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There is going to be a lot of health fallout though as people start having oxygen depletion from tightly-sealed houses. It's important that even well sealed ho

There is going to be a lot of health fallout though as people start having oxygen depletion from tightly-sealed houses. It's important that even well sealed homes have both A/C fresh air sources as well as ERV/HRV systems that can recapture the heat/cold the house has while replacing the CO2 with outside air.

Karrot_Kream 4y ago
ERVs and HRVs are generally part of these designs. Also, nothing stops people from cracking open their windows. The windows are meant to insulate well when closed.
schiffern 4y ago
>oxygen depletion I wish people would stop conflating low oxygen with high CO2. Even at 5000 ppm CO2 (which "significantly impair" attention, executive function, and risky decision-making[0]), the oxygen has only dropped from 20.95% to 20.45%. This ~2.5% difference is negligible, equivalent to natural variations in atmospheric pressure. The buildup of CO2 is the issue, not the depletion of O2. [0] https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/6/891 https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/6/891
js8 4y ago
Maybe put in some plants?
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- chongli 4y ago
  You'd have to put so many plants in your house that the interior would look like one of those rainforest exhibits at the natural history museum. A couple of houseplants on the windowsill won't even move the needle on CO2 levels in a house occupied by a family.
  - nunodonato 4y ago
    source?
    - vkou 4y ago
      Don't need a source, it's simple math. For a plant to absorb 1KG of CO2, it needs to increase in weight by at least ~1Kg. An average human exhales ~1KG of CO2 a day. Unless your house plants are gaining half a ton of mass a year, they aren't meaningfully offsetting your CO2 exhilation.
      - tonyarkles 4y ago
        I’m still with you and your point remains, but the plants do release O2 and just retain the C if I recall. Your plants only need to weigh 27% of that at the end of the year, or about 100kg :D
        vkou 4y ago
        Unless your plants are made out of pure diamond, they also need to gain hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen in weight. But you are part-right, carbon is ~35-50% of a normal plant's weight.
    - SideburnsOfDoom 4y ago
      Why ask something that's trivial to google yourself? There are numerous good ones, it's a well-known and noncontroversial topic.
- malfist 4y ago
  Plants absorb near the same amount of O2 at night as they produce during the day. Maybe an algae farm is that you'd need.
briandon 4y ago
In addition to concerns relating to carbon dioxide levels, when I contemplate the push for ever-more-tightly-sealed homes and particularly smaller homes with lower ratios of internal air volume to internal surface area (of walls, built-ins like cabinetry, and furniture), the issues stemming from outgassing of volatile organics from the adhesives and sealants as well as from the materials (solid wood became plywood with wood veneering, became sawdust-and-binder with plastic faux-wood veneer, etc.) now composites made of multiple substances and multiple binders and glues. Some years back, "sick building syndrome" was a prominent topic of discussion and there was a push for fresh air, windows that opened, etc. but this seems to have largely dropped off the radar, afaict.

Karrot_Kream 4y ago

ERVs and HRVs are generally part of these designs. Also, nothing stops people from cracking open their windows. The windows are meant to insulate well when closed.

schiffern 4y ago

>oxygen depletion I wish people would stop conflating low oxygen with high CO2. Even at 5000 ppm CO2 (which "significantly impair" attention, executive function, and risky decision-making[0]), the oxygen has only dropped from 20.95% to 20.45%. This ~2.5% difference is negligible, equivalent to natural variations in atmospheric pressure. The buildup of CO2 is the issue, not the depletion of O2. [0] https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/6/891 https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/6/891

js8 4y ago

Maybe put in some plants?

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
chongli 4y ago
You'd have to put so many plants in your house that the interior would look like one of those rainforest exhibits at the natural history museum. A couple of houseplants on the windowsill won't even move the needle on CO2 levels in a house occupied by a family.
- nunodonato 4y ago
  source?
  - vkou 4y ago
    Don't need a source, it's simple math. For a plant to absorb 1KG of CO2, it needs to increase in weight by at least ~1Kg. An average human exhales ~1KG of CO2 a day. Unless your house plants are gaining half a ton of mass a year, they aren't meaningfully offsetting your CO2 exhilation.
    - tonyarkles 4y ago
      I’m still with you and your point remains, but the plants do release O2 and just retain the C if I recall. Your plants only need to weigh 27% of that at the end of the year, or about 100kg :D
      - vkou 4y ago
        Unless your plants are made out of pure diamond, they also need to gain hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen in weight. But you are part-right, carbon is ~35-50% of a normal plant's weight.
  - SideburnsOfDoom 4y ago
    Why ask something that's trivial to google yourself? There are numerous good ones, it's a well-known and noncontroversial topic.
malfist 4y ago
Plants absorb near the same amount of O2 at night as they produce during the day. Maybe an algae farm is that you'd need.

briandon 4y ago

In addition to concerns relating to carbon dioxide levels, when I contemplate the push for ever-more-tightly-sealed homes and particularly smaller homes with lower ratios of internal air volume to internal surface area (of walls, built-ins like cabinetry, and furniture), the issues stemming from outgassing of volatile organics from the adhesives and sealants as well as from the materials (solid wood became plywood with wood veneering, became sawdust-and-binder with plastic faux-wood veneer, etc.) now composites made of multiple substances and multiple binders and glues. Some years back, "sick building syndrome" was a prominent topic of discussion and there was a push for fresh air, windows that opened, etc. but this seems to have largely dropped off the radar, afaict.