Translating Research into Healthy Homes Improvements

Practitioners traditionally rely on conferences and publications to introduce and explain new research. Yet, they need additional forums to ensure that research results are timely and to provide an interactive exploration of the findings.

With funding and guidance from HUD‘s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), NCHH and ACI (now the Home Performance Coalition) organized a series of calls for health and housing professionals interested in getting the latest word on intriguing healthy homes research and participating in a discussion on its implications and applications.

The call series ran from October 2008 to January 2009.

A nonprofit organization founded as the Affordable Comfort Conference in 1986, ACI was rooted in defining the best way to make homes energy efficient without harming the residents and the building. ACI merged with the National Home Performance Council (NHPC) in 2014 to become the Home Performance Coalition.

Summary of Presentations

Date	Presenter	Organization	Presentation	Follow-Up
Oct. 20, 2008	Bud Offerman  415-567-7700	Indoor Environmental Engineering	Practical Ventilation Strategies and Indoor Air Quality Consequences	Ventilation Design Recommendations by Aaron Townsend, Building Science Corporation
Nov. 17, 2008	Jonathan Wilson  443-539-4162	National Center for Healthy Housing	Should EPA Lead-Dust Hazard Standards Be Made More Stringent?
Dec. 15, 2008	Coby Schal  919-515-1821	North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC	How Effective Are Commercial Pest Control Companies in Controlling Cockroaches?
Jan. 20, 2009	Jim Kreiger 206-296-6817	Seattle – King County Health Department	Healthy Homes Lessons from Seattle: Lessons from the Last Decade	ARC Business Case for IPM
Feb. 23, 2009	Terry Brennan  315-336-7955	Camroden Associates	Bathroom and Kitchen Ventilation: What Works? Ventilation Recommendations	Terry Brennan – Questions and Answers on Ventilation
March 16, 2009	Melissa Malkin-Weber 919-857-9024	Advanced Energy	“Fresh Air” Ventilation – How Fresh Is It? Research Results from 36 North Carolina Homes	Research Article
April 22, 2009	David Ormandy	Warwick School of Law in England	The Costs of Unhealthy Homes	Canada’s R-2000 Program Liverpool’s Funding Program Press Release Leech Abstract on Health and Energy Efficiency Howden-Chapman on Home Heating and Asthma
May 18, 2009	Steve Klossner	Advanced Certified Thermography	Carbon Monoxide Levels and Sources in Homes – What about the Garage?
June 15, 2009	Bill Fisk	Lawrence Berkeley Labs	Health Implications of Moisture in Homes and What to Do about It
July 20, 2009	Brad Turk 866-426-0723	Environmental Building Services	Moisture Reduction Impacts of Radon Resistant Construction: When Does It Help?
September 21, 2009	Jeff Gordon	University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana	The House as a Chimney: IAQ and Unvented Gas Fireplaces

Background

One week before each call, NCHH and ACI sent out an announcement on Healthyhomesnet and other relevant listservs providing the agenda and details on the upcoming call. After the call, NCHH posted and updated the materials based on questions raised.

The general agenda for the call was:

3:00 ET     Welcome and Introductions – NCHH
3:05          Updates and Review of Previous Calls
3:15          Spotlight on a Research

Presentation
Discussion of Implications and Applications
Follow-up Items

3:50          Suggestions for Topics for Future Calls
4:00          Adjourn

NCHH announced the calls on the Healthyhomesnet listserv. The listserv was managed by the Alliance for Healthy Homes to promote and sustain health considerations in renovation, maintenance, operation, and construction of housing. It also focuses on maintenance and rehab of existing properties, practices and policies that apply to low-income housing, holistic approaches, and primary prevention. Join the listserv.