Healthy homes initiative comes to Homewood
Houses tested for lead, radon, mold, energy efficiency
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Carl Talbott knew his house was drafty, but he was blown away by the evidence: wind, like a hair dryer set on high cool, was rushing down his attic steps during a recent energy audit.
A fan attached to an airtight cover over the front door pulled a strong breeze up from the basement, too.
“No wonder my gas bill has been killing me,” Mr. Talbott said afterward, sitting on the stairs to the second floor, which had tested positive for lead paint.
When energy auditors from Conservation Consultants left the Talbott household in Homewood after two hours of testing for energy efficiency, mold, lead and radon, Mr. Talbott had a carbon monoxide detector in the basement, smoke detectors on each floor, and the promise of a safer and more habitable home in 2018.
The Talbotts — Carl lives with his wife, a sister and a dog — are among 15 households in Homewood that CCI is testing with a grant from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. The service incorporates the programs that utility companies provide low-income customers.
Most remediation work that is needed will be covered by the grant. Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh, another partner, will do some of the improvements.
In the first round of the Grassroots Green Home campaign, CCI tested 20 households in Oakland and Uptown. The R.K. Mellon Foundation and GTECH supported that round.
Alison Steele, CCI’s manager of community programs and advocacy, said the costs in Homewood, as in Uptown and Oakland, should be completely borne by grant funding and assistance programs.
Mr. Talbott’s household was the first to be audited in Homewood.
CCI has been doing energy audits in the region for years. For people who can afford it, such an audit costs $375. Lead testing is a separate service, starting at $275. That’s without lab samples. Inhome testing, consultation and lab samples cost $405.
The Grassroots Green Home effort is intended to make low-income households safer and to raise awareness about the dangers of lead, mold and radon.
Radon — a radioactive gas released by the decay of uranium underground — can enter any home, and Allegheny County is a red zone for the existence of radon, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Mold is caused by moisture coupled with poor ventilation and can cause asthma and lung infections.
Lead paint was banned in 1978. Considering that most homes in Pittsburgh were built before then, lead is likely an undercoat in most of them. Undisturbed, it doesn’t pose harm, but lead paint dust can be dislodged during renovations or when paint is sanded from window sills, door frames and staircases. Lead paint dust is toxic if ingested. Lead pipes make water unsafe to drink.
No amount of lead is safe for the developing brain, according to Ray Firth, retired policy specialist at the University of Pittsburgh’s Office of Child Development.
Children exposed to lead paint dust are at risk of low birth weight, low IQ, attention deficit disorders and other neurocognitive damage that lead to learning problems, which can lead to school suspensions, juvenile delinquency and crime.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Environmental Protection Agency all recognize that zero