Marigold Spaces Do Not “Breathe”

”Houses need to breathe” is a common refrain, yet interestingly, it isn’t true. Let’s dive into why.

For years, houses were not insulated. A typical early 20th century house in America would be built with studs that had wood siding directly nailed to the outside of them and plaster walls on the inside of them. There was no insulation stuffed inside the frame like there is today. Instead, the homes had a bunch of fireplaces and, often times, heating systems like a boiler and radiators. In winter the houses were cold and you would bundle up in a blanket and sit by the fire. The good news is that because there was no insulation stuffed inside the wall cavities, the studs could dry out if they got wet because there was airflow through the walls. That was great for the framing but not so great for the inhabitants.

By the 1950s it was commonplace to insulate the studs. Suddenly houses were much more comfortable. No more huddling by the fireplace under a blanket while the rest of the house froze. The bad news? Frames started to rot and mold grew in the walls. Why? Because moisture would get trapped in the insulation like a sponge and not dry. As more and more people became aware of this, they realized that they needed a way to dry the insides of the walls, hence the popularization of the term “houses need to breathe.”

In the 1970s the energy crisis prompted the start of the green building movement. Suddenly a lot of focus was put into figuring out how to build an energy efficient house that didn’t rot. This was the birth of modern building science. Half a century later, thanks to all of the research performed on these subjects, we know the best practices that lead to comfortable, energy efficient homes that will stand the test of time. Sadly, most builders don’t adhere to these practices, either because they don’t understand them or because they simply want to build houses as cheaply as possible.

So what are these best practices? In a nutshell, build the house as air tight as you possibly can, insulate it as much as possible and use cleverly designed materials that let framing dry if need be. You’re probably thinking about the inhabitants of these tightly built houses and wondering how they get fresh air. And what about odors? If the house is air tight, won’t odors stay forever?

Enter the ERV.

Energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) and heat recovery ventilators (HRVs) solve this issue by bringing in fresh air from the outside, filtering out the dirt, pollen and other pollutants, and then warming it using the heat from the outgoing, stale indoor air that it’s exhausting. Pretty clever, right? Amazingly, ERVs and HRVs use almost no energy to run. (The only difference between ERVs and HRVs, by the way, is that ERVs also control the humidity of the incoming outside air).

The good news for you is that all Marigold Spaces include an ERV that keeps the air nice and fresh, even though they are built as tightly as possible.

So the next time your know-it-all uncle says a house needs to breathe, remind him that people need to breathe, not houses.

(For further reading, please check out Energy Vanguard and Pretty Good House)