It's normal these days to pay attention to what we eat. But what about the steady diet of air we breathe and soak ourselves in?  The impact of homes on health somehow manages to stay below the radar. Even our language is a bit evasive. Why do we say "sick building syndrome"? The buildings aren't sick, the people are. 

This episode is a step toward helping this important topic get some long-overdue and much-needed attention. Join us for an interview with Bill Hayward and Carl Grimes that took place at the 2018 IAQA Conference in Chicago, IL. as we discuss the Hayward Healthy Home Score. We hope you enjoy, take the quiz yourself, and share with your friends and families. 

Learn More About The Hayward Score with this great, informative video.

Bill Hayward

Bill is the founder of Hayward Score as well as the CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer of Hayward, a 95-year-old California lumber and building material supplier. Since 2008, when he, his wife, and their newborn daughter became sick in their “dream home,” Bill has been focused on combining building science and medical science into a compelling strategy to transform home construction so that homes will no longer degrade human health. 

In addition to his work on Hayward Score, he has also recently assumed the role of Chief Innovations Officer of H3, a subsidiary focused on cutting-edge products that transform the indoor environment.

LMB Journal, the leading magazine for the lumber/building material distribution channel, named him Entrepreneur of the Year (2015). In addition, he was named “20 Most Influential Leaders in the Industry” and Hayward was named “Dealer of the Year” for their work in driving sustainability in the industry. On the non-profit side, Bill is currently Chairman Emeritus of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and previously served as Chairman for the 5 years. He received his BS from UCLA and graduated from the Stanford Executive Program.

Carl Grimes

Carl joined the Hayward Score team in 2013 and brings more than 30 years of professional expertise to identifying and addressing the most critical issues to transform homes to healthy environments that fit individual needs. In addition, he has personally experienced living in unhealthy homes and has a deep understanding of the uncertainty, exhaustion, and skepticism inherent in the struggle that many face – that his home was not a safe and secure “castle,” but was instead contributing to his declining health and sense of well‐being.

He is nationally recognized as a professionally accredited Healthy Home Specialist (HHS) and a Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant (CIEC). 

Since 1987, he has worked nationally as a private consultant guiding people who suffer from unhealthy houses. He has developed action plans and verification methods designed to eliminate health issues in homes. He was elected to the Board of Directors of the national Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA) in 2002, and recently served as their President. Carl is now the Vice President of Practice for the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate. Carl has served on, created, and chaired a variety of committees writing industry consensus standards. He has collaborated with leading experts and researchers, analyzing the best approaches for restoring the indoor environment. He has chaired a committee that developed the course, Healthy Home Assessment: Principles and Practice, which is the follow‐on to the Essential Healthy Home Practitioner course by the National Center for Healthy Housing (www.nchh.org).  He is also the author of “Starting Points for a Healthy Habitat,” based on his and his client’s experiences of living in unhealthy homes and speaks both nationally and internationally on topics related to indoor air quality.

More Info

See this powerful video about Bill’s wife’s own story and journey of discovering the impact of indoor air quality on her life and the life of her family. 

Check out the Breezometer app for outdoor air quality monitoring.  Fun fact, the Foobot outdoor air reference is fueled by the Breezometer data feed. 

Also be sure to check out Jessica Green’s fascinating Ted Talk on the Indoor Microbiome. She talks about the simple (or complex) fact that our bodies and homes are covered in microbes -- some good for us, some bad for us. As we learn more about the germs and microbes who share our living spaces, TED Fellow Jessica Green asks: Can we design buildings that encourage happy, healthy microbial environments?

We saw Jessica speak in Houston at the Gulf Coast Green conference and her talk was captivating and insightful. She's a true leader in this new field of architectural scientific inquiry.

For an expanded discussion, check out the Ted Blog. 

Thanks to The Humid Climate Conference for their generous and continued support of our show.