Healthy Building Practices Take Center Stage At New Symposium

As Traverse City works to address its housing shortage, the focus shouldn’t just be on the quantity of the homes getting built, but also the quality.

That’s the belief of the people behind the Natural Building & Healthy Home Symposium, a conference taking place today (Saturday) that will examine “how natural building practices and non-toxic materials can be used to create homes that are more healthy, more affordable, and more in harmony with nature.” The event is part of broader effort that could eventually lead to the development of prototype healthy homes right here in Michigan.

Scheduled for 8:30am-6pm at Commongrounds on Eighth Street, the symposium is co-hosted by the Crosshatch Green Building Guild (part of Traverse City’s Crosshatch Center for Art & Ecology) and the Canary Homes Initiative (described in press materials as “a group of Michigan-based designers, builders, and healthcare professionals”). The event came together when Ellis Begley, the architectural designer and project manager of a local natural building company called Bale Craft, connected with Laurie DeDecker, the downstate-based nurse who spearheads Canary Homes.

The two, it turned out, had a lot to talk about.

Certain materials used in home construction can be especially problematic for people with acute allergies, immune disorders, environmental illnesses, or other chronic sensitivities. DeDecker has seen those issues play out firsthand with her daughter, Jessie, who suffers from a condition called myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

Described by the Centers for Disease and Control as “a disabling and complex illness,” ME/CFS is a neuro-endocrine immune disorder characterized by symptoms like fatigue, post-exertional malaise, unrefreshing sleep, impaired memory or concentration, lightheadedness or dizziness when standing, and a general inability “to participate in routine activities that were possible before becoming ill.” The condition – including its causes, symptoms, and treatment – is not well understood by the medical community, though it often starts after a viral infection or other medical incident.

“[People with ME/CFS] are often so impacted by their living environment that if they have any kind of chemical exposure – which can be off-gassing from building materials, or exposure to pesticides, or all kinds of other things – or if they get a mold exposure, they actually get sicker and sicker, and often don't know why it’s happening,” DeDecker explains. “And what I've found out is that people with this condition often end up living in their car, because your car sits in the sun, so it stays warm and dry and doesn't grow mold, and as long as the car is not brand new, the off-gassing has already happened.”

In an effort to help her daughter and other people struggling with extreme sensitivities to their living environments, DeDecker launched Canary Homes. The goal of the initiative is “to provide a progressive reproducible model for affordable housing focused on holistic well-being, sustainability, and environmental impact.” Right now, DeDecker is working to raise money for a prototype home development – based around healthy building materials and design practices – that would “help address the unique housing and health challenges of the growing ME/CFS, long COVID, and Lyme disease communities.” The first of those “community-based housing developments” would take root here in Michigan, though a longer-term aim is to replicate the model nationwide.

Moved by the DeDecker family’s story, Begley offered to serve as the architectural designer for the project. He also started the process of putting together today’s symposium, which will feature the Canary Homes story as part of a morning health-focused session that includes both Laurie and Jessie as panelists. The symposium will also encompass broader conversations about how builders in northern Michigan and beyond can start moving the needle on home health simply by trying out different building materials.

“From what I’m seeing around here in this area – which is going through a building boom cycle and has been for quite some time – there’s not a lot going on with innovation in building to address environmental and health needs,” says Thomas Hirsch, owner of the Benzonia-based Bungalow Builders and part of a building and design panel scheduled for today’s symposium. “There are a lot of efforts locally to build buildings that are more energy efficient – which is great; we need that too. But not too many people are addressing the quality of the materials and what's going on with indoor air quality. So, I think with this event, we’re definitely trying to talk to the folks in the industry about what they could do to offer a safer and healthier product for the community.”

The health panel (8:30-11:30am) and the building and design panel (12-4pm) are part of a ticketed portion of the symposium, which costs $45 and includes coffee and tea from NoBo Market and lunch from Oryana. Registration for that part of the event runs from 8-9am this morning. But Begley also notes that the event will include a free and open-to-the-public “natural building demonstration” segment later this afternoon from 4-6pm. That section of the program, Begley tells The Ticker, will give attendees an opportunity to see, touch, and learn about building materials that could make homes and other environments healthier. Those materials include things like hempcrete, a mix of hemp and lime that can act as a substitute for concrete or insulation; or pre-fabricated straw bale structural insulated panels (S-SIPs), a type of structural wall system that Begley uses in his work at Bale Craft.

“We can look to Europe, or to the east and west coasts, for plenty of examples of builders using these and other natural materials – not only for single-family residences, but also for things like dense multi-family high-rises,” Begley says. “If we can bring those ideas to the midwest, I think we're going to be a lot healthier and more sustainable up here.”

Pictured: A drawing of the first planned Canary Homes house, drawn by Ellis Begley.