LEED-H Indoor Environmental Quality
The EQ section of LEED for Homes (LEED-H) is another performance based section. We love these sections because we know our homes are built to perform. Again we take the performance path. We have all heard the news reports that tell us the air inside your home is probably more polluted than the air outside.
EQ 1 - Energy Star with Indoor Air Package
1.1 Energy Star with Indoor Air Package (13 pt) - The Energy Star Indoor Air Package is the best industry practice for providing excellent indoor air quality and reducing mold in your new home.
EQ 4 - Outdoor Air Ventilation
4.2 Enhanced Outdoor Air Ventilation (2 pt) - We get asked the question all the time about our homes being built too tight, how will they breathe? The answer is a Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV). The HRV brings in 80 cubic feet of air every minute of everyday into your new home and at the same time takes the same amount of air out of your home. It changes the temperature of the air entering your home with a heat exchanger that uses the air leaving the home to temper that incoming air so you never have ice cold air in the winter or hot air in the summer entering your home. Nothing we do is as important as installing the HRV for the comfort and safety of your family.
EQ 5 - Local Exhaust
5.2 Enhanced Local Exhaust (1 pt) - The building code requires an exhaust fan in all bathrooms to control moisture. How many times have you turned off the fan before all the moisture was gone? We only install Energy Star rated exhaust fans that sense the humidity in the room and turn themselves on and off whenever the humidity in the bathroom is above the set point, controlling moisture.
5.3 Third Party Performance Testing (1 pt) - As part of the Energy Star Program, our rater tests the performance of all exhaust fans.
EQ 7 - Air Filtering
7.2 Better Filters - Installing better filters than the code requires will gain 1 point.
7.3 Best Filters (2 pt) - Installing the best possible filters, those with a MERV rating of 13 or greater provide the cleanest possible air in your new home.
EQ 8 - Contaminant Control
8.2 Indoor Contaminent Control - By installing permanent measures to control dirt entering your home you can achive another 2 points. Talk to us about our optional walk-off mats or central vacuum systems.
Summary - The quality of the air in your new home is the one thing you will always be rewarded with. Knowing inside your home is as clean as possible lets you know you are keeping your family safe, and nets us 19 points.