For 28 years I’ve seen the windows of neglect: bound with paint, sashes screwed shut, locked-never to be opened, damaged hardware and screens, rotted sills.
No matter what type home, town or country, big or small, rich or poor, black or white, folks do not open windows.
Windows are designed for the simultaneous and independent control of:
Natural illumination
Natural ventilation: The subject of this newsletter
View out
View in
Passage of insects
Passage of water
Passage of heat-radiant, conducted, convected
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is up to five times worse inside your home than outside. The situation is getting worse as people spend more time inside and tightly built homes limit infiltration
Spring and Fall are the shoulder seasons, the interim between cold/dry and hot/humid.
The Japanese understand and appreciate ventilation. Their building codes guarantee access to sunlight and wind, nature’s cleansing mechanisms
Americans are special. We love to mechanize our solutions. Ultra-violet lights and ozone air purifiers emulate the healthy effects of sun and wind.
House deodorants, scents and candles emulate the smell of freshness.
Poor ventilation and filtration worsen your indoor air by trapping air pollutants. Open windows on opposite sides of your home for ten minutes daily and the cross ventilation will improve your indoor air quality
Kiwis think so too. http://www.energywise.govt.nz/your-home/ventilation
There’s something deeper to this than neglected windows
Building Science informs us that homes are environmental separators that provide a designed environment for human use and occupancy.
In these hectic, uncertain times homes have become psychological separators. They are our castles, our place of refuge.
Windows stay closed to separate us from the outside of traffic, nosy neighbors, pollen, criminals, darkness, dogs barking, leafblowers roaring, planes ascending-from the craziness of a world we don’t want to let in.
At Villa Curl I’ve found pleasure in the sounds of wind-shuffled leaves, of trains and planes, church bells sounding the hour and the pastry-sweet smell the local pie factory. Yes, the traffic is noisome, dogs bark, the world can have sharp edges. I’ve come to accept these things.
Try opening windows ten minutes each day. It’s guaranteed to improve your home and your health-and it just might improve your peace of mind.
