Healthy by Design: Building and Remodeling Solutions for Creating Healthy Homes

by David Rousseau and James Wasley. Hartley & Marks Publishers, Point Roberts, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia, 1997. Paperback, 320 pages, $24.95.

It’s rare to find a book that is at once accessible, attractive, and technically sophisticated, but

Healthy by Design is such a book. The authors make effective use of many different formats to present their information, including case studies, questions and answers, topical chapters, and schematic construction details. Author of the well-respected

Environmental by Design (now out-of-print), Rousseau is an established authority on healthy and environmentally sound design, and his expertise shines here.

Although the focus is on healthy homes, authors Rousseau and Wasley don’t shy away from discussions of energy conservation and efficient use of resources. In fact, they’ve created a schematic that illustrates to what extent each of their nine case studies has addressed these three areas of concern. They also discuss some of the trade-offs between these three priorities, such as the use of binders in resource-efficient engineered wood products that may compromise indoor air quality.

The case studies are well illustrated with many black-and-white photos and a handful of color plates. Each case study includes sections on:

•design process,

•material selection,

•mechanical systems,

•construction and supervision,

•assessment and critique, and

•summary of key strategies.

Several case studies are located in central Texas, and in a chapter on siting issues we learn why this area is popular with the chemically sensitive: the Texas hill country is far enough from urban and industrial pollution, the scrub brush landscape does not produce many allergenic plants, and the land is unproductive agriculturally, so chemical applications and field-burning are not problems.

The section on material selection includes helpful guidelines on how to interpret the information on Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS).

Healthy by Design also includes a chapter of illustrated design details. Some of the “solutions” offered here are more controversial than the authors admit. For example, they recommend providing ventilation to unconditioned crawl-spaces—a practice that is required by some codes, yet is thought by many building scientists to do more harm than good.

As if the main text weren’t comprehensive enough, a section of answers to commonly asked questions and a remarkably thorough 15-page glossary add icing to the cake. This book is sure to become a standard reference for both professionals and lay persons in this complex and confusing field.