Prioritizing Choices for a Healthy House
Affordable Healthy Houses
Evaluation Strategies
by Mary Kraus and Bruce Coldham
When considering healthful materials and techniques, it's easy to feel compelled to apply every available strategy, and then conclude that healthy homes are simply unaffordable. If instead, we assess the relative merit of each measure, we can determine which options to choose to create a home that is both healthful and affordable. To this end, we have developed an approach for prioritizing choices for healthful homes. Our method is simple. First, list plausible strategies. Then, broadly rate each for its anticipated health benefit and, finally, estimate the added (or subtracted) construction cost for each strategy.
Our "base" case is a 900 sq. ft. rectangular house with a small kitchen and single bathroom. We have compiled a list of improvement strategies in which those on the left replace conventional ones on the right. The health benefit and construction premium are charted to display which healthful improvements return the highest health benefit for the money invested. Construction premium is on the vertical axis (note that it is logarithmic). Health benefit is represented on the horizontal axis rated as low, medium, or high impact. These evaluations are descriptive indications of the costs and benefits of the strategies chosen.
| Healthy House Strategy | Conventional Practice |
| 1. Radon mitigation (5" of crushed stone below slab) | 1. Slab on compacted fill |
| 2. Electric stove | 2. Gas stove |
| 3. Solid wood cabinetry (w/low-VOC finish) | 3. Particle board cabinets |
| 4. Pantry and solid wood base cabinets | 4. Particle board cabinets |
| 5. Pine floor over CDX plywood subfloor | 5. Carpet & padding over subfloor |
| 7. Pine plank and joist w/low-VOC finish | 7. Carpet & padding over subfloor |
| 8. Painted masonite over CDX plywood subfloor | 8. Carpet & padding over subfloor |
| 9. Wool carpet | 9. Carpet & padding over subfloor |
| more... | more ... |