Buyers Beware There is a saying “what you don’t know won’t hurt you,” but when it comes to designing and building a healthy home what you don’t know can hurt you and your family. And if you have small children it can have a profound effect on their health and development. Depending on the amount and type of toxins in the home and the amount of exposure, some toxins can lead to anything from asthma, allergies, neurological problems, disabilities, cancer and even death.
Environmental issues are becoming more important to consumers and more people are becoming aware of the term “Green Design”. Some people are aware that the air quality in their home is 3 times more toxic than the air quality outside their home, mostly due to increased advertisements for home air cleaners. But what most people don’t know is what causes the toxic air and how to prevent it, or that in most buildings the air pollution is actually 5 to 10 times more polluted than outside air even in the worst cities. There are air cleaners and environmental companies available to help remove some of the toxins once they are already in the home, but they can be very expensive. It is more cost effective to keep the toxins out of the home, to begin with.

But How?
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