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Subject
Wellness in the built environment
Air, light, water, sound, and thermal comfort in the home
In short
Wellness in a home is mostly mechanical rather than aesthetic. Indoor air quality, daylight access, water filtration, acoustic separation, and thermal comfort are determined by decisions made during framing and mechanical design, not by finishes selected later.
Articles on this subject are being written and will appear here.
Wellness in a home is mostly mechanical, and it is decided during framing rather than during finish selection.
The five variables
Air. Indoor air quality is a function of what gets in, what gets generated inside, and how much of it gets removed. A tight envelope with mechanical ventilation and good filtration gives you controlled air. A leaky envelope gives you uncontrolled air through the crawlspace and the garage.
Light. Daylight access affects sleep, mood, and energy use. It is set by orientation, window placement, and ceiling height, all of which are design decisions rather than product decisions.
Water. Filtration and, in Colorado, hardness. Point-of-entry versus point-of-use is a design decision that is far cheaper before drywall.
Sound. Acoustic separation between rooms and from outside. Achieved with assembly design, insulation, and door selection, all during construction.
Thermal comfort. Not just air temperature. Radiant loss to cold surfaces and draft perception matter as much, and both are envelope questions.
Colorado makes this urgent
Wildfire smoke is now a routine part of Colorado summers. A tight envelope with proper filtration is the difference between a home you can breathe in during a smoke event and one you cannot. That capability is built in during construction and is expensive to retrofit.
Low humidity is the other Colorado-specific factor. Very tight homes in a dry climate can reach uncomfortably low indoor humidity in winter, which is solvable with humidification if it is anticipated during mechanical design.
The order of operations
Envelope, then ventilation, then filtration, then finishes. Reversing that order produces a home with expensive fixtures and mediocre air.
References
Where writing in this subject rests on an outside authority, it is one of these.
Written and reviewed by Jason August, President and Employing Broker, Colorado license ER.040029060.ยท