Electroclimate: An Overlooked Part of Home Design – GreenBuildingAdvisor

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What began as a personal health investigation led to building biology and an exploration of the electrical environment inside our homes

When my home became part of my health investigation

My life changed profoundly when I was diagnosed with breast cancer as I prepared to celebrate my 30th birthday. Thankfully, it was detected early and had not spread. I underwent surgery followed by 30 doses of radiation therapy.

Two years to the day later, I was diagnosed with melanoma. It too, had not spread, although it required a wide excision on my leg. Soon afterward, I lost a dear lifelong friend to breast cancer.

I was fortunate not to require chemotherapy or experience severe treatment side effects. But in the months following my second diagnosis, further surgery, and the loss of my friend, I developed more than 20 symptoms that no one could adequately explain.

I consulted a neurologist, immunologist, oncologist, radiologist, and other healthcare practitioners. My symptoms were generally attributed to post-traumatic stress, not an unreasonable conclusion given what I had experienced.

Yet some patterns were difficult to ignore. I regularly experienced heart palpitations while sitting on the couch in my living room, and tinnitus as I tried to fall asleep at night. At one coworking space, my symptoms became so severe that I eventually had to stop working there.

Eventually a healthcare practitioner investigating my health history asked about the buildings I had lived in and the symptoms I had experienced in each one. Genetic testing indicated that I may be more susceptible to illness associated with water-damaged buildings. She suggested having my home assessed for mold. That recommendation was pivotal; it led me into a much larger investigation of the relationship between buildings and health, and onto the path that has become my life’s work.

When the invisible became measurable

As part of the mold assessment, a building biologist conducted airborne sampling and moisture testing. An Air-O-Cell air sampling…