Standard Green Building Practices

Teton Heritage Builders uses green building techniques like a blower door test  that can be done during the construction process to quantify air leakage.  The test identifies air leaking out of a building that can carry damage-causing moisture into a building’s cavities and allows heat out into the outdoors. A blower door test uses a powerful fan that mounts into an exterior door frame. The fan pulls air out of the house, lowering the air pressure inside. The higher outside air pressure then flows in through all unsealed cracks and openings. Once these leakage areas are identified materials such as caulking, weather stripping, and spray foam are used to seal the leaks and improve the home’s energy performance.Did you know that of all the potentially harmful air pollutants the EPA tracks only three are more prevalent outdoors than indoors?  Green building practices such as low VOC (volatile organic compound) paint, formaldehyde free building products, non-toxic glues, all natural carpets, non-toxic insulation and many other techniques can dramatically reduce or even eliminate the toxins introduced into the air by the building materials themselves.

To address other toxins and pollutants that can build up in a home due to cleaning materials, fumes from fireplaces & gas appliances and other sources, another green technology that can be used is a heat recovery ventilator (HRV). HRVs achieve two primary goals: they recapture the heat expelled out of the home from the heating system and they improve the air quality inside the home. The recaptured heat is used to pre-heat the fresh air drawn into the home from the outdoors thus improving the home’s energy efficiency. Furthermore, a HRV will also exhaust stale indoor air, removing any potentially harmful gaseous pollutants that can build up in tightly sealed, energy efficient homes. This can significantly improve the quality of air you and your family breathe inside your home.