Healthy Indoors Magazine - USA Edition

EDITORIAL "You can't have both energy efficiency and great indoor air quality…" T hese words have been paraphrased since my indoctrination in the industry back in the mid-eighties. The old mindset was that it was always a balancing act, and either would suffer from the focus on the other. Of course, that paradigm has evolved, and the expectations for having safe, healthy indoor environments in conjunction with sustainable building practices are becoming more mainstream. As we collectively recognize that our planet's available re- sources are finite, and our well-being is indeed affected by the quality of both our outdoor AND indoor worlds, there is an expectation for the entire package with our indoor environments. To this end, The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) was formed more than 20 years ago with a goal of bridg- ing these complex issues. In this month's issue, we take a closer look at the USGBC in our Association Watch, as they come off another successful Greenbuild event in Los Angeles this past month. Our cover story is on the new Healthy Home Evalua- tor (HHE) certification program that was recently debuted by the Building Performance Institute (BPI). While many of their previous certification offerings included some safety and IAQ aspects, the new HHE program more Bob Krell, Publisher specifically covers these aspects and how they relate to building performance measures in a home. From a personal perspective, I applaud efforts to enhance the indoor environmental quality and sus- tainability of both our new structures and our existing building stock. I truly believe in working to make this the new norm. Boo Climate change is real. Much of our carbon emission worldwide can be attributed to how we design and manage our buildings. On the eve of the 4th anniversary of Halloween "Superstorm" Sandy here in the western hemisphere, it should serve as a significant reminder on the importance of collectively acting to curb a future filled with more catastrophic events like this. And, our well-being is also affected by the quality of our indoor environments. We can, and need to have both acceptable IAQ and sustainable buildings—failing to do so would be scary, indeed. Trick or Treat? 4 EDITORIAL— October 2016

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