Ep 121 | Your home can look gorgeous, check every "green" box, and still be the reason you don't feel well. This week, Jen sits down with healthy home expert Andrew Pace to untangle the difference between a green home and a healthy home, and what it takes to make your space one that supports your health instead of adding to your body's toxic load.

Andrew has spent 35 years and more than 30,000 clients learning where the hidden stuff hides: the off-gassing carpet, the low-VOC paint that's mostly marketing, the mold in the walls, the spray foam nobody warned you about. He and Jen chat about why your indoor air quality matters more than almost anything outside your four walls, how your home's toxic load ties into the inflammation your body is already carrying, and why the goal was never a perfect home. It's a better one you can actually afford.

This one's for you if you suspect something in your house isn't right and you have no idea where to start. If you've been down the Dr. Google rabbit hole at midnight, doom-scrolling mold accounts and feeling more panicked than helped, Andrew's "sensible homeowner" approach is a deep breath and a solid place to begin.

🕒 In this episode:
07:20 – Why your indoor environment matters more than the air outside (we spend 90% of life inside)
10:10 – Green vs. healthy: the difference most well-meaning renovators miss
19:25 – Andy's take on "the house needs to breathe" (and where mold really starts)
24:31 – The inflammation bucket: how your home's toxic load connects to chronic illness
28:56 – The sensible homeowner approach: doing what you can afford instead of chasing perfect
36:35 – The mental-health toll of a toxic home, and why Andy says to log off social media
43:16 – Where 90% of the off-gassing comes from, and where to spend your money

You're more in the driver's seat of your home's health than the internet wants you to believe. Small, affordable changes count.

Meet Andrew Pace:
Andrew Pace is a Healthy Home Materials Expert and the founder of The Green Design Center. For more than three decades he's been the trusted resource for homeowners and builders who want the intersection of sustainability and human health, with over 30,000 clients along the way. He hosts the Non-Toxic Environments podcast and specializes in chemical sensitivity and mold-related remediation, including CIRS and MCAS. His new book, Building for Health, pulls it all together into plain-language guidance for anyone living in, renting, or building a home.

🌿 Resources:
Building for Health (book + free download): https://www.buildingforhealth.com
Non-Toxic Environments Podcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nontoxicenvironments
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nontoxicenvironments/

🌐 Episode Website: https://jenhellerlifestyle.com/2026/10/06/healthy-home-vs-green-home-safer-materials-air-quality/

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Connect with Me: Website - www.jenhellerlifestyle.com

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