Optimizing Indoor Air Quality

The air you breathe is important, just like the food you eat and the water you drink. Most of us spend the majority of our time indoors, and these days, many of us spend more time than ever at home working, cooking, exercising, relaxing, sleeping, and just living life.

Your Passive House apartment can help provide you with great air quality, but to get the most out of it you’ll want to know how it all works.

The two main things to pay attention to are air pollution and carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. Air pollution (either small particulate matter or airborne chemicals known as volatile organic compounds, VOCs) can come from outdoor air or from indoor sources. Elevated levels of CO2 comes from people breathing and not enough fresh air intake to compensate.

Particulate matter and VOC pollution is shown to have many harmful health effects. And excessive levels of indoor CO2 are associated with lower cognitive performance and inferior sleep.

Here are some easy ways to help maintain high air quality in your apartment:

Use The Heat Recovery Ventilator

Your unit has a Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) that brings in fresh air from outside, runs it through a high-quality filter, and pumps stale air back outdoors. At the same time, it equalizes the temperatures between the ingoing and outgoing air so that it stays as close to the indoor temperature as possible, even when it’s very hot or cold outdoors. The HRV has two great benefits, 1) providing filtered air with fewer particulate and VOC pollutants, and 2) replacing stale indoor air with oxygen-rich outdoor air.

What Settings to Use

This will depend on how much circulation you want or need. When you’re home, the HRV wall control should be set to Low, Medium, High, or Auto. If you are going away for an extended period and want to save energy, you can put it on Away. Bathrooms are equipped with a timed boost button that will ramp up the HRV for a set period of time.

You should make sure that the HRV is on when you are home, especially if the windows are closed, to ensure you’re getting good ventilation in the apartment.

You’ll want to consider turning up your HRV when you have more people over or you’re exercising (which will raise CO2 levels) and when you’re cooking (which creates airborne pollution).

When to Open a Window

Passive Houses take pride in having good openable windows. Your windows are called “tilt/turn” because you can swing them all the way open (180-degree handle turn), or open just the top (90-degree turn). Windows can provide cool air when it’s hot inside, and can provide fresh air when it’s getting stuffy.

Keeping an Eye on Outdoor Air Quality

The quality of air outdoors is always changing. Levels of smog, pollution, pollen, and wildfire smoke can fluctuate considerably. You may want to keep your windows closed more often on more polluted days. You can check the local air quality on AirNow.gov, ask your smart home device, or get a home air quality monitor.

What to Avoid

Often, the sources of indoor air pollution are things like household cleaners, cosmetics, and chemicals, and cooking (especially at high heat). Consider minimizing the use of home chemicals that may have harmful side effects and opt for non-toxic green options. When you cook, open windows, use the range hood fan, turn up the HRV, or all of the above.

Monitoring your Air Quality

There are now many high-quality home air quality monitors for sale. These devices can tell you how clean your air is and how much CO2 there is. Many can also compare your indoor air to the local outdoor air so you can decide the best times to open the windows. Many devices will also send the data to a mobile app and web dashboard.

Consider an Air Purifier

A home air purifier can add even more filtration to your indoor air, and many have sensors what will adjust their fan speed to the level of airborne matter. This could be an especially good idea if you suffer from asthma or allergies or if you have pets.