image: The Kansas City Health Home is located in the Woods at Colton Lake in southern Overland Park, Kan. KC Health Home, featuring Pella Designer Series windows, is specifically designed to help combat allergies and asthma conditions by reducing indoor air pollutants view more
Credit: Pella Corporation
PELLA, Iowa — April 23, 2008 — Just in time for peak allergy and asthma season, Kansas City’s H&S Covenant Homes opens a state-of-the-art, model home designed specifically for asthma and allergy sufferers. Accredited by the American Lung Association® (ALA) and featuring Pella® windows, KC Health Home blends medical science with building science to create a healthier, energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly home.
Located in the Woods at Colton Lake in Overland Park, Kan., KC Health Home demonstrates the benefits of a home designed to specifically combat the growing problem of allergies and asthma aggravated by indoor air pollutants. According to the ALA, 6.8 million children in the United States under the age of 18 have asthma. The chronic lung condition is the third-leading cause of hospitalization among children under age 15.
"It is critically important for people to understand that environmental factors contribute to allergy and asthma,” said Jay Portnoy, M.D., president, American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and physician at Kansas City’s Children’s Mercy Hospital. “With KC Health Home we now have a wonderful model of how building healthy homes can lead to healthy people."
Better indoor air
“We see a demand for healthier homes growing as prevalence of indoor air pollutants increases,” said Frank Pikus, president, H&S Covenant Homes. “Many researchers blame bad air for the rise in asthma and allergies. This is an opportunity to show consumers the specific elements of a healthy home, to realize that healthy living is really green living as well as a means to lower energy consumption and cost.”
KC Health Home, winner of Custom Home’s 2008 Pacesetter award for its innovative construction, received a 55 home energy rating (HERS) index from ENERGY STAR, which means the home is 45 percent more energy efficient than the HERS reference home. This analysis evaluates energy use by heating, cooling, water heating, lighting, appliances and onsite power generation of the home.
EPA recognition
“In response to rising energy costs, homes today are being built tighter which has resulted in the accumulation of indoor pollutants at levels two – five times of those found outdoors,” said Greg Crable, indoor environments program coordinator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Kansas City. “The KC Health Home project merges sound building science that not only addresses the energy efficiency of the home, but also the health of the occupants by providing superior indoor air quality.”
Pella provided its signature Designer Series windows throughout the home to help minimize indoor air allergens. Rated number one for energy efficiency among top national brands*, Designer Series windows feature optional blinds, shades or decorative panels protected between panes of glass to eliminate typical dust and dirt accumulation usually rampant on common window treatments. A university study found windows with traditional room-side blinds collected 200 times more of certain indoor airborne allergens than Pella Designer Series products.**
Key health components of the home include:
- all concrete exterior construction — insulated concrete form (ICF)
- energy-efficient, high performance Pella Designer Series® windows
- Bluwood® construction –lumber treated with technology called Perfect Barrier System, protecting against fungal and termite infestation
- complete radon mitigation system¯ designed to help reduce levels of radon gas, commonly found in soil, which can enter homes, posing potential health hazards
- moisture control system
- full waterproofing of the home’s foundation
- advanced insulation techniques (Icynene® spray foam)
- high efficiency air filtration and ventilation system
- Aura® low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) interior paint and water-based stains
- no formaldehyde-added cabinetry
- central vacuum system with HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filter
About H&S Covenant Homes
H&S Covenant Homes specializes in the creation of luxury custom homes valued from $350,000 to over $2 million. For more than two decades, the company has been creating new and innovative dream homes. Based in Overland Park, Kan., and serving the greater Kansas City metro area, H&S Covenant Homes is also the exclusive custom homebuilder of the Woman-Centric home. Partnering with Design Basics®, one of America’s premier design firms, H&S Covenant creates home plans that embody specific features that appeal to women. The Woman-Centric model emphasizes a home’s entertaining areas, flexible living space, storage space, and de-stressing areas. Many of its custom-home designs showcase these concepts.
About Pella
Pella Corporation is a leader in designing, testing, manufacturing and installing quality windows and doors for new construction, remodeling and replacement applications. Pella earned the U.S. Department of Energy’s ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year award for windows in 2007 and 2008 for its leadership in manufacturing energy-efficient windows and educating consumers about them. Pella also earned the 2007 J.D. Power and Associates award for “Highest in Customer Satisfaction among Window and Door Manufacturers.”
As a family-owned and professionally managed privately-held company, Pella is known for its 83-year history of innovation, making great products, providing quality service and delivering on customer satisfaction. Headquartered in Pella, Iowa, the company is committed to incorporating new technologies, increasing productivity, and practicing environmental stewardship to create satisfied customers.
The company manufactures quality windows, patio doors and entry door systems sold through a Direct Sales Network operating Pella® Window & Door Showrooms across the United States and Canada and select building materials retailers, including Lowe’s®, which features the Pella Design Center, a “store-within-a-store.” For more information, call 888-84-PELLA or visit www.pella.com.
* Pella Designer Series wood windows and patio doors with triple pane glass have superior NFRC U-values and SHGC ratings.
** Based on data from research conducted by the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Iowa.
Editor’s note: For more information and high-resolution images, visit the Pella Pressroom at http://pressroom.pella.com. For more information on KC Health Home visit www.KChealthhome.com