How can I avoid CO poisoning from my car or truck? Have a mechanic check the exhaust system of your car or truck every year. A small leak in the exhaust system can lead to a build up of CO inside the car. Never run your car or truck inside a garage that is attached to a house even with the garage door open.

One way air tightness can be checked is by measuring carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. Why carbon dioxide? It’s a good proxy for air freshness. Humans breathe out CO2, so if air in a home or building isn’t moving much and anyone is breathing, CO2 levels go up.

When a House Is Too Tight One way to determine if a house is tight with insulation is to have a roofing professional measure the level of air changes per hour (ACH). This measure describes how often the air in a particular space will be replaced. In an energy-efficient home, that number should fall below 0.50 ACH.

Air comes into buildings and leaves by three different ways: Doors and windows, whenever they are opened. Joints, cracks and openings where parts of the building connect, including floors and walls and around windows and pipes. Spot ventilation, including fans that pull air from the bathroom.

It is possible to over-insulate your house so much that it can’t breathe. The whole point of home insulation is to tightly seal your home’s interior. But if it becomes too tightly sealed with too many layers of insulation, moisture can get trapped inside those layers.

High humidity=mold growth Moisture and mold can seep up through unsealed floors and make your home musty and damp. Further, a poorly sealed house will have an aggravated stack effect, further pulling air from the crawl space into the living space.

Houses do NOT need to breathe. People do. Have you heard that one before, that you shouldn’t seal up your house too tightly because a house needs to breathe? It’s a common myth, but that’s all it is – a myth.

The good thing about glass is that it is airtight. While the frame portion of a Passive House window is weaker, most frames employ multiple air sealing gaskets as well as multi-point locking mechanisms to ensure tight closure and get you to your airtight goals.

Today, homes are built to be more airtight to help increase energy efficiency. But when a home is too airtight, it can affect the ventilation — which can lead to mould and bacteria in the air. According to today’s building code, you must have an HRV if your home is airtight.

Why build an airtight house Save energy and heating costs, means less CO2 emissions. No structural damage due to hidden mould. No draught in the living space. Better indoor air quality (dust, pollen, odours), less pollutants from outside.

Supply Ventilation: Supply ventilation systems use a fan to pressurize your home, forcing outside air into the building and stale air to leak out through holes in the building envelope (bathroom fans, kitchens fans, etc.)