Given the amount of time we spend inside our homes, it's imperative
to have superior air quality and air flow. The materials we use to
create the home will have a major impact on indoor air quality.
I believe that unprocessed and local
materials such as clay, straw, rock, wood and wool, for example, are
the ideal materials to use for a home with a fixed foundation. Humans
evolved to live and function in a certain environment, around certain
materials -- we did not evolve in environments inundated with industrial
chemicals, plastics, synthetic fibers, etc. Our bodies (and minds) thus
do not function as well in these latter environments.
Many of the building materials used to construct conventional homes contain dangerous chemicals that outgas over a period of years, compromising indoor air quality and the health of those living in the house. People with severe and immediate reactions to chemicals, such as those with MCS (Multiple Chemical Sensitivities) or EI (Environmental Illness), are not the only people affected by these substances. There are long-term, unseen and cumulative effects for us all.
What follows is an accumulation of the research I have done on materials that are safe and appropriate for light-frame construction.
