Goldilocks Point = Healthy Home

Goldilocks Point = Healthy Home

Yes, I represent an aluminium window and door supplier, so surely I'll say "just by the double glazed aluminium kind" and there you go, we fixed it. But to make your home a healthy home there needs to be a Goldilocks point that works for the home that you have.

Too cold, and too damp, can lead to respiratory illnesses. This seems like an obvious one doesn't it, cold, damp homes leading to health issues. New Zealand has a large housing stock of homes that represent this issue. Just installing thermally broken windows, or just insulating, doesn't actually take care of the overall problems in homes like these. As much as I would love to say "just double glaze and all will be well", would be an incorrect and expensive fix to the issue.

Too hot, with too much humidity and you can get unseen damaged walls. Condensation on windows is actually a good thing here, because, you can see there is a problem. But, if the condensation isn't showing on the windows, it does not mean you have a healthy home. Your home could have unseen mildew inside the walls or roof space. In my opinion, these are the types of homes we have been building for quite some time now.

Sources of internal moisture

• Cooking 3 litres per day
• Clothes washing 500ml per day
• Bath or showers 1.5 litres per person per day
• Dishes 1 litre per day
• Unvented clothes drying 5 litres per load
• Unflued gas heater 1 litre per hour
• Breathing 200ml per person per hour
• Pot plants as much as you give them

Goldilocks point = healthy home

Build it airtight by all means, build it with thermally broken joinery, sure....but please, for the love of all things healthy homes, build it with ventilation.

Installing thermally broken joinery or simply upgrading to double glazing only improves the internal temperature at the frame position. However, the Goldilocks point considers internal temperature, the homes relative humidity - which needs to be controlled due to the amount of moisture generated per person per day - and therefore leads to a healthy home utilising "proper" ventilation. (this is my bias...proper ventilation to me does not mean just opening the windows and doors, but actual mechanical ventilation).

You will see from the image below that "cold" residential or architectural aluminium joinery generally produces a frame internal temperature of between 4.4 - 4.46 degrees* then, when thermally broken joinery is used we can achieve 9.42 degrees**

* using WEERS (window energy efficiency rating system), external temperature = 0 degrees, internal temperature = 20 degrees

** frame values only. Installing is not yet included in WEERS calculations

The result?

When looking at what constitutes a healthy home, there is a lot of energy placed around simply upgrading the insulation and the push to thermally broken joinery. But when just considering R values and not internal temperature, while ignoring relatively humidity, we create a hot box of toxic, unseen mildew that can do just as much damage to your health as a cold, damp home.

So please consider the Goldilocks point, and put a bit more emphasis on internal temperature, relative humidity and ventilation to achieve a healthy home.