptions of combustion pollutants are from the National Safety Council online resource Combustion Appliances (www.nsc.org)
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Any comments, needs, ideas or suggestions can be sent to:
Kenneth R. Tremblay, Jr.
Housing Specialist and Professor
Department of Design and Merchandising
155 Aylesworth
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80523
(970) 491-5575
Fax: (970) 491-4855
tremblay@cahs.colostate.edu
