The Course
I wrote this class for homeowners like you who have been through it with mold and need to build a healthy home. I assume you know nothing about how homes are put together, and I explain it all clearly. Its focus is on how to prevent mold and have optimal indoor environmental quality in a new home. While I respect people who are building high-performance homes to help the environment, that is not the focus of my class.
The advice in this class is based in solid build science, which I explain as I go. I dive into details about how every little bit of your home should be constructed. This isn’t just general advice. So much of building a mold-safe home is in the details, and this class covers them. It also covers how to reduce VOCs and EMFs in your new home.
What you will learn
For every module, there is a PDF that explains the basic concepts. The PDF contains:
- the complete text of every module
- links to relevant websites and products
- photographs and illustrations
- a summary of the key takeaways from each module
By fall 2025, I will offer an accompanying video lecture for each module. Each video will have the same content as the accompanying PDF.
If you’re a visual learner and it helps you to sit down and watch video, you’re welcome to do that, but you don’t have to. Feel free to listen to the lectures while you're commuting, or chopping carrots, or loading the dishwasher, or folding laundry, or going for a run.
High performance building has its own vocabulary. I’ve included a glossary that contains definitions for the many new terms I use in this class.
There is also a workbook that will help you translate the theoretical information in the lectures into a design for your personal build. For instance, when we talk about foundations, the workbook exercises will help you decide what kind of foundation might work best for your needs and your build site, and define the requirements for how your foundation should be designed and built. If you complete the workbook, you'll end up with a personalized requirements document for your healthy home. You'll understand why you made the decisions that you made, and you'll be able to hand that document to your architect or designer or design builder and tell them what the home should look like and, more importantly, how it should be built. Knowing what you need going in is the only way to make sure that you end up with that at the end, and this class will help you do that.
At the end of the class there is an optional test for a certification path. There is no requirement for you to do the test; you’re perfectly welcome to just ignore it. If you’d like to get a certificate that demonstrates that you know the information taught in this class, you’ll need to pass the test with a score of 80% or better. The test is open-book and you may take it as many times as you need. Note that this class is intended for homeowners; it’s not intended as a professional certification. For that, I invite you to explore the programs offered by the Building Biology Institute, EMU Passive, and PHIUS.
It does you no good to take my class and learn all these concepts if you can’t find an architect and contractor who will design and build this way. So every class you buy includes three seats - one for you and your spouse or project partner, one for your architect, and one for your contractor. If you can find a build team willing to learn, this class can help them do that.
I will be collecting and organizing the names, company names, and license numbers of the professionals who complete the class, as well as your feedback, so I can organize a network of educated professionals who can help us build healthy housing.
In addition, your class purchase includes an optional one hour of consulting with me at Practical Healthy Homes at a discounted half price rate of $75, to help you iron out any remaining questions you have and identify next steps. And of course I am available going forward to help you with your build at my normal hourly rate, if you need that help.
At some point, I will likely lead a supplemental live version of the class that includes discussions and community. Details to come after I roll out the online version.
Welcome to the class, and happy learning!
Course Curriculum
Hi! I'm Jen.
I’m a Build Science Educator and Consultant. Through my company Practical Healthy Homes, I help families build healthy, resilient homes they can thrive in. I’m a triple-certified BBNC, BBEC, and EMRS Building Biologist, a certified Passive House Tradesperson, and a certified Permaculture Designer. The book I wrote, Destination Blue Sky, talks about how my husband and I healed our family from PANS, Mold and environmental illness, Lyme and co-infections, and cancer, by building a healthy home. I run the Facebook group Beyond Build Defects: Building a New Healthy Home. I serve on the Board of Directors for the Building Biology Institute of North America. I live in the California Sierra Foothills and work with clients worldwide.