With increasingly frequent wildfires leading to worsening air pollution, one Phoenix homebuilder has made it his mission to create houses that filter out harmful air pollutants, creating the healthiest possible environment for the people inside.
Vali Homes, founded by Austin Trautman, focuses on five factors: comfort and health; efficiency and renewables; durability and resilience; social equity and embodied injustice; and lifecycle carbon impact.
As Trautman explained, the difference between the process that he uses and the processes that other green developers use is his doesn't start with energy efficiency — it ends there.
"The ironic thing is that if you solve for energy efficiency first, the other four factors that we focus on become pretty mediocre, whereas if you focus on the others first, you get even better efficiency and also have much better health, low carbon impact and better social equity for people installing the materials," Trautman said.
In order to achieve its desired results, Vali Homes installs an air filtration system that uses built-in carbon dioxide meters to detect when levels are too high. The system also identifies contaminants in the air and cleans it to reduce dust and pollen while simultaneously adjusting for temperature, humidity, and chemicals.
The developer also seeks to take inspiration from nature and build homes that work with the Sonoran Desert climate.
"It's looking at each material and the system as a whole. One of the sayings we use a lot of the time is that 'the ingredients create the results.' It's like the equivalent of trying to cook a really great meal with moldy ingredients, you're just not going to get there," Trautman said.
Green home development is a growing trend in the United States, as more people seek to decrease their personal environmental impacts. While the majority of these homes are on the pricey side, we can hope these types of building practices will continue to become more mainstream.
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