The Healthy House Videos

by John and Lynn Bower, 2000. The Healthy House Institute, 430 North Sewell Road, Bloomington, IN 47408; 812/332-5073,

www.hhinst.com. Five-video set, $99.95

Over the past decade the Bowers have established themselves as the leading source of information on low-toxic and healthy homes, with numerous books, articles, and public appearances. Their work is based on personal experience, both with Lynn’s chemical sensitivities and with their joint efforts to build houses that she and others can live in.

The Healthy House video series, consisting of thirteen half-hour segments on five cassettes, offers yet another useful medium in which to learn from their experience.

The videos are self-produced and narrated by the Bowers, so they are not slick professional productions. The action moves slowly and some staged scenes are awkward. On the other hand, the information is presented clearly, with good use of visuals. It is great, for example, to see actual examples of six different types of air filtration devices, from standard furnace filters to high-tech electrostatic precipitators and HEPA filters.

The series captures every important detail of the construction of the Bowers’ own healthy house during the year-long process. This series won’t make it on prime-time network television, but it is an excellent resource for anyone who prefers videos to books. Watching the construction process unfold takes patience, but the viewer is rewarded with many useful tidbits along the way.