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EVENT SUMMARY: Strategy for Action to Advance Healthy Housing

02/04/2013

On Monday, February 4th, the federal Healthy Homes Work Group (HHWG) held an event at the National Building Museum to launch the new Advancing Healthy Housing: A Strategy for Action. The Strategy lays out the goals and priorities of the HHWG to advance healthy housing initiatives for the next three to five years nationwide. The event also highlighted the publication of HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing’s new radon testing and mitigation requirements for Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured multifamily mortgage applications for new construction and significant rehabilitation, and certain FHA-insured refinancing programs. These important steps show that the federal government is taking home health seriously and Weatherization Plus Health is ready to step up to the plate.

The event featured leaders from the six federal agencies who make up HHWG, as well as non-profit partners focused on energy, health, and housing issues. The agencies that created The Strategy introduced themselves and provided an overview of the five goals of the Strategy:

  • Goal 1: Establish Healthy Homes Recommendations
  • Goal 2: Encourage Adoption of Healthy Homes Recommendations
  • Goal 3: Create and Support Training and Workforce Development to Address Health Hazards in Housing
  • Goal 4: Educate the Public about Healthy Homes
  • Goal 5: Support Research that Informs and Advances Healthy Housing in a Cost-Effective Manner

Speakers emphasized the effect that healthy housing initiatives have on low-income families by improving their health and safety, as well as the complementary role that the low-income Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) can play. David Poneman, DOE Deputy Secretary and Anna Garcia, Program Manager for DOE Office of Weatherization and Intergovernmental Programs highlighted the thousands of people WAP put back to work while weatherizing over one million homes during the Recovery Act period. They also noted WAP saves families in the range of $200-$400 in income that can then be used for other necessities like food and medicine.  Other partners, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), applauded DOE and WAP’s unheralded commitment to energy efficiency and existing health and safety component. Attendees took time to recognize WAP Furnace Specialist Carl Harvey’s life-saving work – truly an example of WAP’s impact and reach.

WAP is a key player in the advancement of healthy housing initiatives, touching more low-income homes than any other program. To learn more about how WAP works with healthy homes, visit WxPlusHealth.org.

Please watch a video recording of the event. The federal Advancing Healthy Housing: A Strategy for Action and the Radon Notice will be live soon. Check back for more updates or sign up for our email lists to be kept informed.

Comments

Identifying IAQ Problems

By Anonymous (not verified) on 02/05/2013.

The Healthy Homes Initiative needs to develop reality based testing protocols for determining if and when remediation is necessary.  The DOE Weatherization program requirement to meet ASHRAE 62.2 ventilation standards is rarely justified by actual indoor air quality issues and it creates problems that would not have occurred otherwise.  Quickly identifying homes with actual problems and those without problems should be a top priority for this initiative. Otherwise, Healthy Homes becomes another program that over promises and under delivers. In the case of Carl Harvey's story, the carbon monoxide problem could have been identified with a CO detector. After the alarm sounded, the customer could have called for help.  The assumption all homes have problems that harm their occupants is not substantiated by research and wastes increasingly scarce funding. 

RE: Identifying IAQ Problems

By Wx Plus Health Team on 03/20/2013.

The DOE Weatherization Plus Health Initiative is designed to enhance the existing DOE Weatherization Assistance Program’s (WAP) work in the field by obtaining more resources to address identified health and safety related issues. The intent is to stretch limited WAP dollars, prevent deferrals, and improve the health of low-income clients when possible. We believe the Weatherization Plus Health initiative is a logical development to position WAP as a more viable option for expanded services for potential funders and partners, as well as a providing more holistic services by addressing situations that may be unaffordable or not appropriate with DOE funds.
 
DOE WAP typically installs CO detectors in homes with combustion appliances under standard healthy and safety work.  In the Carl Harvey story, the weatherization work was underway but not complete in the home where WAP Furnace Specialist Carl Harvey was working.  The home had a previously installed CO detector, as required by New York State law, but the battery was dead unbeknownst to the client.  Mr. Harvey’s knowledge of CO poisoning symptoms helped to save the client’s life.

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