House as a System

All IHD practice is based on the house-as-a-system concept. Years of R2000 training/practice, experience with multiple building component/component groupings, the study of local historical building practices and continuous monitoring of changes in building science all point IHD to HAAS as the best guiding principle.

The HAAS concept was developed concurrently by building scientists and practitioners to advance the notion of the ecology or interrelated-ness of all building intentions, components and processes. A well-balanced condition survey based on this concept allows the connecting of dots from a visual survey to often surpass time-challenged information from sophisticated instrumentation.

The common example used involves the sealing up of older, drafty houses in heating climates without necessary ventilation strategy adjustments. This regularly lays the foundation for life-safety/health risks and serious indoor air quality problems [and we are told 30+ % of North Americans suffer from respiratory allergies or asthma].

The misunderstanding of how buildings actually work means that even buildings with capabilities for better comfort and air quality, longer envelope life and higher seismic resilience are often not achieving these because homeowners are not shown how to optimize their homes’ potential.

HAAS as a product of building science provides a universal lens through which buildings in varying microclimates or regulatory jurisdictions can be examined , thus giving a better idea about how any building will respond to its particular external environment and how this will impact life safety, human health, comfort and durability.

Because it meaningfully contextualizes era of construction, code evolution and material aging issues it also supplies more security about long term suitability to purpose and variance in maintenance requirements/costs.

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Independent House Diagnosis (1976) Ltd.
White Rock, British Columbia
Serving the Lower Mainland specializing in White Rock, Surrey, Langley and Abbotsford
Telephone: 604-536-2636