Healthy Home Design

This is a great question! I urge everyone to put exteiror insulation on their homes if they're building new (even in hot climates), so why didn't I do it for my own new home? Exterior insulation is rigid insulation that goes on the outside of your exterior walls, behind the siding. You can also put exterior insulation on your roof, but this question is specific about the walls.

I'm bringing back the Healthy Home Design podcast with The Q&A Sessions. These are questions that the audience is asking about anything design and build related. It was orginally intended for Instagram, but my answers were getting a bit too long. So I decided to do a shortened version of the answer on Instagram, then post the more thorough answer here on the podcast. FREE 4 day challenge sign up. If you have a question you'd like me to answer, send it to kate@balancedarchitecture.com or comment on a post in Instagram, or send a DM to me in Instagram. My Instagram page

The living building challenge is a program created by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI). It is about creating buildings that improve the planet and people by being built. It's very aspirational and pretty hard to achieve. That's why ILFA created a second certification program called the Core Green Building Certification that makes achieving a super healthy and sustainable home within reach. I love the concept of building certifications because it provides goals and metrics to keep everyone accountable for creating better buildings. And I've found that the Core Green Building Certification is one of the best programs that encompasses all aspects of health, well-being and planetary health in a realistic, achievable way. So if the idea of having goals and metrics to ensure you really are creating a home that supports your health and well-being, along with the planet, then this certification program is a great one to consider. I'm going to discuss the 10 imperatives that combine to create the Core Green Building Certification requirements, and why I love this certification so much that I plan to follow this framework when I build my home.

Link to Blog Post that has ALL the links I mention in the eposide!! Are you ready to start designing your dream home, but have no idea how to get all the thoughts and ideas you have floating in your head down on paper? If you've been thinking about your house design for a while, and have been saving Pinterest images and making inspiration boards, you have any idea of what you want, but you may be feeling lost on how you turn those ideas into a floor plan. If so, I'm going to walk you through 5 steps to get all the ideas out of your head and into a floor plan. It is soooo important to spend a lot of time working on the plans for your home renovation or a new build. Even if you plan to hire an architect, I recommend spending time up front on your own working through your ideas and trying out some floor plan layout options. This will allow you to have more meaningful and detailed conversations with your architect. What you'll discover: 5 key steps to get your home design right The most important thing to figure out for your new home or renovation How to create a program of spaces What a bubble diagram is and why this needs to be done before creating a floor plan The best tools for sketching floor plans Link to Blog Post that has ALL the links I mention in the eposide!!

Creating a durable home is a big part of creating a sustainable and healthy home. A durable home means that the house will last a long time and be relatively low-maintenance. This will help save you money in the long run, so it's well worth it. It also helps maintain a healthy indoor environment and makes you more comfortable. In this episode we'll break down some of the big picture design strategies that you can incorporate into your renovation or new home design to make it a durable, sustainable, long-lasting, healthy, low-maintenance home.

Hempcrete is an amazing alternative building technique that fits into the category of natural building methods. In this episode, I interview Mattie Mead, the founder and CEO of Hempitecture, a public benefit corporation that supplies hempcrete building materials and makes hempwool insulation. "Hempitecture was founded with the idea that healthy, sustainable materials can help build a better world. These materials can help build a better world by contributing to our health, saving energy, and storing carbon dioxide. They're achieving their mission by focusing on biobased, natural building materials that are designed to replace conventional, toxic materials." I am super intrigued by hempcrete construction, and I'd love to build out of hempcrete someday. I have a feeling by the end of this episode, you'll love the material too! Mattie provides an in-depth understanding of what hempcrete is, how it works, and why it's so good for you and the planet! Here's what we cover: How hempcrete is made What the sustainability and health benefits are of hempcrete What the difference is between cast-in-place hempcrete and hempcrete blocks How the cost of hempcrete construction compares to a more standard high-performance wall assembly The benefits of hempwool insulation and where to install it Links: Hempitecture.com buy.hempitecture.com

And we're back! Today's podcast episode is an interview I had with Greg Yeutter from Restful, the company that created the Bedtime Bulb. We're diving into all things sleep, lighting, and circadian rhythms. What you'll discover: Why is sleep so important, and how can your living space influence your sleep? What are circadian rhythms? What is blue light? Do blue light blocking glasses really work? What kind of light do we need for better sleep and how do we get it? Episode Link

We have a special guest interview today, from a company I love to recommend, but first I have a quick, fun announcement. If you've tried visiting my Balanced Home Balanced Life website lately, you probably noticed that it's no longer there! I decided to combine my two websites into one, and now everything I do can be found at Balancedarchitecture.com And it's been totally revamped! You'll find all the latest podcasts episodes, resources, the different ways I can help you create your renovation or new build, and just lots of great info about making a healthy and sustainable home. So make sure you check that out! Ok, now on to my special guest. I recently had the opportunity to interview jay Watts who is VP at AFM Safecoat. you might have heard me mention this company before. They specialize in making healthy paints, stains, coatings, sealants, and pretty much all other liquid coatings you'd use in a building project Jay has been with AFM for 25 years, and through his time there he's be counselling consumers, especially those with chemical sensitivities and allergies, on strategies to building or remodeling safer homes and offices. We dive into all things indoor air quality in this episode. It was a really fun discussion. I hope you enjoy it! www.balancedarchitecture.com/045

Have you ever started searching for a healthy product and then found yourself three hours later even more confused than when you started? I have been there. Searching for healthy and earth-friendly building materials for your home renovation or new home build is hard! It's exhausting and confusing. This episode is meant to help you narrow down your choices and guide you to the best websites to find the information you're looking for. You'll Discover: What product certifications are Which certifications you should look out for The best websites to search for healthy materials My process for researching healthy and earth-friendly materials Healthy Materials Guide: This Easy-To-Use Guide Will Help You: Save time and avoid frustration - you can stop the endless internet research for healthy and sustainable materials Feel good about the materials you're selecting for your home Share your material ideas with your architect and builder so they have a head start on understanding what you want to use in your home Learn more about the Healthy Materials Guide Here. Helpful Links: Declare: https://declare.living-future.org/ Healthy Materials Lab: https://healthymaterialslab.org/material-collections/ Mindful Materials: http://www.mindfulmaterials.com/

Can you live in a small house? Now, we're not talking about tiny houses, which are wonderful for the planet, but a small house relative to the number of people and how those people live their lives. Being comfortable in a small house, or any house, is all about the design. You can walk into a 3,000 square foot house and it can actually feel smaller than a 1,800 square foot house. Creating a spacious feeling in a small house is about the layout, design elements, and organization options. This week's Healthy Home Design podcast episode digs into ways to design a small house without sacrificing your comfort or flexibility. What You'll Discover: The benefits of living in a small house What to consider when designing your small house Tips and design ideas for making your house flexible, multi-use, and organized How to make your house feel comfortable and spacious Why a smaller home doesn't necessarily affect the resale value Links: Episode 37 // What is a site analysis and why do you need one before designing your renovation / new home build?

We're spending a lot more time in our homes and as work and family responsibilities merge, we're finding ourselves more distracted and less productive. With January being the time we set goals and figure out how to make our lives better, I wanted to share some ideas that can make your new home or renovation help you become more productive and healthy. These 10 design ideas will help you work efficiently, get more done in less time, and reduce stress for a healthy, productive home. What you'll discover: What designs you need to consider for a productive home How to increase natural light and decrease noise Why colors and the right furniture matter How the layout of your home and rooms can increase productivity and wellness Helpful links:Baux Acoustic Wood Wool PanelsEpisode 34: Biophilic Design and How To Design Nature Into Your Home To Reap Wellness Benefits Episode 16: Choosing Paint Colors For a Calm and Stress-Free Home with Mehnaz Kahn Wellness kitchen:An Architect's Tips For Getting Your Wellness Kitchen Layout Right 8 Tips for a Healthy Kitchen Makeover Episode 9: Healthy and Sustainable Countertops for Your Healthy HomeEpisode 14: 5 Reasons To Create A Kitchen Designed For Wellness Pure Living Space - Promo code BALANCED for 10% off

How well do you know your site? If you're planning a renovation or building a new home, you need to know it REALLY well. You need to spend time on your property conducting a site analysis. A site analysis is probably one of my favorite things to do. I realize I say this for a lot of things when it comes to design, but this one I love because I get to be outside and just look around. Imagine if your home was filled with beautiful, warm sunlight all day long. Imagine if it felt like an extension of the outdoors. Imagine if in the winter time, ice didn't constantly build up along your walkway, and in the spring the threat of water coming into your basement wasn't a concern. Imagine if the neighbor's blaring music wasn't waking you up in the morning, or the street light outside wasn't shining directly into your bedroom window. To make sure these dreamy things become a reality for your home, you need to conduct a site analysis. It's the first step to make sure your home is going to be comfortable, healthy and safe. The sad thing is, it's rare for a new home being built to go through a site analysis before it's designed and plopped onto the site. This is why most homes have annoying issues like bad daylighting, neighboring noises, ground water concerns, views being blocked, over heating etc. etc. etc. So what exactly is a site analysis and how do you conduct one? make sure to listen to this week's episode of The Healthy Home Design Podcast to find out. What You'll Discover What is a site analysis? When do you conduct a site analysis? Why is a site analysis so important? What do you need to do before you begin? What should you be observing? What should you be recording? Helpful Links: Climate Data Website: https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cdo-web/