Welcome to HomeFree
A national initiative supporting affordable housing leaders who are improving human health by using less toxic building materials.
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Careful Insulation Selection and Installation Can Protect R-Value and Health
Proper installation techniques as well as protection during installation are key to achieving optimal product performance and to protecting both workers and residents during and after insulation is installed.
Read MoreRegional Insights Provide a Baseline to Advance Specification Guidance
Are you curious about regional trends in building products? Do you want to know what your peers are using on their projects? Healthy Building Network has collected project specifications to assess baseline information to help you understand typical products installed in affordable housing and identify opportunities for improvement. The results of the Washington, DC baseline specification study are now live on the HomeFree site, where you’ll find similar studies for California, Louisiana, Minnesota, and the Pacific Northwest. Next up is New York.
Read MoreJust Released: These Healthier Insulations and Sealants Also Improve Energy Efficiency
Addressing concerns that some insulation products release unhealthy chemicals, HBN is proud to have conducted the extensive materials research detailed in a new guide to healthier insulation and air sealing materials.
Read MoreHomeFree helped make the Liberty Bank Building a healthier place to live – What could it do for your project?
As part of our HomeFree program, Healthy Building Network partnered with Capitol Hill Housing (CHH) on a pacific northwest demonstration project at their Liberty Bank Building. The partnership provided information and research for CHH to explore and select healthier, alternative materials, and led to a renewed, organization-wide commitment to health and their creation of a Healthy Homes Initiative.
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DonateFeatured User
Jess Blanch
Assoc. AIA, SEED, Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellow
Jess is a Design Associate and Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellow at Capitol Hill Housing (CHH) in Seattle, where she is focused on advancing CHH's capacity in design excellence, sustainability, and community engagement in a variety of low-income housing and community development projects. Jess brings over a decade of experience in affordable housing and community-engaged design work.
A champion for healthy materials in affordable housing, she has presented the topic at AIA Seattle’s Material Matters education series. Jess is spearheading CHH’s Healthy Homes Initiative to promote healthier work and living environments by reducing toxins in CHH’s 48 low-income housing properties, and educating over 2,300 CHH residents and staff on using healthier materials and green cleaning products.
Jess uses HomeFree on the Liberty Bank Building project, one of HomeFree’s pilot Demonstration Projects. The HomeFree principles and lessons learned from the design of the Liberty Bank Building have heavily influenced the CHH Healthy Homes Initiative, especially in creating design and operations guidelines to be used at all of CHH’s affordable housing properties.